Jim Sabol / Photos by Dave Faussett and Jim Sabol
“How happy were they, Jimmy?”
“Happier than a model railroader, operating on a DCC layout, with a fresh set of batteries, a smooth locomotive, and a clear board from the dispatcher!”
Layout owner Chuck Ricketts explains DCC controller to first time operator Dave Faussett
About once a month, a group of about ten guys, modelers in scales from N to 3/8,” gather at Chuck Ricketts’s home in Lacey to operate the Northwest-themed Sherwood, Shelton, and Sarazen Railroad in On30 scale.
At a typical four-hour Saturday afternoon session, the gang observes a twenty-four hour fast clock to run two first class passenger trains northbound (a.m.) and two southbound (p.m.), two through freights north and two south, a logger, a harbor local, and five or six extras. Yardmasters at Shelton and Oyster Bay drive their switch engines hard but prototypically to construct and deconstruct departing and arriving traffic, giving priority to livestock, perishables, and non-time-sensitive ladings.
Jim Sabol works the dispatcher’s desk with timetable and fast clock
Station stops by the fast passenger trains are brisk but adequate for customers to board and disembark safely. All activity is charted and facilitated by a dispatcher with a timetable, lots of coffee, a sharp pencil, an OS sheet, and phone communication with station agents (who double as passing engineers OS’ing their arrival at each station). The dispatcher remotely operates working order boards at each station to confirm a train’s authority to proceed to the next control point, where the engineer again OS’s his progress.
Layout owner Chuck Ricketts assigns duty to Yardmaster Greg Wright at Oyster Bay
The SS&S is no plywood central. Operators run their trains through beautifully executed scenery and backdrops, and a multitude of mostly scratchbuilt, appropriately dated and located stations, tipples, liveries, quarries, sawmills, water towers, docks, and warehouses. No matter what scale a person models at home, after ten minutes operating on the SS&S, a visitor feels as if On30 is the perfect scale—at least for today.
Jim Elder checks out several of many structures he scratchbuilt for the wharf on the SS&S
Frequent operators on the SS&S include Scott Buckley, Ted Curphey, Mike Davidson, Josh Delp, Brian Ferris, Scott Groff, Robert Grove, Ryan Bates, Charles Lundberg, Allan Manson, Roger Nulton, Sue Ritter, Jim Sabol, Marvin Schurke, Robert Scott, Doug Walters, Larry Williams, and Greg Wright, assisted by first time operators Lee Bishop, Dave Faussett, and John Phillips. Layout co-builders, maintainers, and troubleshooters include Jerry Barnes, Jim Elder, and Jerry Julian.
The busy Sherwood sawmill was designed by Chuck Ricketts, scratchbuilt by Chuck and Jim Elder, with machinery built by Bob Staley
Chuck Ricketts’ Sherwood, Shelton, and Sarazen will be open to visitors on March 2 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. as part of the annual Olympia Layout Tours.
Operating sessions on a home layout are excellent fun. Almost what the hobby was invented for.
I’ve had the privilege of operating on any number of home and club layouts. This article was a great reminder of how much fun it is.
I’d love to see more of this kind of article.
Dan P