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Gary Gross' HO Scale Franklin Pacific Model Railroad
photos by Richard Schumacher |
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Gary Gross' 18' x 12' Franklin Pacific Railroad uses
track on three levels connected by two multi-turn helixes to
model this St. Louis to Kansas City (or Springfield)
Missouri shortline. His completely finished 12' x 26'
railroad room features a crew lounge area and a restroom. A
typical operating session requires a Dispatcher, Yardmaster,
and 4 Train Operators
(4 switching jobs), using Digitrax DCC radio
throttles, Dispatcher-based block control, and waybill/car
card car forwarding.
The Franklin Pacific Railroad (FP) was organized in
1876 in the town of Franklin, Missouri. The original
owners intended to extend the railroad from St. Louis,
Missouri through Franklin and the Missouri Ozarks to the
Pacific Ocean. The railroad was never able to achieve
its objective because of financial, political and
competitive circumstances that occurred over the years.
Today, June 1955, the railroad is a shortline operation,
connecting the town of Franklin with the towns of
Taylorville, Gravelton, and Knobel and interchanging
with the Missouri Pacific (MP), Kansas City Southern (KCS),
and the St. Louis San Francisco (SLSF) railroads in a
common yard at Franklin. The MP and SLSF have passenger
and freight trains coming east from St. Louis and west
from Kansas City and Springfield respectively, and the
KCS has two freight trains that travel between
Springfield and Kansas City, all stopping daily at
Franklin. Passenger and freight traffic travels daily on
the Franklin Pacific from Franklin to the towns of
Knobel, Gravelton, and Taylorville and to industries in
East Franklin, dropping off passengers and switching
freight. Sixteen regularly scheduled trains flow in and
out of Franklin daily.
These photos were taken during the May 2011 Rail Op
session. Click each photo for a higher-resolution version.
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