The Truckee Donner Railroad Society has expanded its scope of operation with the building of a sectional train model of Truckee and the surrounding areas. The goal of the model is to capture the railroads, buildings and scenery from 1927 Truckee. 1927 was chosen because during this time there was a wide range of railroad operations. The model is being developed in “HO”, or 1:87 scale.

The project was started in the spring of 2023 and currently has six modelers actively working on it. “Phase 1” of the train model captures Truckee and the Truckee River Canyon below town and is 80% complete. Phase 1 consists of a 10′ x 23′ model that is made up of 2′ x 5′ and 4′ x 5′ modules that can be stored and assembled anywhere. The entire model can be set up in about 4 hours and taken down in about 1.5 hours. Future phases will include a section modeling the Tahoe Branch, which ran along the Truckee River to Tahoe City, and another modeling Hobart Mills and the narrow-gauge logging railroads of the Little Truckee River watershed.

Building the model

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The railroad modelers have used several different techniques to build the buildings, bridges and other structures. Many of the Commercial Row buildings and McIver’s farmhouse came from commercial plastic kits which were assembled and painted. The kit for McIver’s barn also included metal and wood (cardstock pieces) making it more complicated to put together. The passenger depot, freight depot and Southern Pacific Hotel were designed using CAD and cut from basswood using a laser cutter at the Truckee Roundhouse Maker Space. The bridges and most of the windows and doors for the buildings were designed using CAD and 3D-printed. The Rex Hotel block facades and side walls were also 3D-printed. The granite roundhouse was scratch-built using several techniques. The frame and roof were constructed using stock plastic, the windows are commercial products and the granite exterior is a combination of textured paper and 3D printing.

These buildings were chosen for the model due to their historical significance:

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– Freight Depot: Constructed in 1891 and is the oldest railroad structure still standing on the Plaza. It was retired in 1962.

– Passenger Depot: Built in 1900 by Southern Pacific. In the 1920’s there were separate men’s and women’s waiting rooms on the east end, a telegraph office and baggage room in the center, and a ticket office and waiting room for the Lake Tahoe train at the west end. The Museum of Truckee History is currently in the east end.

– Southern Pacific Hotel: Hotel built in 1904 to house off-duty train crews and excursion passengers. In the ’20s and ’30s the hotel was the temporary home of actors and crews from the many films made in Truckee. The hotel was moved to the current site of the post office in 1956 and was destroyed in a fire in 1963.

– Livery Stable: “Truckee Livery” built in 1899 on Bridge Street. The stable was converted to a garage and service station in the early 1930s.

– Roundhouse: The granite roundhouse was built in 1882 and had 22 engine stalls and was over 200 feet in diameter. Over the years, sulphuric acid from locomotive smoke weakened the iron rods and braces supporting the roof. The roundhouse was condemned in 1939 and torn down in 1955.

– Mallet Shed: Cab forward locomotives were too long to fit in the roundhouse so a rough shed was built to shelter and work on them. The fact that it looks like a snowshed is probably not a coincidence.

How to Make ‘Natural’ Looking Scenery

Creating the surrounding environment to look as natural as possible is a true work of art. The Truckee River section, in front of Old Town, used lightweight foam to build the basic landforms with an added thin coat of plaster. The river bottom is painted dark in the deep areas and lighter in the shallows. The land gets a base coat of tan paint with sifted dirt and washed pebbles added for texture and realism. Acrylic gloss medium is then poured to give the river its ‘water’ effect.

The Truckee Canyon is being built in a similar manner. The bridge piers are glued in but the bridges are removable to make it easier to finish the scenery and pour the river water. There will be a painted canyon scene on one side and a forest on the other.

On the west end mountain section of the layout plastic ‘cliffs’ will be created since real rock is too heavy. Commercial HO-scale trees will be planted in the foreground and the background forests will be created using twigs, wire, shredded foam, lichen and other materials. The eastbound track will go through a tunnel and the westbound track will go through a snowshed, just as the real railroad did in 1927.

Truckee’s roads were not paved in 1927 and landscaping was not a town focus. The downtown and railyard modules will just be painted and textured with sifted dirt, rocks and some natural vegetation.

What trains are running in the model

Locomotives from the 1920s were steam driven and had different uses. Each of the model trains represents one of the actual trains that ran through town. Note that steam trains are defined by the number of pilot wheels, drive wheels, and trailer wheels (example: 4-8-2).

The Cab Forwards with two sets of drive wheels (4-8-8-2) were powerful steam engines that powered both passenger and freight trains over Donner Pass. “SP 5001” (4-10-2) was one of the largest fixed-frame locomotives used over the Pass. “Mountain” type locomotives (4-8-2) were used as lead engines on shorter trains and as helpers on longer trains. The “Pacific” engine (4-6-2) was used for high-speed passenger trains on flat terrain. Finally, the small “ten-wheeler” (4-6-0) was used to pull short passenger and freight trains on the Tahoe Branch. They were relatively fast and would also be used to head up the fire trains that were stationed along the Donner Pass route to put out fires in the wood snowsheds.

How to See the Train Model

Phase 1 of the model is on display at the Steve Randall Community Recreation Center through November 20th (Rec Center hours Monday-Friday from 6 am – 8 pm, Saturday/Sunday 8 am – 12 pm). Twice a week a team of Truckee Donner Railroad Society volunteers will run the trains. The schedule of run times can be found at https://www.facebook.com/TruckeeDonnerRailroadSociety/.

The train model will also be set up at Engel & Volkers “Flying A” building in downtown Truckee for a few days around the holiday tree lighting ceremony on November 22nd.

The Society’s long range plan is to acquire or build a permanent building for the model railroad where it will be the centerpiece of a new railroad museum housing artifacts and exhibits that tell the story of Truckee’s railroad history. Currently you can learn about Truckee’s train history at the Truckee Railroad Museum (caboose next to the train depot) and at the Museum of Truckee History (located in the train depot).

The Truckee Donner Railroad Society is always looking for fellow modelers. If you’d like to get involved, drop them a note at model_railroad@tdrrs.org. For more information on the Railroad Society visit tdrrs.org.

Judy DePuy is a member of the Truckee-Donner Historical and Railroad Societies and a board member of the Museum of Truckee History. She resides in Truckee with her husband, Dave, and their dog, Morticia.