Australasian Region
National Model Railroad Association Inc

Division 1 (Queensland) - HO Module SIG

The SIG: The Division 1 HO Scale Module SIG is made up of NMRA members who decided to combine their resources and modeling skills to display HO Scale North American prototype at public exhibitions.
The Layout: The layout is named 'The Wayne Branch' and was designed and built as a lightweight, portable, end-to-end switching layout, displaying various industrial areas. Over the length of the branch, each module is connected railroad wise by a mainline and a parallel switching track. Trains are controlled by NCE DCC which allows infinite flexibility in movement of trains.
The layout being end-to-end, with standardized module interfaces, has numerous benefits. Space required to display is effectively halved, individual modules can be built any length, modules can be displayed in any order, and in any number.
Glenn Steven's 'Stevens Yard', a six spur storage yard is always at the left hand end of the layout, with the remaining modules on display extending to the right of 'Stevens Yard' in no particular order. However, experience over the last three years of display has proven that Bob Cuffe's 'Mojave Flats' is an ideal fit for the right hand end. The remaining operational modules are Paul Skehan's 'Venables', Ian Venables' 'Milora', and Barry Turner's 'Hillside'. Modules are also owned or being constructed by Graham Emery, Mike Crnjanin and Charles Clarke.
The layout concept has been proven over the last three years with the number of modules displayed varying between two and five, depending on module availability, and space allocated at shows.
The Display Concept: The end-to-end concept was adopted both to enable the operators to 'operate' the layout, and to have the trains completely in the public view at all times.
The Operating Concept: The operation of the layout revolves around moving appropriate freight cars to and from 'Stevens Yard' via the mainline as required by particular industries. These switching moves are controlled by a hand written ticket, requesting pickup or delivery of freight cars by the 'Stevens Yard' yardmaster using appropriate road loco's. Requested rolling stock is left on the main siding at the requesting industry for local switching by that individual industry, with rolling stock that needs to be returned to the main yard, left on the main siding of the industry concerned to be collected.
'Stevens Yard', 'Hillside', and 'Mojave Flats' have passenger stations, with the other two operational modules having halts. This allows either a railcar or a one coach train to move passengers along the 'Branch'.
Membership: New members are welcome, but for insurance purposes, all members of the SIG must belong to the NMRA, For information, contact Glenn Stevens at div1sup @ nmra.org.au.
2011 Photo Update: Photos will open in a new window; close it to return to this page. Captions above left.