Oakhurst Railroad

Layout Scale: HO & G

Layout Size: 8.5 x 11 ft HO / Garden

Layout Concept:

The Oakhurst Railroad is a unique layout because it combines both an indoor HO scale doubled-deck railroad with an outdoor G-gauge railroad. The model railroad depicts this fictional logging and mining railroad running through the Sierra town of Oakhurst, California in the 1930’s. While no real railroad ever ran through Oakhurst, the area is rich in logging and mining history, and famous railroads operated nearby.

Layout Description:

The double-deck HO layout is constructed inside a 8.5 x 11 office area walled off from the rest of the garage, with the scenery 100% “complete”. In 2016, the garden railway was added in a major backyard reconstruction project. Today, the Oakhurst Railroad is a two-level, point-to-point railroad with a helix, an optional continuous run, and an operational “connection” to an outdoor garden railway. A complete round trip train run can be up to 5 scale miles.

Operations Description:

Using Car Cards and Waybills, trains are assembled in the Oakhurst yard and traverse the layout to the logging or mining areas on both the lower and upper levels. When trains reach Camp 3, the train transitions from the HO layout to the outside garden railway, where the train continues to Camps 4 and 6. Logs are brought from the logging camps located on the HO portion or the garden portion, and taken to the North Fork sawmill on the lower level. Cut lumber and freight are brought to Oakhurst for interchange with a Southern Pacific branch line, which connects to the mainline in Fresno. Passenger trains take guests from Oakhurst to the Yosemite resort in Wawona and the campground in the garden at Happy Camp. Traffic management is via Track Warrants or TT&TO. Up to 6 crew members can operate the layout including positions for dispatcher, inside operators, and outside in the garden, where trains can be operated by both an engineer and brakeman. No dispatcher is usually needed for TT&TO operations as all train orders are written in advance, but a dispatcher position is utilized if Track Warrants are used instead.

Morning Session is TT&TO. Afternoon Session is with Track Warrants.

Crew Jobs:

* Dispatcher
* Inside crew: 3 engineers
* Outside crew: 1 engineer and 1 brakeman

   www.oakhurstrailroad.com

   www.facebook.com/Oakhurst-Railroad-207253652651132

Layout Owner

Marty Bradley

Location

Rossmoor, CA

Scale

HO

Layout Size

9 ft x 11 ft

Mainline Size

88 ft

Era

1930s

Crew Complement

4 - 6

Completion

Track: 100%
Scenery: 100%
Electrical: 100%

Control System

Digitrax

Dispatching Method

Timetable and Train Order

Car Forwarding

Car Cards/Waybills

Fast Clock

5:1

Pets

None