Bob Johnson’s Pseudo Soo Line
“The Swamp Level Route”
The HO scale Pseudo-Soo Line (PSL) is set in north central Wisconsin in the late spring of 1953, the week of June 15th to be precise. It represents the Third Subdivision of the Gladstone Division of the "Old Soo" (before the 1961 merger of the Minneapolis, St. Paul, & Sault Ste. Marie; the Wisconsin Central; and the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic). Its emphasis is on forest, lake, and agricultural products as it traverses the swamps and bogs of the area. Although a specific time and locale are represented, scenery, rolling stock, etc. are not claimed to be prototypical but only to give the flavor of the place and period.
The original Pseudo-Soo Line was located in Golden Valley (Minneapolis), Minnesota, and was on the NorthStar99 layout tours. We moved into this basement, then totally barren, in April 2000, and the new Pseudo-Soo Line was up and running for the Gateway2001 layout tours 15 months later. Approximately 230 model railroad enthusiasts visited the layout during the Convention.
The new PSL occupies a space 50 feet long and from 12 to 22 feet wide. It is an “around the walls” layout with a long center peninsula. The main line is a closed loop with two single ended, “nose-to-nose” staging yards. These represent Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. (“The Soo”) and Minneapolis, Minn. The main loop from The Soo to Minneapolis is approximately 200 feet long. Another 100 feet of track represent branch lines and interchanges. Abracadata 3D Railroad Concept and Design software was used to not only design the layout but the entire basement. The design was essentially complete before we moved in and I have made very few changes to the original design.
There are three classification yards: Rhinelander, Ladysmith, and Weyerhauser. There is a passing siding between Prentice and Hawkins and two short run-around tracks elsewhere. A branch line leads to a reversing loop that represents the Wisconsin Central routes to Superior, Wisc. and the Bessemer, Mich. iron mine complex. Another branch line goes to Rice Lake, Wisc. There are 60 industries including team tracks and ice houses, plus four standard gauge interchanges: C&NW at Rhinelander, The Milwaukee Road at Heafford Junction, the Wisconsin Central at Ladysmith, and the C&NW at Rice Lake. The narrow gauge Thunder Lake logging railroad crosses the PSL at Robbins Junction and transfers hardwood logs going to several online users. The hand-laid Thunder Lake RR module is the only part of the layout used intact from Golden Valley.
Operations include both passenger and freight movements. The Atlantic Limited (East and West) and the Superior Laker (South and North) represent high-class varnish. All runs include some switching moves. The Milk Runs (East and West) drop off and pick up cars at Lassig Dairy and make a number of stops for passengers and milk. There are 13 freight jobs including manifests, peddlers, ore trains, turns, and dedicated industry and interchange moves. A 6:1 fast clock is used so the seven or more operators required to run the railroad keep busy during a typical 3-hour session.
Digitrax DCC is used. A 6-wire telephone bus forms a LAN to all points of the layout with jacks along the fascia. There are also receivers for infrared and radio (both simplex & duplex) throttles. Guest operators are invited to bring their own compatible throttles. All turnouts are hand-thrown with Caboose Industries throws.
About 100 feet of background was done by my wife, Prue, using stamp-art techniques. About 25 feet were completed for NorthStar99 in Golden Valley and the rest were done here. These backdrops have provoked considerable comment and interest. I believe this is unique in model railroading. Clouds on the primary backdrops were painted by Prue using sponges and brushes.
The Paper Mill area has a realistic appearance through the use of photographs of actual pulpwood piles. The real Rhinelander Paper Mill now uses commercial wood pulp rather than raw logs and I did not have good photos from “the old days.” However, I came upon the Potlatch Mill in Cloquet, Minn. and took panoramic photos of their log piles. I scanned these into my computer, enlarged, touched up, and printed them. The printed enlargements were glued to poster board and placed in front of the backdrop. Three dimensional scale log piles give the final feeling of depth.
Another unique feature is the nose-to-nose staging yards. I could not get enough rise to provide good clearance at the duck-under entry if I had used a double-ended design. Instead, my main line peaks at the entry and the stub-ended staging yards extend in opposite directions from there. Trains arriving at The Soo (railroad East), for example, enter the left staging yard and terminate at the bumpers. Trains departing from this same staging yard are departing from Minneapolis. They first back out of the stub onto the mainline before proceeding eastward toward The Soo. Westward facing trains use the opposite staging yard. Overall, the arrangement is equivalent to one double-ended yard and has worked nicely.
The railroad is essentially flat (main line at 50” high, lower level on peninsula 44”, staging 58”) to not only represent the relatively flat terrain of north central Wisconsin (a PSL nickname is “The Swamp Level Route”) but also to maximize operational reliability. Maximum grades to the staging yards and Wisconsin Central interchange are about 3%. Entry bridge clearance is 57”.
