Shannondell Model Railroad
  • Home
  • Welcome
  • First Looks
  • About SMRC
  • Events & News
  • Layout
    • SMR Rolling Stock
  • Membership
  • History
    • Club History
      • Layout Changes in 2018
      • Layout Changes in 2019
      • Layout Changes in 2020
      • Layout Changes in 2021
    • Railroad History
    • Railroad Operations History
  • Education
    • What is a Railroad?
    • Railroad Infrastructure
    • Transport
    • Rolling Stock
      • Motive Power
      • Un-Powered Cars
      • Maintenance of Way
  • Videos
  • Photo Gallery
  • Contact Us
  • External Links
  • Home
  • Welcome
  • First Looks
  • About SMRC
  • Events & News
  • Layout
    • SMR Rolling Stock
  • Membership
  • History
    • Club History
      • Layout Changes in 2018
      • Layout Changes in 2019
      • Layout Changes in 2020
      • Layout Changes in 2021
    • Railroad History
    • Railroad Operations History
  • Education
    • What is a Railroad?
    • Railroad Infrastructure
    • Transport
    • Rolling Stock
      • Motive Power
      • Un-Powered Cars
      • Maintenance of Way
  • Videos
  • Photo Gallery
  • Contact Us
  • External Links
Picture
Picture

Layout
​​
​
Track

Introduction
 
The Shannondell Model Railroad (SMR) is an HO scale (1:87) layout.  The SMR layout occupies a 25 by 30-foot (7.6 x 9.1 meter) room on the Lower Level of the Ashcroft Clubhouse at 10000 Shannondell Drive, Audubon, PA.  The layout includes over 1,100 linear feet (30.5 meters) or 18.4 scale-miles (29.6 scale-km) of track, as illustrated below. 
Picture
The layout models the 1950s-60s era in eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey with a freelanced configuration focused on the Pennsylvania, Reading and Lehigh Valley Railroads.  Track is configured into a High Line and a Low Grade with connections between them.  An independent shuttle track is also present that is used to run remote diesel cars (RDC) between the amusement park in Northville and Harbortown at the shore.  The layout features a large passenger station at Shannondell City, an engine facility and several industrial areas.  There is extensive lighting throughout the layout.

Work Rooms
 
There are two rooms adjacent to the main room, a 10 x 16-foot (3 x 4.9 meters) room that houses a staging yard, as well as office and computer space (see photo below).

Picture
This is a place-holder; need a more expansive photo
A 6 x 16-foot (1.83 x 4.9 meters) room provides workshop space, as seen in the photo below.
Picture
Members in the Work Room
Digital Control
 
The Shannondell Model Railroad is controlled by a Digitrax Digital Command Control (DCC) system [https://www.digitrax.com]. The shuttle track is controlled by a Tam Valley Depot DCC Train Shuttle System [https://www.tamvalleydepot.com].
 
The layout was originally a straight digital control (DC) system with an extensive block structure. The illustration below is the current configuration, 
which shows the original block schematic and how this has been effectively utilized in the current DCC configuration.

Picture
block_schematic_191001.pdf
File Size: 497 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Power Districts
 
The layout is divided into six power districts as shown in the following diagram.
Picture
Track Signal System
 
We have begun implementation of a track signal system on the High Line.  We currently have the two blocks of the High Line along the west wall with signals.  We use JMRI PanelPro [https://www.jmri.org] to control the signal system based on occupancy detectors and turnout positions. We have fully implemented a signal system on the High Line portion of the layout. A signal system for the Low Grade portion of the layout is planned.

​For additional details about the Shannondell Model Railroad layout, see Rolling Stock​.
Back to Top
  • Home
  • Welcome
  • First Looks
  • About SMRC
  • Events & News
  • Layout
    • SMR Rolling Stock
  • Membership
  • History
    • Club History
      • Layout Changes in 2018
      • Layout Changes in 2019
      • Layout Changes in 2020
      • Layout Changes in 2021
    • Railroad History
    • Railroad Operations History
  • Education
    • What is a Railroad?
    • Railroad Infrastructure
    • Transport
    • Rolling Stock
      • Motive Power
      • Un-Powered Cars
      • Maintenance of Way
  • Videos
  • Photo Gallery
  • Contact Us
  • External Links