Jim
Stapletons's
Summer IE&W Steam Up
June 14, 2003
One
of the things that makes this event unique (besides Jim himself) is the
size of his layout and the trains he runs. The track is Ga 1 (45mm /
1.75”); generically called "G". Jim and several dozen of his friends
operate live steam in a number of scales: 1:32 (#1), 1:20.3 (Fn3), 1:24
(H) and 1:22.5 (G). The locomotives represent American, British and
German prototypes. Engines vary in size from the B&O Atlantic of
1832 (Grasshopper) at about 6 inches long and 2 pounds to a D&RGW
K-27 2-8-2 in Fn3 that is about 38 inches long and weighs 34 pounds.
The double track mainline is 560 feet long with four passing sidings.
Minimum radius is 24 feet, turnouts #8 and #10 and the maximum grade is
0.6 percent. The layout is between 16 and 55 inches above the ground
and occupies a significant fraction of an acre in his back yard.