Our Layout - The Katahdin Valley

Premise of the Katahdin Valley

Like a lot of model railroad clubs our club layout, the Katahdin Valley Railroad, is a fictional railroad that exists in actual locations. One version of the broad term 'proto-freelancing' the story of the Katahdin Valley states that the portion of the old Maine Central from Waterville to Bangor and the Bangor and Aroostook from Northern Maine Junction to Brownville Junction falls under the ownership of the Katahdin Valley. In our theoretical world, Guilford Rail System never existed East of Waterville, Maine. The era of the layout is somewhat fluid, but is generally defined as 'the recent past' although on any given night, you might see a steam locomotive rolling around as well. 

The Layout

The current KVR layout is actually the second layout the club has constructed during its history. See the history for more. We use NCE DCC for controlling our layout, which is approximately 20 feet by 40 feet. It is possible to run continously around on the main line, but the majority of our members like to switch one of our yards. The layout includes a branch to Dexter and Dover which splits off the main line and offers a switching opportunity that can take hours to switch out. Major yards on the layout are Searsport, Bangor, Brownville Junction and Bucksport. During each operating session a variety of switcher, local and road jobs operate bringing cars from location to location around the layout. We run the layout as if it was a real railroad. Three jobs operate into Bucksport alone. The various meets and differing directions of jobs cause operational difficulties that each train has to deal with. We operate without a dispatcher (dark territory) so each crew is ultimately responsible for making sure the track is clear ahead. Its SERIOUS FUN!

If you want a 30 minute video tour of the full layout - check out this video put together by Joey Kelley: