The SP Hacienda Branch

Posted byTrevorPosted inAchievable Layouts, Benchwork, California Dreaming in Proto:48, Track and Turnouts
The shelf is now 50% longer than it was.

My friend Pierre Oliver visited from southern Ontario last week and he confirmed my thoughts: O Scale looks awesome on my tall benchwork. With that confirmed, Pierre and I added a 12-foot long peninsula to the left end of my previously-built 24-foot shelf. I can now start working in earnest on what I’ve decided to call the Southern Pacific’s Hacienda Branch in Proto:48.

As previously mentioned on this site, this layout was planned full size on kraft paper. That was useful as we figured out where to place cross spans for the new section. Here are some photos of the layout as it appeared after our last work session:

An overview of the layout, from the right end. This section is 24 feet long.
A closer view. of the right end. A team track with overhead travelling crane will form the focal point of this scene.
The peninsula joins the shelf at an angle to provide generous walk-in access to the rest of the room. The nearest refrigerator car is on the lead to a row of packing sheds. The main track leaves the scene to the right of this car to enter a modest staging area on the back of the peninsula, which will be hidden by a low backdrop.
The refrigerator cars are on a pair of tracks serving a row of packing sheds. The modest staging area to the right will be hidden behind a low backdrop. Equipment will be fiddled on and off the layout here.
The new peninsula, looking from the left end.

As Pierre and I built the peninsula, we realized I could incorporate an O scale kit from Banta Modelworks for the two stall engine house that once served the SP at Port Costa, California. (Pierre has the same engine house in the staging area on his layout, in HO scale.) Pierre and I added a wedge of benchwork to accommodate this.

The Port Costa engine house, from the Banta Modelworks website.
The base from the Banta kit, being used to determine the track arrangement in the staging area.

While I don’t need an engine house, I’ve had the kit for more than a decade and it’s time to put it to use. The engine house will let me keep a couple of locomotives on the layout permanently to reduce handling them. (Other locomotives, and all the freight cars, will have to cycle between the layout’s staging area and nearby storage shelves.)

Pierre and I also discussed lighting and backdrops, and I now have a plan of attack for both of those. Plus, I took him on tour of a few local sights, including the amazing Wanuskewin heritage centre and the Yard & Flagon pub. We also had a lovely visit to a nearby modeller, Cal Sexsmith, to tour his in-progress HO scale layout depicting CN and CP lines in northern Saskatchewan.

Thank you, Pierre, for visiting. It was great to see a familiar face and discuss the layout with a like-minded modeller. I had a lot of fun!

Published by Trevor

Lifelong model railway enthusiast and retired amateur shepherd who trained a border collie to work sheep. Professional writer and editor, with some podcasting and Internet TV presenting work thrown in for good measure.