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About the Willamette Cascade Model Railroad Club

The Willamette Cascade Model Railroad Club, Inc. was formed in 1978 and averages about thirty members, most of who reside in Eugene/Springfield, Oregon.  The Club is a Not-For-Profit Corporation under Oregon Law and has been granted Sec. 501,C,4 status by the IRS.  Membership is open.

Club meetings are held on the second Saturday of each month at around 7pm, usually at the Eugene Water and Electric Board Community Room located in the north building on EWEB property at 500 East 4th Avenue, Eugene, Oregon 97440.  Programs consist of how-to clinics, slide/movie/video presentations, favorite model contests, raffles, occasional sales of members' surplus equipment, and the inevitable business meeting.

EWEB furnishes public-meeting rooms as a community service and does not sponsor or endorse activities or groups using EWEB's public facilities.

Club dues are currently $25 per year for adults, and $16 for members under age 16.  We welcome anyone interested in model railroading, regardless of scale or time period.  Prospective members are invited to visit before committing to membership.  Module ownership is not required.  Our long-term goal is a site for a permanent club layout.  We also support efforts to preserve worthy parts of our railroad heritage such as the Springfield Depot.

Our Modular Layout

The Willamette Cascade Model Railroad Club portable layout is constructed in HO Scale.  It is a "modular" design, with individual members building and owning most straight sections, while the club owns most of the corner sections.  Straight modules are usually four or six feet long, and 24 or 30 inches deep.  Modules must meet connection specifications so the scenes can be assembled in any order while still providing continuous main line tracks around the outside of the complete layout.  Local trackage on individual sections is the builder’s choice, and all locomotives, rail cars and most structures are owned by individual club members.  Modules may be in various stages of construction.  Multi-module scenes are welcome.

Main line tracks and wiring must meet Club standards.  Both main lines are controlled by a block system, which allows multiple trains to be operated on one track at the same time.  The four main block boundaries may be placed at any inter-scene joint.

We enjoy great flexibility and variety in layout design due to several unusual features.  Reversible 45-degree corners permit inside and outside turns, zigzags, and angled modules.  Adjustable length fitter sections can be used to compensate for alignments problems that result.  The backside tracks on the 45-degree corners may be used for static display or as staging tracks through specially planned modules.  A branchline loop can depart from one of the 90-degree corner modules.  "Millers Gap" features an operating Bascule bridge, which serves as the primary entry point for club personnel and ends the need for bending over to get into the layout.

Most displays of this layout include only about 1/3 to 1/2 of the existing modules.  We haven't had space to include every module for several years, and to our knowledge, the layout has never been arranged the same way twice in over 18 years.


Willamette Cascade Model Railroad Club, ©2002
If you should have any questions about our club or this site please email our webmaster.
This page was last updated 12/16/02