Cal Central Club CCMRC Cab Ride around the layout on Cab Ride

California Central Model Railroad Club
California Central Lines, HO & Hon3.

The Cal Central is a free lanced California-based mainline railroad placed "some where in the West" with the San Francisco Bay Area, Northern and Southern California, the Pacific NorthWest, and Arizona/Utah all represented 'seamlessly'. The 400ft mainline includes five towns in a folded dog bone with two reverse loops that also provide staging. In addition there is a dual-gauge branch-line. The Cal Central is fully scenicked with beautiful backdrops painted by railroad artist Mike Kotowski. Operations include passenger trains and through freights that set out blocks of cars at on-line yards. Additional assignments include a high traffic branch-line, locals that switch on-line industries, a dispatcher, 2 major yards and a smaller yard that support the mainline trains and also local industries - and the branch-line interchange.

Operations and equipment on the CCMRC are "theme based" with typical theme examples being "AT&SF transition era" and "WP in the 1960's". The Cal Central features a purposeful but casual atmosphere.

The layout is housed in the historic Agnew depot built for the narrow gauge South Pacific Coast in 1877. The SPC was later acquired by the SP - and the depot is right on the active Coast mainline.

DCC (Digitrax) wireless control, telephone communications, track warrant operations, fast clock, car card and waybills used for freight car forwarding. Fascia labeling, handouts, track diagrams and schematics.

The Cal Central was the cover layout of the Feb 2000 Railroad Model Craftsman - and the Feb 1988 Model Railroader.

More pictures here (taken in 2004):

http://www.pbase.com/tracktime/calcen...

Video taken with a Sony HDR-AS15 HD cam