The layout at a glance
Name: Midwest Lines
Layout owner: Rolf Plachter
Scale: HO (1:87.1)
Size: 33 x 52 feet
Prototype: freelanced, inspired by Chicago, Burlington & Quincy; Rock Island; and Union Pacific
Locale: Denver to Milwaukee
Era: mid-1960s
Style: around-the-walls
Mainline run: 400 feet
Minimum radius: 36″
Minimum turnout: no. 4
Maximum grade: 2 percent
Benchwork: open grid
Height: 43″ to 53″
Roadbed: cork on ¾” plywood
Track: code 100 flextrack
Scenery: Hydrocal over window screen
Backdrop: tempered hardboard and crescent board with hand-painted and commercial backdrops
Control: Lenz Digital Plus Digital Command Control
This track plan originally appeared in the December 2020 issue of Model Railroader.
