Welcome to my HO scale representation of what the Spokane and British Columbia Railway (S&BC) might have looked like in 1955, if it had survived until then. The railway was a precursor to the famed Kettle Valley Railway in southern British Columbia, and ran between Grand Forks, BC and Republic, Washington, but was abandoned by 1920. The layout is a work of “historical fiction” in that, while the locations are real and the railway did exist, I am using my modeller’s license to pretend that it survived until at least 1955, and was extended both north of Grand Forks and south of Republic as the prototype railway had planned to do.
The Prototype
- Prototypical/Freelanced: Prototypical – Historical Fiction
- Prototype: Spokane & British Columbia Railway
- Location: Grand Forks BC south to Republic WA and on toward Spokane WA
- Era: 1955
- Interchange: CPR, GN, UP
The Layout
- Location: Anmore BC
- Scale: HO
- Size: 12’ x 40′
- Control: Digitrax DCC with radio throttles
- Accessibility: Five steps down into the basement
- Length of mainline: 100′
- Yards: 1
- Passing sidings: 5
- Scenery complete: 20%
- Carspots: About 30
- Motive power: Diesel and steam
- Rolling stock: Kits and ready to run
- Track construction: PECO and other flextrack over cork and plywood on L-girder
Operations
- Clock Speed: 4:1 or 6:1
- Session Length: About 3 hrs, but time is continuous
- Crew Size: 3 – 4
- Dispatching: None
- Car Forwarding: Wrote own software to generate switch lists
- Communication: Just talking
- Jobs: 3 – 4
- Train lengths: About 10 cars
- Session atmosphere: Relaxed, fun, informal, very few rules
More Information
- Website: sbcrailway.ca
