The Concorde Branch
Welcome to the Concorde Branch of the Willow Creek Railroad.
The Concorde Branch is an HO-scale industrial switching layout. The layout is 2' x 12' in size and is constructed as two modules, each measuring 2' x 6'. Two backdrops (TracksideScenery.com), each 6' in length, complete the scenery on the layout. The layout operates using DCC as provided by a Digitrax DCS51 command station and two UT4 throttles.
The Concorde Branch is a physically separate layout from the main Willow Creek Subdivision, but is operationally connected via the railroad car float operations at Concorde (on the Concorde Branch layout) and Bucky's Crossing (on the Willow Creek layout).
Construction of the Concorde Branch was begun in 2019 and completed in early 2020. A series of articles appeared in the Crossties newsletter of the James River Division of the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) in 2019. These articles covered the design, objectives, and track plan for the layout; construction and scenery of the layout; and operation of the layout as an extension of the Willow Creek Subdivision. These articles are available for download, below. (Left-Click the "Pop-Out" button in the upper right corner of each document-image below to view and/or download the document.)
Concorde Branch: Introduction
This article introduces the layout, talks about its objectives/goals, and presents the track plan.
Concorde Branch, Part 1 - Introduction.pdfConcorde Branch: Construction
This article discusses construction of the layout including benchwork, track and turnout installation, and installation of the DCC system.
Concorde Branch, Part 2a - Construction.pdfConcorde Branch: Have Layout, Will Travel
This article talks about the transportable nature of the layout, and a simplified scheme for operating the layout in a public venue with non-model railroaders.
Concorde Branch, Part 2b - Travel and Show Ops.pdfConcorde Branch: Scenery
This article presents how scenery was added to the layout including basic land forms and ground cover, the scratch-built railroad car float, and the various other buildings and structures.
Concorde Branch, Part 3 - Scenery.pdfConcorde Branch: Operations
This final article discusses how formal model railroad operations on the layout are conducted as an extension of the main Willow Creek layout.
Concorde Branch, Part 4 - Operations.pdf