Note: masks are currently required by the owner, and their use may be subject to owner’s decision on the day of the event.

The HO Bear Creek & South Jackson fills 1100 sq ft with a partially double-decked five mile, single track mainline. Era is 1952. The layout is a proto-lanced (more lance than proto) railroad occupying much of the territory as the Natron cutoff. Dispatching is TT&TO. Freight forwarding is CC&WB.

There are two yards, Bear Creek and South Jackson. Control is via Digitrax with simplex radio throttles. The dispatcher, two station agent operators, and yard masters communicate via a phone system. Another phone system connects crews that are about to leave the under-the-peninsula staging trackage with Toh Jct Tower (Toh = Top Of Helix). There are 6 towns on the mainline and more on the three branchlines. Staging is split between three areas – main staging (under the peninsula) has 19 tracks in two sub-yards).

Crew positions include:  Dispatcher, Oakhill Station Operator, South Jackson Station Operator (this job is also the Toh Jct Towerman), two yard masters, a Redland local switch crew (Redland on the lower deck has 40+ car spots and gets its own crew), and up to seven road crews.

Road crews run haulers (moving point to point making block swaps at the yards) and turns (starting in a yard, running to a switching area, then back to the yard). 

There are three turns – Oakhill Turn, Junction City Turn (Junker), and the Browning Turn (Brat).

Significant scenery has been added since the 2019 Woops.

Charlie, the layout builder, was interviewed in the April 2022 issue of Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine. https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/mrh-202204-april-2022-12330229

Click to see the operations page on the Bear Creek & South Jackson’s web site.

Click on a thumbnail below to view a larger image: