Planning Phase

Before committing to building a layout, the planning phase is the most important.

I am into realistic operations, since I like to run trains with a purpose, and I strongly believe in point-to-point track plans that require a proper planning phase.

I usually draw my own track plans, but after reading an article in October 2022 Railroad Model Craftsman issue about Tom Johnson’s Cass County Railroad HO scale layout, I ended up shattering two firm points of my modeling: N scale and original track plans.

Therefore, I opted to switch to HO scale and adapt Cass County’s track plan to the railroad and region I chose, rural north-central Montana.

The image above (source: American Rails website) shows the Burlington Northern rail network map as it appeared in 1988, which is close enough to my 1985 setting. Another Burlington Northern network map from 1983 shows the same information for the selected area.

I model a 50-mile branch line inspired by the agricultural corridor from Power to Choteau and south to Fairfield in north-central Montana. Rather than reproducing a specific town, the layout captures the regional character and operating feel of the area, while taking reasonable freelancing liberties with geography and track arrangement.

The Buffalo Creek & Western interchanges with Burlington Northern at Power, on the main line between Shelby and Great Falls. From there, the shortline runs west toward Choteau and branches south at Eastham Junction toward Fairfield.

The layout blends typical industries of the region like grain elevators, feed mills, fertilizer dealers, and related facilities, to convey the overall “vibe” of the area without modeling any one location exactly.

See the trackplan for more details.