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Layout

PC&E model railroad layout

The westbound tour of our layout begins at the most eastern location in Orchard

Control System

The PC&E uses an NCE DCC for control. Previously we had used DC with 6 mainline cabs. Motorized PFM switch machines that throw the turnouts are controlled from a lineal panel.

Construction

Benchwork height is 42" from the floor and rises to 70" with trackwork and up to 90" with scenery. Open grid benchwork with risers and track board cut to shape are employed. Scenery is conventional hard-shell (Hydrocal plaster soaked paper towels over chicken wire) covered with a Vermiculite "mud" and scenic colored ground cover with cast plaster rock work. The backdrops are hand painted on masonite. Viewing is at eye level. A variety of hand-built structures inhabit the landscape.

Statistics

The mainline is nearly six scale miles in length (356 ft.) and is a point-to-point design with three track holding loops at Holden and Waitsburg.

In 1996 a hidden transfer track was installed between the east and west ends to add operating flexibility and allow for continuous runs.

About 135 track switches are installed to date. It is estimated that the total track placed will approach 2,000 feet.

Operating Era

Since the operating era of the PC&E is the decade of the 1950s, there still are passenger operations, though a bare skeleton of what they once were. During the summer months elaborate "rail fanning" tours travel this scenic route.

Layout Tour - Introduction

Location

The PC&E is an HO scale (1/87th) model railroad depicting an imaginary but plausible route over the Cascade Mountains of Washington state, roughly following State Route 12 over White Pass, from the Yakima area to tidewater on the Columbia River.