A virtual 1/10-scale North American theme layout made in Trainz Surveyor by me.

JonMyrlennBailey

Active member
Can you imagine an outdoor model railroad layout so big it would take up about 423 real-world acres of real estate? My imagination was bigger than Texas when I started cooking up this one in the summer of 2021.

1/10 scale based on a fictitious hemlock forest location in the North American Pacific Northwest. Fully autonomous operating standard-gauge railroad trains, motor vehicles (semi trucks), horse-drawn wagons, motorboats and even a flying Army helicopter!

Here is the Trainzroute (built in N3V Games Trainz a New Era SP4) description as follows:

Location: fictitious place in Pacific Northwest, United States of America. Squatch County, Mondaho (Idaho and Montana combined).

Attractions: Hemlock and pine forests, boating lake, dam and river. Mountains. Canyons. Mesa. Rolling hills. Farmlands. Ranch. Dairy. Sawmill. Logging operations. Rural setting. Small fictitious incorporated town, Prestonville. Recreational camping facility. Hunting scenes. Fishing scenes. Wildlife scenes. Excursion trains through timber country. Horse-drawn carriage rides. Helicopter. Long spiral railroad tunnel through fictitious Pine Mountain Range. Drivable semi trucks.
A few road and railway bridges and trestles. A few surprises.


Fictitious Railroad: Prestonville District, Squatch County Division, Preston Railroad Company

Benchwork Height: 1 meter

Model Transportation Layout: Outdoors, 1/10th scale

Route Actual Area: 422.73 acres, 0.661 sq. miles, 0.661 sections (0.0183 US survey townships)

Length of One Complete Loop of Main Line about the Perimeter of the Benchwork: 1.832 miles, actual

Length of Mesa Branch Line including Extension: 1.375 miles, actual

Pine Mountains RR Tunnel Length, Portal to Portal: 1.898 scale miles, 1002.144 feet (actual)

Prestonville Yard Length: 7,078.50 feet

Yard Lead Length (on each end): 7,295 feet

Yard Wye Capacity: End Bumper to Switch Lever Length - 346.50 feet, doubleheader UP Big Boy locomotives, 2 such engines with tenders coupled back to back

Footnotes: Squatch is short for Sasquatch or Bigfoot, an ape-like animal reputed to have been commonly sighted in these northwestern parts of North America. A 'spiral' tunnel is both graded and curved. A long spiral tunnel is much more exciting and challenging to construct than a short, straight and level one. The perimeter of the benchwork is about the main area of the layout where human spectators observe the attractions of the layout as opposed to staging areas where vehicles and trains are kept hidden for purposes of timed holding and release for occasional travel about the visible spectator area of the layout. The benchwork is the border about the elevated part of the layout with the essential model scenery as opposed to the lower open floor area where human observers walk and stand.



A series of video tours of this grand physically-and-economically-impossible layout in action to follow soon.
 
Part 1 of 5: Helicopter Tour is now ready to watch!

At 34 minutes into the video:
Did you try to model some sort of a military facility in there? If so, check out the DLS for all my ammo bunker objects (or download my "Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach" route to get an idea).

When painting large area's, try using a small brush size and hold down the rotate building when applying to avoid the checker block effect that I see in some area's of your route.

Keep up the good work!
 
At 34 minutes into the video:
Did you try to model some sort of a military facility in there? If so, check out the DLS for all my ammo bunker objects (or download my "Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach" route to get an idea).

When painting large area's, try using a small brush size and hold down the rotate building when applying to avoid the checker block effect that I see in some area's of your route.

Keep up the good work!

No, the Army helicopter, a Bell Huey, is imagined to be Reservists or National Guard on training maneuvers. They might be assisting the US Forest Service in fighting a wild fire or surveying for an Army Corps of Engineers project. That helipad is a forest ranger station with a lookout tower. The USFS does have their own aircraft,I believe. I don't mind the checker block effect. On a billion-dollar 1/10-scale PHYSICAL railroad layout, however, I would indeed be much more artful. I imagine all sorts of autonomous model vehicles on such a layout of a grand scale as 400-something acres of real estate. Self-flying helicopters, self-driving speedboats, self-driving automobiles and trucks, self-driving horse wagons and of course, self-driving trains. Trainz makes it fun to live the fantasy.

