Great Northwestern Railway
Providing
Conestoga Service to the High Desert and Rocky Mountain States
Route of the LUXURIOUS San
Juan passenger trains
Welcome to the
A freelanced HO scale switching layout.
The story of the GNW is that they bought up the old
narrow gauge right of way from the Colorado Southern (itself later merged into
the Burlington Route and the AT&SF), including the old R.O.W of the Denver,
South Park and Pacific, which the GNW has rebuilt in standard gauge. Later
acquisitions developed the GNW as a north/south line connecting the Great Basin
to south central US. It is now primarily a bridge line between the SP at
Tucumcari, NM and the D&RGW at Green River, UT. There is also the South
Park Division providing connections to Denver, CO.
The model RR is set somewhere between Colorado and New
Mexico along the main. Only a few dozen feet of mainline are modeled,
connecting two 8-track staging yards. A single major yard, Valley Gate, is
placed along this main. A branch line comes off the main to Warm Springs, an
industrialized town. The operating scheme is the exchange of cars between
industry and mainline trains by means of locals and manifest freights. There is
also commute service between Valley Gate and Warm Springs, and a daily Amtrak
train, the San Juan, through Valley Gate.
The era is late 70s/early 80s with a mix of first and
second generation diesels. Due to limited cashflow, the GNW necessarily uses
second hand power for most of its trains. SP provides the power for most of the
through trains.
Enjoy the story!
~ Directory
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About the Railroad
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LCC Integration |
Size:
The layout is situated in an area approximately 30 x25, configured with an
around-the-walls shelf and two peninsulas. The Phase III buildout was
completed in the spring of 2019 and provides considerably more space for
crews and trains.
Train
Controls: Train controls are DCC by MRC PA Wireless and PA tethered throttles
at the yards. All locos are sound equipped.
Train
movement scheme: All trains except passenger and one express freight are
extras and run off a train sequence. Passenger service is run per the
timetable.
Authority
to the main is via written track warrants, as issued by the dispatcher.
Operators are expected to know the limit of their authority at all times.
Car
Movement Scheme: Cars are moved by car cards and waybills. The Micro-Mark card
system is used. Train Packs are used to define trains and carry instructions.
GNW Model Railroad Concept and Standards
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Layout
Command Control on Layout Command Control, a.k.a., LCC, is a data
highway for the control of layout accessories, such as turnouts, signals and
other accessories. It can also accept data inputs like block occupancy and
push buttons.
Check out the following pages: * A general overview can be found HERE. AND: The Arizona Railroad Historical
Society put together an AWESOME clinic on how they implemented LCC. Check out
THIS
link! Blog
posts chronicling the story are: |
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Check out
the GREAT NORTHWESTERNS PHASE III BUILDOUT BLOG!!!! Its filled with OODLES of useful tips, tricks, and techniques! |
Wiring,
Controls, LCC and Turnouts Lets
Configure a Node The Beauty of LCC (With a bonus section on connecting LCC to
PanelPro) More
on LCC - Configuring a Turnout LCC
- Configuring a Push Button ~WITH~ Indication CHECK OUT
THIS YOUTUBE VID ON HOW IT ALL CAME TOGETHER: THE VID! And if that
is not all, here is the at
OpenLCB.org Going to do some clinics on LCC and put
together a demo layout to show the technology. See more at: |
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OPERATOR'S
SECTION
Planning to Operate at
the GNW?
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THE ENGINE
HOUSE STORIES FROM THE SHOPS |
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The Story of the GNW GE
Gas-Turbine Electric Locomotive AKA Athearn Veranda GTEL with a Soundtraxx
Tsunami Decoder |
From
the VERY EARLY DAYS of the GNW
Below are a few of my first
web-posts. Preserved here for fun and reference. |
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So you want to install LEDs in your Locos? Be sure to do some homework. Hint: what one person calls white is another persons BLUE! Check it all out in this little study called: |
The Whistlestop NEWS FLASH: TRAIN SERVICE STARTS TO |
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SOME TIPS AND TECHNIQUES IN PROGRAMMING SOUNDTRAXX
TSUNAMI DECODERS:
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BEMF Tuning - Tuning a Soundtraxx Tsunami for Slow
Speed Control
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The Whistlestop
#8 - Sand Creek Trestle The Whistlestop
#7 Sound on the GNW! |
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Advanced Ops: Tuning a TSU to simulate a heavy train with: UPDATED! |
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All
About Sound Decoders (Note: This study was done in early 2007. Since then, the GNW has standardized on Soundtraxx Tsunami Decoders. These files are kept here for posteritys sake!) |
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The
Sound Decoder Comparison and Test Program
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And the Sound Decoder Test Program Follow
Up Comparison |
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And speaking of SOUND Here is a YouTube video of a crazy idea using a couple Soundtraxx EMD non-turbo sound decoders
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So what if you want to marry an MRC Prodigy Advance system to a CVP Zonemaster booster? Read and find out |
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We
hope you have a pleasant trip on the GNW, and we look forward to seeing you
again soon!
Detlef Kurpanek
Chief
Brass Hat
Of
the
Great
Northwestern Railway
Email: GreatNorthwesternRwy@msn.com
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Site Last
Updated: January 12, 2020
