This is layout construction update #67, for June 3rd, 2025, on my HO Scale model railroad layout.
In this update I talk about scenery work at Powder River, completion of the Lander benchwork with the help of a couple of friends, putting the finishing touches on the power switches for the roundhouse tracks at Casper, finding the photos I needed for the Walter Schultz Grocery Warehouse, working on Casper ice house number one, and preparing a couple of brass steamers for conversion to DCC and sound.
In this month's Cronkite Segment I talk about the CB&Q in Wyoming Version 2 in the second half of 2007.
The layout represents the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad and the Chicago & North Western Railway in central Wyoming during the timeframe 1930-1945. The layout is (or WAS) all steam except for the Doodlebugs that were used in passenger service between Casper and Lander. Now it's mostly steam with a few early Blackbird paint scheme diesels on the Burlington line. Model locomotives include Proto 2000, Broadway Limited, Spectrum and Bachmann.
The layout features Fast Tracks turnouts and fully weathered rolling stock. All mainline curves are superelevated. The layout is multi-deck with nearly nine scale miles of mainline track. One of the key scenic features is a twenty-plus foot long representation of the Wind River Canyon near the center of the state.
The layout is run by a radio NCE Power Pro DCC system, augmented with wi-fi using a Wifitrax WFD-31 and TCS UWT-50 throttle.
Backdrops are panoramic photos of the actual locations around the state. Track arrangements in most towns on the layout are based on Sanborn maps of the towns in the 1930's and 1940's. Industries, with only one or two exceptions, are representative of actual industries that existed in each town during my modeled period.
This series of videos is published monthly on the 3rd.
Link to the benchwork video:
https://youtu.be/A7lQ0rVnxHI?si=xDyK9SPH24STgRwM
Link to Roy's (Containman68) channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@UCJtmr5BFzAd9Pouf0qXrSYg
Link to Roy's video of my layout:
https://youtu.be/Gpp_bSbA2xw?si=XKtL4hhl0eapjQ0a
My Patreon page:
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=80405798
My website:
http://thecbandqinwyoming.com/
Chapters:
00:00 Titles & Intro
02:05 Old Photos of the Walter Schultz Grocery Warehouse
03:45 Preparing a PFM/Tenshodo GN H-6 Pacific for DCC
08:27 Powder River Scenery Work
09:28 Finishing Up the Power Switches for Roundhouse Tracks at Casper
09:57 Lander Benchwork
12:25 Miscellaneous Work and Talk
12:52 Cody Benchwork
16:50 Casper Ice House
17:20 Preparing a Nickel Plate Products R-1 Prairie for DCC
18:34 Roy (Containerman68) Visit
19:00 Outro
19:58 The Cronkite Segment