Dennis' Model Railroad Page 01

DENNIS GRIGASSY’S Model Railroad

My NEW “Old Orchard & Southern Railway” is now under construction in a second-story room inside my home. The OO&S is using much of the trackage, rolling stock, controls, and computer programming from my now-demolished Waterside Railway.

Located on the second floor of my home in a 12'x18' room, the Old Orchard & Southern Railway is being built for "operations," runs modern equipment, and so far has two 4-track staging areas, two towns w/switching, a turntable/roundhouse area, and an around-the-room loop for continuous running.

The railroad is "operated" as point-to-point with the turntable serving both "ends" of the run, uses wireless EasyDCC for control, and RailOp for computer-generated train manifests.

The RailOp "dispatcher's" option is used for real-time scheduling of trains.

The layout is still under construction and a second loop with one or two more towns for switching is being added. Near future plans call for an around the room hidden grade to raise the main line to a complete second level, with 3 or 4 additional switching locations (towns).

While not a "large" layout, even in it's infancy it can keep 2-3 operators busy for several hours.

CLICK HERE to see photos of the OO&S

Courtesy of Frolin Marek

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Updated 11/17/08

I invite you to see what the WRY used to be like … Enjoy!

The Waterside Railway
Dennis Grigassy's HO Scale Model Railroad

The HO Scale Waterside Railway was being constructed in an air-conditioned room at the rear of my garage. The layout consisted of the main line with several hundred feet of track, and numerous turnouts, spurs, sidings, and yards. The railroad used Digital Command Control with wireless throttles from CVP Products/EasyDCC. Waybills and switchlists were generated by computer using RailOp software.

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Engine 4213 switches the town of Werner as truck traffic rumbles past overhead, while engine 8607 emerges from Tunnel No.1 with a double-stack container train bound for the west coast.
(Click on photos to see a larger view)

The railroad has about 80 freight cars, three passenger cars, seven diesel locomotives, and three steam locomotives. Trains operate from the six-track main freight yard in the town of Rayville, through three towns, around a helix, through three more towns, and terminate at the town of Westridge on the upper level.

There are three "interchange" tracks and a two-track "staging" area. Color light signals are being installed at several locations along the right-of-way.

Running the model railroad through a typical "day" in prototype fashion, with setting out and picking up freight cars at the various industries in the towns as dictated by the waybills, will keep three or four serious "operators" busy for several hours. The railroad can also be run in a round-and-round mode to just show it off to non-model railroad visitors.

The three-turn "helix" was constructed in the un-air-conditioned garage adjacent to the railroad room. (A helix is a stacked spiral of track that allows trains to ascend or decend vertical heights within a minimal space.) My helix is not meant to be part of the "visible" railroad, and has enabled me to build a complete "second level" within the railroad room about 12"-14" above the original layout. Below is a photo taken as the first train enters the lower portion of the helix on its way to the upper level.

Train 122 with two locomotives and twenty cars of mixed freight enters the helix from the town of Werner. It will travel three times around spiraling upward gaining about 14" in height while traversing the approximately one scale mile of the helix. The track leaves the helix and re-enters the train room at the upper-level town of Schmiedekind.