Phillips Maine

Part of the 2016 National Narrow gauge Convention was a driving tour of the route taken by the two foot gauge Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad. A knowledgeable tour guide explained the historic location of the railroad and industries served at various stops along the line.

We ended up at the location of the SR&RL RR in Phillips Maine and explored the various equipment and structures preserved at the museum.

2016 Narrow Gauge Convention - Live Steam models

Outside the 2016 Narrow Gauge Convention was a display set up to showcase the running of live steam engines and trains. This was an enjoyable place to watch trains of various scales run around the track using actual steam power for propulsion.

One gentleman brought his collection of live steam Forney style engines for display. These are various generations of the same design. The owner is very knowlegeable about the history of the engines and is fun to talk to.

2016 Narrow Gauge Convention - Sector Table

This model railroad was on display. It is an interesting switching layout that included an innovative feature that allowed trains to travel out of the scene and various trains to  return in a different direction. This is all accomplished in a relatively small space.

This section of the layout can be called a variety of names - Fiddle track, Sector track, Segment track. This does so many things I'm at a loss of what to call it so I'll stick with 'sector tracks'. 

This portion of the layout pivots to allow various tracks to align with the layout inlet track. The entire segment also pivots 180 degrees to  allow entire trains to change direction.

Locking the track in place also turns on power to the track

 

 

End view of sector table

Instructions for operating the switching layout