Cooper Park & Eastern Railroad (CP&E)
The Society’s new layout is a 2-level shelf layout comprising about double the track footage. It is modeled in the eras between the 1960’s and the late 1980’s. Many of the buildings from the original layout have been refreshed and used in the scenery. The layout is wired for Digital Command Control. There is a separate Dispatch office and the Dispatcher communicates with the operating engineers, and controls all mainline turnouts through JMRI computer control. A substantial portion has been completed and scenicked. Limited operating sessions have been performed. Construction continues.
Click on picture to see the gallery.
Here is a video of a train pushing cars into our Holland Yard.
Previous Layout
The Society’s original permanent layout was removed to build a larger two-level shelf layout (See below). The mythical Cooper Park & Eastern, was named after nearby Cooper Township. The era was 1960s to allow the inclusion of steam and diesel. It was imagined to have strong ties to both the New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroad and included a lot of equipment besides the CP&E. The HO scale layout had just over 212 actual feet of main line track. There were also narrow-gauge and trolley lines. The layout was wired Digital Command Control.
Click on picture to see the gallery.