Given most model railroaders' budgets, this is more up my alley for a Trainz route concept to be made physical:

 
That helipad is a forest ranger station with a lookout tower. The USFS does have their own aircraft,I believe. I don't mind the checker block effect. On a billion-dollar 1/10-scale PHYSICAL railroad layout, however, I would indeed be much more artful.
Impressive Videos Jon keep on developing, I like a good back story. 😎
Given most model railroaders' budgets, this is more up my alley for a Trainz route concept to be made physical:

I had back until 2010, 9x14 HO Layout, also ran N- Scale too. Z Gauge was interesting, but just to small for bear paw hands.


Then age and back pain set in, no more climbing under 3 foot elevated RR to make repairs and new build outs. It was a very hard decision. Along comes 2014 and I found Trainz, never knew it existed.

Had been playing with Model Trains since 1955, Lionel Flyer was my first set, from my Pops Xmas time. Wished I still had it kinda sort of. But didn't understand the Value of Certain Toys back then.

Dummy me :unsure:

Happy Camper and learned a lot since then. ;)

Thank you for sharing with us. ☺️
 
Impressive Videos Jon keep on developing, I like a good back story. 😎

I had back until 2010, 9x14 HO Layout, also ran N- Scale too. Z Gauge was interesting, but just to small for bear paw hands.


Then age and back pain set in, no more climbing under 3 foot elevated RR to make repairs and new build outs. It was a very hard decision. Along comes 2014 and I found Trainz, never knew it existed.

Had been playing with Model Trains since 1955, Lionel Flyer was my first set, from my Pops Xmas time. Wished I still had it kinda sort of. But didn't understand the Value of Certain Toys back then.

Dummy me :unsure:

Happy Camper and learned a lot since then. ;)

Thank you for sharing with us. ☺️

My guess is that a 4.50' x 9.10' physical HO layout as shown in my Trainz Christmas train video could run up as high as $5K in total costs. This raw materials, finishesd products and any additional tools and hobby supplies that need to be bought. My locomotives would have special numbers and road names. Some cars might be custom-painted with one-off liveries. Where does one buy a true-to-life static model Santa sleigh in HO scale with realistic-looking reindeer?
 
My guess is that a 4.50' x 9.10' physical HO layout as shown in my Trainz Christmas train video could run up as high as $5K in total costs. This raw materials, finished products and any additional tools and hobby supplies that need to be bought. My locomotives would have special numbers and road names. Some cars might be custom-painted with one-off liveries. Where does one buy a true-to-life static model Santa sleigh in HO scale with realistic-looking reindeer?
"true-to-life static model Santa sleigh in HO scale" searched in Google, all kinds of Assets in HO.

I haven't played with HO since 1986. Do to work and relocation, my old Route wouldn't fit right in our Garage, eventually probably 6 yrs ago I decommissioned it and just kept some of the Rolling Stock.

Back in 1983-4 or so, I figured with construction, over 10 years, and buying HO stuff, about 11K $ was what I spent. Imagine now what it costs. if I recall correctly. 3 feet of Nickel Track, 75Cents. Switches, 1.50$, Engines, 5-50$ or all Brass, 100-200$.

Never bought Brass, I just didn't like the looks of it, looked strange to me. I would go shopping about every 3-4 months, when I had enough money saved up, or there was a really good sale on things I needed or wanted. Budgeting was very important back in those days. It was too easy to get into Credit Trouble.

Transformer Packs to operate the Trains, 15-20$ Plywood 1/2 " 5$ I think. 1-2 1-4 Sticks of wood by 8Feet, probably 25-50 cents, maybe less back then, and you always bought in 12 Packs Bundles to save.

My American Flyer Lionel 1956 Xmas maybe 30-40$ this is just a wild guess.

Tuff time when I had to take it apart. Was 3 day Job.

What I tell my friends, do everything you can now, because someday Age will catch up.
 
Is that steam passenger train supposed to be in the steam era in the 1920's-1930's, a very long tourist railroad that probably also operates freight service, or a mainline steam excursion on a freight railroad?
 
Is that steam passenger train supposed to be in the steam era in the 1920's-1930's, a very long tourist railroad that probably also operates freight service, or a mainline steam excursion on a freight railroad?
The layout is supposed to be a fictitious modern railway in a fictitious location in North America. The steam-powered trains, several of them, are only excursion trains in modern times. I am a fan of both American diesel-electric locomotives and American steam locomotives. My favorite steam engine company is Baldwin, and my favorite diesels are General Motors Electromotive built from the 1930's, through the 40's, 50's 60's and '70's and into the 1980's. From the 1990's onward, I have found American-brand diesel loco models produced then to be visually and audibly less appealing.
 
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