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The Sugarwood Industrial Railroad (SW) is a fictional regional railroad on the outskirts of a mid-size metropolitan area. The era is modern with no specific year in mind. The equipment featured on the layout spans a range of years and includes equipment that may not have been in service together.
The Story
The area of the city where the railroad interchanges with a Class One railroad was known as Sugarwood. Named in the early years, when all that was there was a stand of sugarwood trees that covered the area surrounding a general store, a post office, and the crossroads. The only sign of that long-ago time is an abandoned gas station from when the automobiles were young and unreliable.
As the city grew, industries moved to or were built in the Sugarwood area. Along with the industries came the railroad. The branch line was very profitable and, at its height, saw three trains a day serving the line. However, as time moved on, industries either left or switched to trucks for their shipping and receiving needs. As the service had dwindled to where it cost more than the line brought in, the line was sold to a small investment group, and the Sugarwood Industrial Railroad was born.
With an industrious marketing and sales department, the line grew from the Sugarwood area to Purcell, Riverside, and Aurora.
Today, the SW’s headquarters is located in Riverside, which has a small yard and locomotive shop. The SW runs one train a day from Riverside to Sugarwood, where cars are picked up and dropped off at the interchange, and local industries are serviced at Riverside, Sugarwood and Purcell. The SW also has a switcher at Aurora that travels to Purcell to drop off and pick up cars. There is another interchange in Aurora so only only a car or two is dropped or picked up.
Equipment
– GP30 – Purchased from The Rio Grande
– URE Genset – Purchased from the US Army
– GP50 – Purchased from Santa Fe
Plus whatever hits my fancy.
Operations Overview
Check out the Trackplan page for details about the layout.
Riverside and Auroa are not modelled.
Cars are moved by a switchlist.
Operational Flow:
– Crew call is 0530.
– Departure Riverside is 0600.
– Trian arrives at Sugarwood approximately 0730.
– The interchange track is off limits until 0900. The crew has beans at the diner.
– Crew works the interchange, Sugarwood, Purcell, and drops off/picks up cars for Auroa as required and returns to Riverside.
While there is a Fastclock, it is mostly for controlling automations and lighting.
As Riverside is not modelled, the times between 0530 and 0900 in the Operational Flow above are for back story only. This provides a reason why the train is picked up in progress at the diner and is not at a service area or office.
Updated: 2025-09-19