HO Layout On Tour - Banning (CA) Train Festival
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Model Railroads Of Southern California’s next layout tour will be a one-man show but we have a very good layout to offer and it is located just a few miles west of the Banning Train Festival venue.

Werner Brandt’s HO scale Gateway to the Sunset Route will be open October 19 and 20 (Saturday & Sunday, same days as the Festival) from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. The address is 1243 Massachusetts Avenue, Beaumont. This is just north of Interstate 10. Massachusetts Avenue is only accessible from 13th Street.

This layout is appearing for the first time on our layout tour program and recently was featured (with operating sessions) during the PSR/NMRA Convention in the Inland Empire.

The Gateway to the Sunset Route layout is designed for operation. Set in Southern California in 1973, it traces the Southern Pacific’s route from an imaginary Taylor Yard east through Fontana, Colton Yard, Beaumont Hill and into the Coachella Valley. There is an active branch to the iron ore mine at Eagle Mountain.

The layout also features a shared Santa Fe and Union Pacific route from the Los Angeles basin to Riverside and San Bernardino with the San Jacinto Branch down to Hemet. In addition to the three freight railroads the tracks often see Amtrak plus the fictional Eagle Mountain and Hemet Valley Railroads.

The design features two large loops, each with East and West staging yards. The two levels are connected by three helixes. With the 5:1 fast clock and at operational speeds the SP loop is about twenty-two scale miles, while the Santa Fe loop is about fifteen scale miles. A time table is used for all scheduled trains with track orders for extras (Form 19 only to keep it simple). Car forwarding is accomplished with car cards and four-cycle waybills.

The trains are controlled by MRC DCC, with up to thirteen radio cabs and two tethered cabs. Most scenery is completed and many permanent structures are in place.

If the PSR Convention website is still up you can see images of this layout at the bottom of the page:
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Be advised that there is a duck-under at the entrance to the layout room.

Banning Train Festival Website:
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Bob Chaparro
Moderator
Model Railroads Of Southern California
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