The bench work uses both box grid and L-beam construction overlaid with ½ inch Homosote. I have found that by keeping joists fairly close together and avoiding “cookie cutter” design I do not need a sub-roadbed of plywood although there is a little sagging in places. I did use plywood sub-roadbed in the staging yards and glued and screwed two layers of Homosote together for the roadbeds leading to the staging yards and the lower level loop.
Standard gauge track work is Atlas Code 83 nickel-silver flex track and Code 83 Customline #4 and #6 turnouts. Narrow gauge track work is a combination of hand laid Code 70 and Code 55.
A challenge on an active operating layout is to plan sidings, buildings, and scenery so operators can reach working areas without damaging the scenery. To this end, most sidings are on the aisle side of structures. No structure is more than two stories tall except for paper mill buildings. Taller buildings are placed close to the backdrop with single story structures closer to the aisle. There are no tall trees in areas operators might be required to reach over.
Come take a ride on the Pseudo-Soo Choo! Our motto is “We give prompt service no matter how long it takes,” and we guarantee our service! We hope you enjoy your visit.
Bob & Prue
"The Peddler East crosses the Flambeau River bridge approaching Ladysmith. The log gon and several other cars will be dropped at Ladysmith for the Wisconsin Central Turn. The PE will also pick up cars at Ladysmith to deliver to Baker's Flour, Heafford Junction, and Rhinelander. The DNR water patrol is checking out a couple of ladies enjoying a warm June day below the dam. The backdrop was created by Bob’s wife using "Stamp Art”
Ladysmith more-or-less complete.
The gap for the future Flambeau River is at the lower right.
Our coal yard with real Peabody coal. Workers with picks are busting up an over sized lump that came from the southern Illinois mine. A more frugal customer is taking a large lump home in his pickup for do-it-yourself sizing. The coal yard is on the main level. The Atlantic Limited East is mostly hidden behind the near backdrop as it climbs toward Staging/The Soo. The river on the near backdrop is the Connecticut River stitched together from photos taken in October 2010 from my older son's backyard in New Hampshire. To the left are photo realistic building murals in Chillicothe, Missouri taken about 2015. My younger son's family is standing in front of the El Toro Mexican Restaurant. The far background is “Stamp Art” on poster board created by rubber stamps and pencils produced by my wife, Prue. She has made these backdrops for most of the 200 feet of main line." They really give a lot of depth to the scene and I don't know that anybody else has ever bedecked their layout with stamp art.
Heafford Junction hosts the Milwaukee Road interchange. The steamer in the background is forever dead except for the headlight. The two cars on the right are on the interchange track; Wixson & Bronson Planing Mill (motto with apologies to IBM: plane ahead) is in the background. Prue's stamp art backgrounds disguise the peninsula divider
A manifest train climbs the 2.5% grade to staging, passing under the conveyor fetching flopping fish from the lake to the main building of Fred's Floppin' Frozen Fish Factory No. 2. Dave Roeder, MMR built this unique complex using printed paper on cardstock. FFFFF is a major supplier of frozen fish, fish eyes, and fish scales. Flossie's small fish eye jewelry operation occupies the near building in the photo. A pipe flume spans the distance from FFFFF to Flossie's. Fish scales, another by-product, are sold by the ton to a customer in Milwaukee. The HO scale Fairbanks Morse scale (i.e. a scale scale to weigh scales) is nestled between FFFFF and Flossie's. It is modeled on the F-M scale in Rhinelander. Two photos of the prototype scale were published in the July 2012 MR “Mailcar”.
The peninsula under construction. The double loop of track is
on the lower level and forms the single reversing loop. In the distance
can be seen the upper level which will support the main line, the
Rhinelander area, and the paper mill. Beyond that are the beginnings of
the peninsula divider. On the right of the image is the Weyerhauser
area looking east toward Ladysmith. Plenty of cabling/wiring hanging
loose! Note florescent fixtures over the Weyerhauser are tilted inward
to direct light onto the layout rather than the aisle and
eliminates/reduces the need for valences. The entrance way into the
layout is just off the image on the far left.
View from above the entry way toward the left staging yard
(upper level) and the Rice Lake Interchange and industries. The track
on the far right is the mainline looking east going down to the main
level of the layout.
Bob working on the first area developed that became the
Ladysmith area. The view is toward the east. The basic module size of 2
feet x 8 feet is shown. The lower section establishes the lower level
of the peninsula. The photo shows one of the design features -- a lot
of room under the layout for storage! All wiring will eventually be run
just below the frame and behind the future fascia for easy accessibility.
Swing gate entry.
