Fast Facts About the MV&P Layout

Name:

 Meramec Valley & Pacific Lines

Scale:

 HO  1:87

Prototype Era:

 early-1960's to mid-1970's

Prototype Region:

St. Louis to Kansas City, Missouri
(Click on map at right for route)Click for route map

Prototype Railroad:

Proto-freelance:
Missouri Pacific and Frisco Railroads

Space:

 Basement, offset T-shape 38 ft  x 11 ft wide, with 10 ft of the room being 19 ft deep

Givens &
Druthers
GENERAL DESIGN GIVENS & DRUTHERS
  • Walk-around design with no duck-unders
  • Max. grade of 4%
  • Min. aisle width of 30”
  • Mainline radius of 26 to 28” wherever possible; min. of 22" only where required
  • Point to point operation
  • Two staging yards
  • Mainline run of sufficient length to denote distance between major industries/towns
  • Emphasis on realistic operation but also with some sense of scenic realism
  • All turnouts located within easy access
  • Code 83 rail on mainline; 100 in staging yards
  • Incandescent dimmer-controlled lighting above layout
  • Lenz DCC
  • Fully Signaled Mainline
  • Interfaced with computer using Railroad & Co. Train Controller Software
  • #6 turnouts on mainline; #4 for yards, spurs, if needed Decoder enabled, motorized switch machines on mainline; manual in yards
  • Emphasis on freight but with some short passenger consists
  • Don't fill up every possible space in the room (gasp!) with layout
  • Avoid a spaghetti-bowl appearance
  • Railroad with a purpose: scenic realism, but primarily built with operation in mind
  • Incorporate light-weight construction materials

Governing Rolling Stock:

 85' Passenger cars, E8 and PA diesel locomotives

Relative Emphasis:

 Layout emphasis chart

Scenic Elements:

Mainline through rural Missouri scenery (trees, farmland, rolling hills). Major shipments to include grain and coal. Small industry, medium-size towns. Goal is to gradually replace plastic structures with more laser-cut wood models.

Construction

 Double layer, L-girder, plywood, foam board, plaster
cloth, grout

Curves

 26" maximum radius, 18" minimum radius

DCC Control

 Lenz DCC

Mainline

 Atlas Code 83 (Code 100 in staging)

Signals

 Tomar, driven by CTI Signalman Cards

Software

 RR&Co. TrainController Silver

Turnouts

 1 #8, 44 #6, 15 #4, 1 double-crossover, 4 curved

Track Plan

 Click Here