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Sacramento & San
Joaquin RR |
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The Sacramento & San
Joaquin occupies as space of 28' x 23' It is a point to
point layout depicting 1980's era operations in California's
San Joaquin Valley. During the late 1970's and early
1980's the Santa Fe and the Southern Pacific sold or abandoned
most of their secondary and east side branch lines in
this area. These lines provided the basic "concept"
behind the
Sacramento & San Joaquin with a emphasis on switching
and local freights. The northern most point is a
small industrial park at South Sacramento, CA. The southern
most point is the ATSF & SP interchanges at Mid Valley
near Visalia, CA.
The layout is fully operational with the exception of the
Penny Newman grain complex at the Port of Stockton (waiting
for switch machines) and the
yard at Mid Valley. |
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Left -
This is a view of layout looking through the entry door.
South Sacramento is on the left (west wall), Lemon Cove
-Visalia is on the far wall (north wall) and the Port of
Stockton is on the right (center peninsula). Track
is all Peco Streamline Code 83 flex track and mostly #6
and #8 electro-frog turnouts. The minimum
main-line radius is 36" with easements.
A NCE 5 Amp Pro System is used for
control. All but one turnout are controlled with
Tortoise switch machines. I am experimenting with
the Atlas Signal Control System and Tomar US&S
"searchlight style" signals. One approach lit block
is installed and operating between Lemon Cove and the Port
of Stockton.
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Left -
This is a view of the layout from just inside the entry.
The Port of Stockton is in the foreground and the
Calaveras Cement Company at Riverbank is in the back-round
(east wall).
The swing bridge is from Overland
Models. The train in northbound and is about to
enter terminal trackage at the Port of Stockton. The
Sacramento & San Joaquin is currently using SP
power. Eventually a fleet of predominately Alco
locomotives with be painted and lettered for the S&SJ.
An up to date tour (08/25/09)
starting at the south end of the railroad at Mid Valley,
CA and working north toward South Sacramento follows: |
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Mid Valley, CA |
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Mid Valley
was originally going to be a small 8' long staging
yard with 5 tracks over the a desk in the dispatchers
office. Before construction started, a visitor
suggested that it was to small (short) and that I should
consider expanding it into a functional yard/interchange.
The net result was a yard over 16 feet long that stretches through the dispatchers office and into the adjoining work
bench area. As I was cutting
holes and assembling bench work I decided to add a few
inches of width and add a couple of spurs for several new
S&SJ customers.
Left - The mission style depot and freight
house are from Walthers. I'm not sure that this
depot will remain but it will work for now as a joint ATSF/S&SJ
agency. All that's needed now is a
few palm trees and some ground cover.
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Left - The
current operating plan calls for a Santa Fe "East Valley
Local" out of Hanford, CA to arrive at Mid Valley early in
the morning. (staged before the operating session starts).
This train will consist primarily of covered hoppers bound
for Penney Newman Grain at the Port of Stockton. It
will terminate at South Sacramento where the Santa Fe
maintains minimal facilities in the form of a freight
house, team track and pig ramp.
A typical East Valley Local will
consist of a pair of four axle EMD's and 12-16 cars,
primarily covered hoppers. As illustrated here, the
train will have to be doubled into the yard at Mid Valley
before heading north on the S&SJ. The railroad
is set up to handle longer trains, but I have found that
"locals" with 10-15 cars work the best.
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Lemon Cove -
Visalia, CA |
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Prior to World War II, Southern
California was a major producer of citrus. The
growing region stretched throughout the Los Angeles basin,
east into Riverside County and north into the San Joaquin
Valley. While development and changing markets
negatively impacted citrus production, oranges and
grapefruit still move by rail out of the lower San Joaquin
Valley.
Left - Approaching Lemon Cove from the
south, Golden State Packers dominate the scene. A
member of the Sunkist Cooperative, Golden State operates a
modern cold storage facility and a juice concentrate plant. The spur in foreground leads to
the Lemon Cove/Visalia Team Track.
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Left -
The Golden State Packing complex is being built from
several Walthers RJ Frost Ice and Storage (Kit #933-3020).
It is my opinion that most commercial kits are to small for the
industries they are supposed to represent and that
RJ Frost is no exception. On the plus side, this kit
is easy to modify and using several kits to make a larger
structure
is a simple project. The large blue Sunkist sign was
built up using Evergreen Styrene and the lettering came
off a Microscale decal set for the National Orange
Company.
The Backdrop Warehouse makes a photo
mural of a orchard near Bakersfield, California. It
should be perfect for the backdrop behind the packing
houses.
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Left - The green building to the right
of Golden State Packing belongs to the Valley Growers
Association. Two Walthers Valley Citrus Growers
(#933-2926) were combined to make this building. A
third Valley Citrus kit will be used straight from the
box, with minor modifications, to add a 2nd building to
the Valley Growers complex. The spur in the
foreground belongs to Visalia Lumber Company.
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Right - Leaving Lemon Cove,
northbound train movements are restricted by this US&S
block signal. It protects the partially hidden
section of track between Lemmon Cove and the Port of
Stockton. Atlas signal components were used to
control this Tomar signal. |
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