Building the N scale Salt Lake Route, part 2

Read Model Railroader author Dick Christianson's online journal

Published: November 15, 2011

September 5, 2008

Union Pacific, but where?

Well, here I am again. This time it's 5:45 a.m. - a half hour later than last time! I'm here to report, though, that I've made some progress.

Once I agreed to build a project layout for MR, I needed to come up with a plan. We agreed the layout would be modern era, Western theme, N scale, DCC-controlled, and using the new superelevated-curved track from Kato. Editor Neil Besougloff also suggested something featuring stack trains with maybe a place for a meet with Amtrak.

I've more or less settled on a general concept for the layout: Western desert through a canyon on one side. On the other side, a yard for storage/staging/operation, including a container facility and engine terminal.

But which railroad and where? Western, modern era, N scale, mainline big-time railroading. Hmmm. For all practical purposes, that means BNSF or Union Pacific, right?