SWAMP CREEK & WESTERN
RAILROAD ASSOCIATION

211 Railroad Ave. Edmonds, WA 98020

LAYOUT ELECTRICAL MANUAL

Established December 5, 2000

Revised by page

II. LAYOUT - GENERAL

II. LAYOUT - GENERAL

The Swamp Creek & Western Railroad Association's HO scale Port Columbia & Eastern (PC&E) model railroad display is located in the old freight room of the Edmonds, Washington ex-Great Northern now BNSF, depot at 211 Railroad Ave. The room is approximately 28' x 30'.

Benchwork height is 42" minimum height from floor rising to 70". The mainline is some 356 feet in length and is a point-to-point design with three track hidden holding reverse loops at each end. A hidden transfer track also connects the ends. There are two branch lines: one, for mining, with overhead catinary, and another for logging. The total length of track is approx. 2000' using commercial Code 100 track.

Six inch tall linear control panels follow the edge of the layout and house turnout toggles and route indicators, block control selector switches for track power, hidden track train occupancy indicators and other control devises. Operators follow their trains around the layout and line up power and route on the linear track diagrams as they traverse the line.

There are about 150 mostly Shinohara brand turnouts operated remotely with PFM switch machines. SPDT Toggle switches employ diodes to convert AC power into positive or negative DC voltage to operate the switch machine motors.

Track power is with six alpha/color coded conventional DC mainline throttle units and six auxiliary (branch and yard) units. Single pole twelve position rotary switches are used to select the track power for each isolated section or block of track. Auxiliary relays in the turnout switch machines may also route power into adjacent track sections.

The twelve throttles are Innovator 3000/3500 brand walk-around plug-in hand controller type with built in memory, braking and momentum. The hand-held controller units are plug into respectively alpha/color coded four wire phone jacks distributed around the edge of the layout.

Optic sensors in the major sections of hidden track are used to detect trains and illuminate light emitting diodes on the panels to indicate occupancy.

Layout Mapping Procedure

Mapping the existing layout precisely is achieved in the following manner:

1. FIELD MAPS

Track centerlines, switch points, building corners and other key elements are systematically measured and plotted out on a standardized 1/4" : 12" graph sheet. Thus the typical area plotted on each 8-1/2 x 11 sheet is three feet by two feet with a slight margin of overlay. (36" x 30")

A base line must be established such as the layouts edge which is carefully measured along its length, with the south and east walls' junction as the (zero, zero) point. Actually, for convenience sake, we used the layout's edge along Willow Grove as the north/south zero point and labeled these alpha (foot A,B,C... etc.). East/west feet are numeric (foot 0,1,2,3... etc.).

Perpendicular measurements are then taken off the baseline. Track centers, etc. are systematically noted at every six inches and unique key elements are plotted where they lay. The points are then connected with the necessary notations.

All such field copies shall be dated, labeled and archived.

The maps are then compiled by either scanning or copying to a reduced size. Depending upon the desired output they may require tracing and/or inking, etc. They can be compiled electronically with your computer or pasted up on a board as required.

2. BRIDGE, BUILDING and PLOT MAPS

To get an accurate footprint of our bridges, buildings and real estate the models should be plotted on the same size 1/4" : 12" graph sheets. At least two reference points must be included so as to properly align this sheet with the layout. (In other words, don't worry about its grid location, just give us two key points on the layout such as a turnout point and corner of the layout.)

Such drawings are required of each permanent structure installed on the layout. One copy should be attached to its file and another copy should be submitted to the map file.

3. SCALE LAYOUT PLAN

For technical references, the reduced field copies offer unprecedented detail. In them though, because of the graph, they become cluttered so redrawing is of benefit.

Thus, very accurate one inch to the foot (1":12") scale drawings of the layout can be created in ink on mylar by tracing over the reductions. The draftsman can choose which elements to emphasize.

The following Station Designations shall be applied to all documents for the purpose of the uniform identity.

PC&E LAYOUT STATION DESIGNATIONS

1. Description and Purpose

The purpose of these drawings is to identify track and switches, and uniformly designate same for such purposes as electrical, mechanical, operational and maintenance.

The TS drawings start in Orchard Yard East and move sequentially to the west ending with the hidden loops.

Note that the first two drawings for Orchard (TS-1, TS-2) will appear to be up-side-down in relation to the isle observer but one must remember that in this particular location the track has looped back around in relation to the rest of the layout. These two drawings were done this way to keep all the drawing in the same east to west sequence.

Attached to the drawings is a list of Station Designation and a description of the Turnout Designations (TD). These designations should be applied uniformly throughout all applications and aspects. Thus the electrical department's switch OR-E-01 is the same as the maintenance department's and it is so designated on the schematic, the control panel and the dispatch panel and so on. All fault reports should use this same designation, should they be required.

The electrical drawings here in shall be in the care of the Electrical Department Head and the Second Vice President.

The draftsman will hold onto the originals and distribute field copies as necessary.

At such times as deemed necessary updated copies will be distributed. At that time all outdated copies should be discarded or marked "OBSOLETE" with the update date.

In certain cases it might be necessary for a member or another department to inform the Electrical Department of a change or error on the drawings. The procedure for this will be to make a copy of the particular drawing and mark it with the corrections and/or changes. Use a yellow pencil to mark the things to be removed. Use a red pencil to mark the things to be added. Write a brief description and the reason for the change and submit it to the Electrical Department Head or the Second Vice President for action.

2. TRACK SCHEMATIC DRAWINGS (TS) - INDEX

3. TRACK SCHEMATIC DRAWINGS - TURNOUT DESIGNATIONS (TD)

Switches will be designated as follows: AA-B-n.

"AA"= Station designation, see section C above.

"B"= E, W, B, X, Y or Z
  E= east facing
  W= west facing
  B= junctions with branch lines
  X= mainline crossovers
  Y= engine facilities
  Z= industrial trackage

"n"= turnout number, priority: east to west, closest to main.

In most cases East and West turnouts of same siding should have same number.

SWAMP CREEK & WESTERN
RAILROAD ASSOCIATION

211 Railroad Ave. Edmonds, WA 98020