Wendell1976

Here's a modern picture of Mason Street in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the BNSF Railway sporting the "Executive" locomotives(Grinstein green and cream). https://www.railpictures.net/photo/623258/ Wendell Idaho, USA

Here's a 1990 picture of the Burlington Northern in Fort Collins, Colorado. The train is moving down Mason Street. Check out those old-time cars in the picture such as that Ford LTD station wagon(powder blue)! Fort Collins is about 60 miles(96 kilometers) north of Denver via the Interstate 25(I-25) freeway and is the home of the main campus of Colorado State University. https://www.railpictures.net/photo/419806/ Wendell Idaho, USA

Here's a picture of the New Orleans & Gulf Coast Railway in Gretna, Louisiana. The train is running down Madison Street. Gretna is a suburb of New Orleans. https://www.railpictures.net/photo/741200/ Wendell Idaho, USA

Here's a picture of a Norfolk Southern Railway train in Elwood, Indiana. The train is moving down South "C" Street with a heritage locomotive honoring the Monongahela Railway. Elwood is about 50 miles(80 kilometers) north-northeast of Indianapolis. https://www.railpictures.net/photo/741866/ Wendell Idaho, USA

By looking at the track plan in the MR magazine, it appears that you can fit only three 50-foot boxcars on the mainline track and a locomotive plus three 50-foot boxcars on the switching(shunting) lead. Lance Mindheim only made two unloading/loading spots for boxcars on the industry track. A 50-foot boxcar in HO scale is about 8 inches long. If I was building this type of layout, I would make the longer spur track the "industry" track with a 4-boxcar capacity. The shorter spur track would be my "sorting" track with a 3-boxcar capacity. My switching lead would be long enough for a locomotive plus six boxcars to fit on. Wendell Idaho, USA

In the August 2020 issue of Model Railroader magazine, Lance Mindheim created an article about knowing the basic skills in building a layout by using a single piece of lumber. Mindheim created a one-turnout layout called the Practice Plank RR in HO scale. The layout measures only 72 inches(182.88 centimeters) in length and 8 inches(20.32 centimeters) in width. The area of the Practice Plank RR is only 4 square feet/576 square inches(3,716.1216 square centimeters) and it is a true, micro layout by the late Carl Arendt standards. Wendell Idaho, USA

Very true. Even Lance Mindheim has said that it is not about the number of turnouts on a layout that matters. It is the number of car spots on a layout that's important. Wendell Idaho, USA

Here's a picture of a Alaska Railroad passenger train in Talkeetna, Alaska. Denali(formerly Mount McKinley) is in the background and is the tallest mountain summit in North America at 20,310 feet(6,190.488 meters) above sea level. Talkeetna is about 113 road-miles(180.8 road-kilometers) north of Anchorage. https://www.railpictures.net/photo/523406/ Wendell Idaho, USA

Here's a couple of pictures of a CSX Transportation train in Downtown Tampa, Florida. The train is running down Polk Street. https://www.railpictures.net/photo/736736/ https://www.railpictures.net/photo/735441/ Wendell Idaho, USA

Here's two new pictures of the Union Pacific Railroad in Anaheim, California. In the first picture, the train is running down Santa Ana Street. In the second picture, the train is moving down Olive Street. Anaheim is about 35 miles(56 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles via the Santa Ana Freeway(Interstate 5, I-5, or "The 5"). https://www.railpictures.net/photo/739431/ https://www.railpictures.net/photo/739844/ Wendell Idaho, USA

Sebastian, that was a nice picture you had just shared. The Southern Pacific Railroad used GP-9 locomotives well into the 1990's for switching operations. Wendell Idaho, USA

Very true, JZ. This is a historic Rio Grande line that is rusted badly. However, there has been some talk about Union Pacific reopening the line. The reason why UP had closed this rail line back in the 1990's is because it had cost the railroad too much money to operate it. Wendell Idaho, USA

Here's a 1996 picture of a Southern Pacific train in Pando, Colorado. The train is on a upward climb on Tennessee Pass. Pando is about 100 road-miles(160 road-kilometers) west of Denver. https://www.railpictures.net/photo/718794/ Wendell Idaho, USA

Here's a picture of a Amtrak Coast Starlight train taken in Gig Harbor, Washington. The massive Mount Rainier is in the background with a lot of snow on it in July(summertime)! Gig Harbor is a suburb of Seattle/Tacoma. https://www.railpictures.net/photo/331285/ Wendell Idaho, USA

Here's two pictures of a Amtrak California Capitol Corridor train in Benicia, California. The train is crossing the Benicia-Martinez Bridge over the Carquinez Strait. The Benicia-Martinez Bridge is a series of bridges that crosses the Carquinez Strait between the cities of Benicia and Martinez. The northbound and southbound lanes of the Interstate 680(I-680) freeway is part of this bridge group. The Benicia-Martinez railroad bridge is the second-longest bridge in North America and the longest bridge west of the Mississippi River. Benicia and Martinez are suburbs in the Bay Area(San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose). https://www.railpictures.net/photo/377524/ https://www.railpictures.net/photo/285109/ Wendell Idaho, USA