Mike models the Rock Island Lines Mid-Continent Route from St. Paul (Inver Grove Yard) to Kansas City (Armourdale Yard) in HO scale. He enjoys modeling mid-western railroads; therefore, you’ll see trains of other midwestern railroads operating on the layout such as the Burlington Route, Chicago Great Western, Minneapolis & St. Louis, Chicago & Northwestern, Milwaukee Road and Illinois Central.
Details of the Layout:
Name: Rock Island Lines
Scale: HO
Prototype: Rock Island Lines Mid-Continent Route
Size: 30' X 40'
Locale: Midwest, St. Paul to Kansas City
Era: 1964 - 1974
Style: Around the walls, walk-in
Mainline run: 777 feet
Minimum radius: 30" on main line
Minimum turnout: no. 6
Maximum grade: 1.96%
Benchwork: open grid
Height: Lower level = 40", Upper level = 60"
Roadbed: cork on 3/4" plywood
Track: Micro-Engineering code 83 on main line and code 70 for yard, siding and industry tracks; Walthers and Micro-Engineering turnouts
Scenery: card board strips with plaster cloth and joint compound
Backdrop: commercial backdrops and hand painted
Control: Digitrax DCC
#1321 northbound at Albert Lea, MN
CGW at Clear Lake Jct., IA
CGW at Kansas City
CGW in northern Missouri
CGW Snow Plow at CGW Yard in Kansas City
Crossing Battle Creek near St. Paul, MN
Crossing West Indian Creek at Nevada, IA
Dayton's Bluff near St. Paul, MN
Des Moines, IA
E8 and U25B at the Des Moines Station
F9Am 4152 & GP7 1277 at Clear Lake Jct.
GP9 #1321 at UP Yard in Kansas City
Hooping up train orders at Nevada, IA
Near St. Paul, MN
Nearing Inver Grove Yd
RI 120 passing under wagon bridge
Train #18 at Clear Lake Jct., IA
Train #18 at Des Moines, IA
Train #18 at Trenton, MO
Zephyr Rocket in southern Minnesota
Zephyr Rocket leaving St. Paul, MN
Des Moines, Iowa
Passing through a cut and under a wooden wagon bridge
Rear of freight train in Southern Iowa
Rounding a curve near Albert Lea, MN
RI Layout Lower Level
RI Layout Upper Level
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