CONCEPT AND OPERATION
SPOKANE PULLMAN AND SOUTHERN RAILWAY
The Railway is in a fictional location in the Pacific Northwest with a time frame from 1946 to 1958, allowing for steam locomotives and first generation diesel locomotives.
The mainline runs
from the city of Spokane in the north to Lewiston in the south. Both towns are hidden with stub end yards. On occasion, we can connect the yards to make a loop. We do this to allow continuous running, for shows and visitors. For operations, trains are run point to point, either north or south.
The mainline of the Spokane Pullman and Southern (SP&S) is shared with subsidiary roads (The Spokane Inland Empire, The Caldwell and Eastern Idaho, and the Pullman Lewiston and Eastern Railroad). A few other major railroads that share our tracks are the Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Lackawanna, B&O, Pennsylvania, Boston and Maine, Florida East Coast, Western Pacific, Union Pacific, and Southern Pacific.
Two sub-divisions serve the mainline. The Margo Sub-Division and the Central Valley Sub-Division.
The Margo sub-division runs from a mainline interchange yard (Lakota Yard) to the town of Ty River to service its small industries of wood products, grain elevators, and potato sheds. It then continues on to Fort Craig to service the towns stock pens, grain elevators and packing sheds. The line then runs through the mountains to the town of Margo where it terminates.
The railroad of the Chuckaluk Lumber Company ties into the Margo Sub-Division in the town of Fort Craig and interchanges with the mainline at Lakota Yard.
Island Yard, in Pullman, is the interchange point for the Central Valley Sub-Division and was once an independent Traction Company, but was absorbed into the Spokane Pullman and Southern Railway (SP&S). The line serves the towns of Anita (David Yard), Sandpoint, Keller Creek, Lynnellen, and Central Valley with freight service only.
Passenger traffic was abandoned when the Traction Company became a part of the SP&S, and the overhead wire was taken down. The towns along the way have petitioned management for passenger service. Railcar service has begun, and is done during most operation.
The Chuckaluk Lumber Company has its headquarters in the high mountains west of Cascade and interchanges freight with the mainline at Lakota Yard. The lumber company has limited trackage rights on the Margo Sub-Division, which allows it to run from the town of Fort Craig to Lakota Yard. Passenger service is run to the town of Chuckaluk on a daily schedule. Passenger service is either a "Doodle Bug" or "RDC" Car, but occasionally you will find a steam engine or diesel pulling a coach on the line.
Membership in the club is available and new members are always welcome. We meet each Friday night to run or work on the layout, with the first Friday of the month being our general meeting night to discuss club business. Visitors are welcome any night, except for our general meeting night. Please call (916) 446-5614 in advance of your visit.
Like most layouts, our layout is a work in progress with a lot already done, but much more to be done.