See what the mail man brought me last Tuesday. 

I have been waiting for many years for an accurate UP caboose. Kudos to Athearn for bringing these to us. These cars are remarkable. I can't wait to get something more than a 3 foot test track to check out the factory installed SoundCar decoder. Definitely will need more from next years release. They are doing CA9s as well as the CA8s.

 

 

 

Here is the lower deck track plan. 

Westbound from the helix we emerge at Dover, ID on the former GN mainline. First thing we encounter is the gravel pit. Next we come to the sawmill at Laclede, ID. 

Coming around to the other side of the peninsula we come into Newport, WA/Oldtown, ID. We have the Milwaukee and Great Northern depots right next to each other. Both buildings still stand to day but the MILW is a museum and the GN is an office building. 

Continuing north along the Pend Oreille River we come to Usk, WA. Usk is still a happening place railroad wise. Though the town only has a hundred or so people it has a paper mill, a sawmill and in the Pend Oreille Valley short line era, the company shops and main offices. Next we have the largest tunnel on the line then the Box Canyon Bridge over the Pend Oreille River before the lines enters Metaline Falls. 

Here at MF is the end of the line for the MILW branch or the Pend Oreille Valley Railroad short line. I intend to model the transition era between the MILW and the POVA. I am thinking I would alternate operating sessions between the MILW and the POVA. 

After Metaline Falls is the Winslow logging company branch. This line actually came from the Colville area 35 miles west of here and it was torn up 35 years before my era. However, It is located next to my office and am including it as sort of a diorama that happens to be attached to me main layout. At least that is how am I justifying a 30s era shay and logging camp on my 70s ere layout. I know it is out of place in space and time but it will look so cool when you first enter the door of the train room. Besides it's my railroad and I can do whatever I want.After all Model Railroading is Fun. Hey that is a catchy slogan I wonder if Model Railroader Magazine would want to use it.

By the way the track plan is from XTrakCAD. It is great and free track planning software. It had a bit of a learning curve but is superb once you learn it. Which really was not that hard thanks to their IO Groups page and of course You Tube. Next time I look at the upper deck which will be Sandpoint and those trademark NP and SI bridges.

 And here is the finished pad already for the builder. Also, here is a plug for Greystone Contracting in Chewelah. Great job Jarrold. Five stars.

 Here we go.

 After several years of planning and saving the time is here. The ground breaking for the building to house the railroad has begun. We are building a 24 x 44 foot pole building. Most of which (24x32) will be train room. The remainder will be for general storage. The lot looked like this last week. You can see my neighbor has a similar pole building right next door.

The very first post of a brand new blog. My name is Mike and live in Colville WA. I am preparing to build an HO scale model railroad depicting Sandpoint, Idaho and Pend Oreille River Valley. That includes the Burlington Northern, Milwaukee Road, Union Pacific's Spokane International, and the Pend Oreille Valley short line. It is a little late for my early70s to early 80s time period, but a little Montana Rail Link may occasionally sneak in.

Why did I pick this area for my layout? Well the short answer is, because it is so cool. Besides I like bridges. Also, because that is where and when I grew up. So I guess I am trying to relive my childhood and teenage railfan years.