SP coast line

N scale - circa 1964
Owner: Charles Burns
Layout Location: Jamaica Street, Morro Bay, CA
Modeling the SP coast line from Santa Barbara to Guadalupe, with the Lompoc branch, circa 1964.
The 21' x 20' layout is on two levels with a double track helix at each end. The lower deck is the staging area and storage yards.
The mainline is 300 feet long with over 1,000 feet of track overall. There is a very large visible staging yard.
There are also two balloons, one under each helix, to turn trains.
He is running a pure DCC layout. He has a UR91 and radio throttles.
Charlie has scratch built several intricate steel trestles found on this route, various SP structures and even SP-style telephone poles. He also has modeled the ocean itself about as well as anybody.
He operates on a 1964 SP timetable which includes the Daylight, Lark, and Coast Mail. Freights include piggyback trains Nos. 371, 2, 3, and 4, plus a reefer block and lumber train. Control is DCC.
Charlie's layout has appeared in MODEL RAILROADER and the Mar/Apr 2005 issue of N SCALE RAILROADING. This layout will be on the layout tour for the Southern Pacific Historical & Technical Society's 2009 Annual Conference in San Luis Obispo on October 28 - November 1, 2009.
He is also making all the signals operational. They are controlled by the turnouts on either side of a siding. The control information cascades down the line to turn signals yellow and red or green.
This is a very impressive layout.
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