The C&C – Christom & Clarendon Route
My Railroad is the Christom & Clarendon which is a bridge route owned by the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe in the foothills of the Rockies. The layout occupies an area of 24 feet by 38 feet and the staging yard is in a separate room which is 7 feet by 22 feet. I have designed my layout to be a single level railroad with a height of 48 inches. I have installed Easy DCC for train control and will have radio throttles for the road crews and tethered throttles for yard operators and staging. One aspect of model railroad I enjoy is making my own turnouts using Fast Tracks jigs.
My operating concept to begin with will be west bound trains leaving staging will enter Christom yard and change crews and power for railroads to the east if necessary for thru freights or continue on to Clarendon yard where this is done. The trains from the east do the same upon entering Clarendon yard. Power can be the SP, SF, C&C, CGW, CNW, CBQ or GN. There is an interchange with the GN along with several locals that switch the industries along the main line. A branch line serves a large cement plant plus gravel operation.
The towns on the railroad are named after family members and include Christom Yard, Kathleen, Dawn, Thomas, and Clarendon Yard. This is my fourth railroad with this family orientated theme. Construction began in 2011 and the bench work is complete, along with the back drop. Currently underway is the installation of DCC power to the tracks. I have several battery powered engines that I use to test track arrangements and turnout function.
The railroad was conceived to be operations based, as my layout in Lombard was. I have an older computer driven car forwarding system that I would like to use if it can be adapted to this layout. The program is no longer supported. The isle width is generous for people meets and my basic operating concept is for the railroad to be fun to use.
