SoundRail 2024

In alternate years, the layout owners around Puget Sound, Washington put together an operating weekend called, for obvious reasons, SoundRail. I attended this years, as I have done four previous SoundRails. I’ve always liked their emblem, combining rail with the waters of the Sound and Seattle’s iconic “Space Needle,” dating from the 1962 World's Fair.

This year, my layout assignments began with Joe Greene, located way up in Sequim, on the upper edge of the Olympic Peninsula. This is a wonderful layout, modeling the C&O in Appalachia in 1974. The job I drew this time was the excellent paper mill model, with (I think) 16 different car spots around the plant. This was interesting and fun! Mark Schutzer and I had a great time switching the entire area, along with some yard work.

The following day, we began the regular schedule of the meet (Joe’s layout was a “bonus” session). My first layout was Dale Kreutzer’s superb Rio Grande Southern 2nd District, set in 1926. I had operated there once before, so knew what to expect. It’s a marvelous job of scenery, the trains ran perfectly, and it was really a pleasure. I had the Mancos Turn, a switching-intensive assignment that was excellent for me, and much of the enjoyment was the beautiful setting.

Next came Bill Sornsin’s Great Northern, modeling the Seattle area and the eastward climb to the top of the Cascades in 1956 in HO scale. I was really looking forward to this, as I had not operated at Bill’s at the previous SoundRail, and was eager to see layout progress. There was a lot! He now has a magnificent model of King Street station, an iconic structure and of course the centerpiece of extensive passenger operation.

I got to work at Interbay Yard, which had only limited operating capability last time I was there, but now was a fully functioning yard, closely following the prototype trackage. The yard crew really had fun all day here. And the prototype yard is still there today, not far from Bill’s home.

My final layout was Jim Younkins’ N-scale Mud Bay & Southern, set in the Olympia area in 1974. This is a huge layout, with very nice scenery and excellent structures. One of the things I like about N scale is that industries can be big enough to look like they really need multiple freight car spots. My job this time (my third visit!) was at Elma, a location with a lot of switching. Here’s a view of North Elma, with the yard area in the foreground.

One of the many nice features of Jim’s layout for visitors is the excellent town maps on the fascia in each area. Here is the map for the scene shown above. (You can click on the image to enlarge it if you wish.)

This was another outstanding SoundRail, a meet I have enjoyed every time I have attended, and I’m sure I will go back. I report all this mostly to show how much interesting fun you can have at a meet like this, and I hope anyone reading this, who hasn’t every operated at such a meet, will seek one out and give it a try.

Tony Thompson