Now Proudly an Active 501c3 Organization!
PO Box 2645
Indianapolis, IN 46206
naptownmrr@gmail.com
(317) 643-0779
Member:
Quick Overview of the Layout
Layout size: 40ftx60ft (approx)
Layout Type: Twice-through
Minimum Radius (Mainline)
Layout Scale: HO
Power Type: DCC
DCC System: Digitrax
Control: Walkaround, Radio, WiFi
As you walk into the Layout Room, this is the first sight you are met with. Before you, Tim Clark's award winning compact Steel Mill; to the right the first of 5 main peninsulas. A skyboard and prgrammable LED lighting lets us really set off the layout like a shadowbox diorama.
The first area you can enter into beckons with bright colors, bright lights, and bustling scenes
As you walk into the Layout Room, this is the first sight you are met with. Before you, Tim Clark's award winning compact Steel Mill; to the right the first of 5 main peninsulas. A skyboard and prgrammable LED lighting lets us really set off the layout like a shadowbox diorama.
The primary layout within the club is our 40ftx60ft twice through HO scale layout with a single double-ended staging yard at one end. Additionally, the layout posesses two reversing loops, allowing two trains to circle largely unattended without ever crossing paths. The smallest radius on the layout is 30" on the mainline, averaging 34", with primarily #6 switches. The layout operates on Digitrax DCC. DC operation is welcome under a cab number of #00. We are also able to run trains via Smartphone, via WiThrottle (Apple) or EngineDriver (Android)
This layout is the second in the club's iteration and almost forty years old at its heart. Parts of the layout have been built and several times. Currently, there is no governing signal system, only individual block detection through parts of the layout. Protoypical Operations are held intermittently, and members are permitted and encouraged to come down and run trains at any point in time they like, provided they take care of the layout.
On a "Twice Through" layout, a train traverses a folded over loop that passes through a "scene" twice before returning to its original start point. Usually, this is done on multiple levels, sometime alternating, and sometimes one level of track either "concealed" within the scenery of another, or incorporating one section as the fore- or background of the other. This does not however mean a train HAS to run a complete loop, thanks to several reversing loop sections, and several yards with facilities to turn and terminate trains, an engineer can run between any points they wish.
Layout Lighting
One of our proudest features is the installation of controllable multi-color LED lighting. The lighting we installed is produced by Lumilum, and includes a full range of colors from brilliant daylight to midnight blues, Golden Hour yellows, stormy greens, and whatever mood we choose to set at the time. Even better, the light level produced is enough that generally we can see to run trains and walk around safely, but also dark enough that most building and scenery lights, passenger car lights, and other illuminated features still stand out to the viewer.
Check out the different lighting examples in the slide show
