Chris Atkins’

Sheridan and Everywhere West

Chris Atkins’ The Sheridan and Everywhere West

The Sheridan and Everywhere West is the second model railroad to be built in my 1895 Texas and Pacific section house. The previous owner moved the building from Roanoke, TX  to the property in 1999 and had a complete double-decked T&P/Katy layout before moving to East Texas.

The HO layout is set in northern Wyoming and southeastern Montana. The top level is the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy from Sheridan, WY to the connection with the Northern Pacific mainline on the Yellowstone River at Huntley, MT, and is mostly rural with wide open spaces. The lower level is where Burlington has trackage rights over the Northern Pacific from Huntley to the city of Billings, the large yard at Laurel. Major industries served by the railroads in 1967 are coal mines, sugar beet factories, oil refineries, a meat packing plant, steel fabrication, flour mills, grain elevators, and agriculture.

Construction began in January 2015 and the first operating sessions were in 2016. The focus has been on the lower level and currently the helix is not installed, so while much of the upper deck is wired and operational, it is not being used. Construction is nearing completion with the final peninsula and helix being added by the end of 2023. The scenery is minimal but slowly catching up with construction.

Operations are based around two yards, 16 miles apart. Laurel is a large classification yard with connections to the East and West NP mainline, GN to Great Falls, MT, and the CB&Q to Lincoln and Denver. Control is through Digitrax and the turnouts are thrown via JMRI using Kindle Fire tablets mounted to the fascia. Car forwarding is by car cards and waybills. The operating layout is almost entirely within yard limits with directional double track connecting the two yards.

The building has 4 steps and is not wheelchair accessible.

Hours open: 3:00 - 9:00 PM

Handicap Accessible:  No

Parking:  Follow the driveway past the garage and park in the grass near the white outbuilding

Entry:  Come on in the former T&P section house