Sierra Railroad 1955

This HO scale model railroad is based on the Sierra Railroad that started its long and glorious history in 1897 and is still in operation today. The time frame for the layout is the Spring of 1955 when the first diesels (Baldwin S-12s) arrive on the railroad and the logging railroads of the Pickering and WSLCo are still going strong.

The layout is situated in a 1,500 sq ft basement and from the SP Depot in Oakdale to the Sierra Depot in Tuolumne the Sierra mainline is 10.5 scale miles long. The trains are controlled by CVP’s EasyDCC with 8 tethered throttles and 8 radio throttles. The majority of the track is Walther’s Code 83 track and turnouts with Code 70 track used on the logging lines. With the exception of about 9 Tortoise Switch Machines all turnouts are Caboose Industries ground throws.

In addition to the Logging Railroads the Hetch Hetchy Railroad is represented at Hetch Hetchy Jct with its Wye and its mainline heading off to Groveland and a staging track. Running through Oakdale is the SP Eastside Branch running from Stockton south through Oakdale to Merced. Stockton and Merced are the major staging yards of the layout that feed cars to the Sierra and receives cars from the Sierra. Also running into Oakdale is the ATSF branch from Riverbank which also feeds cars to the Sierra and receives cars from the Sierra.

Regular scheduled Operating Sessions are held every other Thursday evening starting at 7:00 pm. On the alternate Thursday nights the Operating Session is held at Steve Hayes’ WP layout in Soulsbyville. See the Calendar Page for the specific dates. Also 3 to 5 times a year weekend sessions are held usually on both layouts. These sessions are usually by invitation so if you are interest please contact us about the availability of openings.