Operations Road Show

The Operations Road Show layout is a modular constructed layout which features realistic TT & TO operations on 55 miles of the Wabash Montpelier Division's Second Sub-division between Peru and Lafayette, Indiana. Designed with unobstructed access to fit into the typical hotel ballroom at NMRA National Conventions, a unique aspect of the modules is that they are double-sided; doubling the running length and with about one foot of depth to the modeled scene running between towns, and expanding out to 24 inches for towns. The layout features a "live" fiddle yard and 18 destination locations with 45 industries, team tracks and interchange points. Another unique aspect is the operating semaphore train order signals at depots and towers. All communication between the crews and the dispatcher as they negotiate the 400 feet of mainline track is by written train orders, car cards, waybills and telephonic OS reports. The layout had its public debut in July 2003 at the Maple Leaf 2003 NMRA National Convention in Toronto. In addition to being in the SIG room here in Hartford, it was displayed at the 2005 Cincinnati Convention and hosted operating sessions during the 2007 Detroit Convention (but in it's home location, not the hotel.) Intensive research for the layout included a detailed list of "Givens and Druthers" used to make design decisions. The layout was written up in the February 2006 issue of Rail Model Journal and is expected to appear in an upcoming issue of Scale Rails.

Contact Info Operations Road Show
Saline, MI
wab2ndops@yahoo.com