Seth Neumann

Union Pacific Niles Canyon, HO

The layout is set in the East Bay Area in 1999. The railroad represents the former Western Pacific San Jose and 1st Subdivisions, now the UP Niles, Oakland and Milpitas Subdivisions. The railroad is a branchline which supports an Auto plant (NUMMI) and a number of smaller industries.

The layout is built in a 400 sqft purpose built room. Construction is single level. Dispatching is by Track Warrant Control and the dispatcher has a screen showing occupancy and turnout control until CTC is fully implmented.

We expect the layout to be about 30% sceniced for Bayrails.

A unique feature of the layout is that there is no yardmaster, only a Clerk. This is because the prototype Milpitas Yard has no permananet switcher. The clerk is responsible for managing the yard and the neighboring NUMMI complex, writing switchlists to instruct the crews where to place cars. All crews do their own work when passing through the yard.

A typical session runs about 5 hours and uses 9 operators. Jobs include: Dispatcher, Clerk, NUMMI Job (2 crew, 2 shifts), UP 54 Local, BNSF trackage rights local, 5 through trains and an industry switcher.

NCE DCC with wireless throttles, some sound decoders, FRS Radios, 2:1 fast clock, switchlists. Uncoupling 100% manual using pics.