Model Railroad Club Grows Mushroom Layout

January 5, 2006

The California Southern Model Railroad Club was formed in 1984 with the merger of the North Orange County Modular Railroaders and the Cerritos Valley Model Railroad Club.

The new clubs first layout was a single track line with passing sidings in HO scale. There was a yard at each end of the run, with a connecting track to form a continuous loop. There were numerous problems with the design, mainly focusing on accessibility. Some areas were in excess of 4 feet from the nearest aisle, making it difficult, if not impossible to do routine maintenance.
It was decided by the club membership in early 1996 that the old model railroad layout should be replaced with new one.

Construction on a new “mushroom” design HO scale layout began in 1997. There will be eventually be two levels, stacked one on top of the other, with the upper level directly over the lower level, but with the aisleways reversed. This design maximizes the utilization of the space available making a longer linear run.