Perry Lamb's Utah, Colorado & Western model railroad

Perry Lamb and his Utah, Colorado & Western model railroad.

Last month I had the opportunity to visit Perry Lamb’s Utah, Colorado & Western (UC&W) model railroad. He has developed a freelanced Class 1 railroad in the modern era that models from Salt Lake City, Utah to Seattle, Washington. According to Perry, the UC&W owns Norfolk Southern and all Amtrak operations except the NE Corridor and the Amtrak lines in California. This gives Perry the opportunity to run main line freights, as well as passenger operations on his model railroad.

Staging yards on both the upper and lower levels.

The layout room is approximately 43’X 14’ with a possible area for a future expansion in an adjacent room. The layout is double deck with a helix connecting the two levels. The maximum grade is 2.5%, and minimum radius is 30” on the main line. There is staging on both the upper and lower levels. The layout room is a very comfortable space, with carpeting on the floor, good lighting, and adequate aisle space. Perry has done a great job on the scenery and structures on the layout, with some buildings featuring detailed interiors.

The town of Mystery, Idaho with its passenger station and local industries.

The East Seattle passenger station features a detailed interior.

The local switch crew works an industry on Perry's layout. Note the concrete ties for the main lines, while the siding has wood ties.

Operations feature main line freights, local switching, commuter rail, and main line Amtrak passenger trains. Perry uses car cards and waybills for his car movements with Track Warrants for train authority. In addition, he has created a job aid for each train that indicates the actions and operations the crew needs to perform. Ops sessions bring the layout to life and replicate moving lots of trains between the two cities. During ops sessions, the layout is operated point to point, but has an option for a continuous run when he hosts an open house for visitors.

A fantastic snow scene is featured on the mountainous portion of Perry's layout.

Creating a freelanced railroad gives the modeler the freedom to build a railroad that they want to model, and include the type of operations they enjoy. Perry has created a UC&W locomotive paint scheme and logo for his model railroad, which enhances the realism. A few of the key aspects to making a freelanced railroad believable is following prototype railroad operations, and staying consist with the overall theme of the railroad. Perry has nicely incorporated main line operations of a modern era Class 1 railroad along with telling a very believable story of a railroad running from Salt Lake City, Utah to Seattle, Washington.

Until next time, stay safe and keep model railroading.