Built by Others is an article series showcasing layouts constructed by modelers using plans and projects from the pages of Model Railroader and its related products. Malcolm Furlow’s HOn3 San Juan Central layout first appeared in a multi-part series in the pages of Model Railroader between 1983 and 1984. Adam Palmer’s San Juan Central V2 took inspiration from this layout, updating it according to modern layout building standards and practices.
Built by Others: Adam Palmer’s San Juan Central Version 2
By Adam Palmer – photos by the author unless otherwise noted
It’s impossible to pinpoint where exactly my love for narrow gauge began, but my whole life, thanks in no small part to my experiences in the Point Reyes area of Northern California, I’ve always had a preference towards small trains traversing big landscapes. Through that love, I found and fell in love with Colorado narrow gauge railroads and the White Pass & Yukon Route. This interest extended to my modeling, and it was through this love of little trains in big scenery that I arrived at Malcolm Furlow and the San Juan Central.
My interest in model railroading began when my dad bought a Life-Like Union Pacific train set from Toys-R-Us. My collection gradually grew from there, thanks to the unwavering support of my parents. I honed my modeling techniques through such Kalmbach programs as the Dream, Plan, Build video series, and the World’s Greatest Hobby “Building Your First Model Railroad” tape hosted by Michael Gross. Upon the completion of the remodel of my house in 2013, we had a dedicated multi-purpose space for family archives, and of course a model railroad. In the ten years since, the space has been home to no less than three layouts, with it currently serving as the home of my Sierra Central Railway. The layout room is also home to what was once a ping-pong table, which quickly became a place for storage of materials for the building of the layout, and as luck would have it, I managed to convince my dad to let me commandeer the 5 x 9-foot table for further modeling endeavors.
The San Juan Central
You could say my interest in narrow gauge coincided with my interest in trains in general. Having watched numerous VHS tapes and DVD’s on the Durango & Silverton, Cumbres & Toltec, and White Pass & Yukon, it seems that perhaps the narrow gauge bug was there from the start.
It was through my interests in weathering that I was introduced to Malcolm Furlow, and by extension the original San Juan Central. As much as I love HOn3, I was intimidated by the thought of having to undertake a plethora of scratchbuilding projects and convoluted craftsman kits. In spite of this intimidation, it was the San Juan Central that showed me, an intermediate modeler at best, that an authentic narrow gauge layout could be done with commercial kits and ready-to-run equipment, with a manageable amount of kit-bashing and weathering.
The San Juan Central, Version 2
Through his Ferrocarriles de Alta California, I was introduced to Miles Callan, otherwise known as Interurban Era. Having grown tired of dealing with my own shortcomings in the more technical aspects of model railroading (benchwork, tracklaying, electrical, etc.,) I sought professional assistance in Miles’ services as a layout builder. With the San Juan Central V2, we aimed to build a project layout using simple benchwork, wiring, and commercially available track and scenic materials. Our goals were to update the design to 21st century standards, using Free-Mo benchwork, a modular design, new techniques in wiring, and of course integrating DCC and sound. We also sought to iron out the issues present in the original. The layout’s mainline is completely flat, with the only real grade being the mine branch, which sits at a reasonable 2.5%. Our version of Montrose Yard, which serves double duty as the terminus of Callan, was also designed in a way that was much more conducive to switching.
The layout consists of four modules, plus a removable connecting piece for the mine branch, which doubles as a staging/fiddle track. The two center modules conform directly with the HOn3 free-mo standards set by the Near Sighted Narrow Gaugers. The two end modules are their own unique designs and are meant to be the scenic highlights of the layout. The middle “free-mo” modules are the main operational points on the layout, with a lumber mill scene called “Aspen Creek” and a town scene representing both the division point of Montrose and the terminus of Callan. The end modules consist of a logging camp scene served by a short section of HOn30 trackage which brings logs to the Aspen Creek Mill. The other end module is intended to be the signature scene of the layout and includes a large stamp mill, as well as a steel trestle which carries the mainline over the mine branch.
Our goals for the layout were to have it operational in time for the 2023 National Narrow Gauge Convention in Denver, Colorado. Construction began at the start of 2023, with the benchwork quickly completed using stagecraft techniques. Track laying then began in earnest, and the middle modules were operational within a couple evenings. Work progressed smoothly until we reached the Micro Engineering steel trestle kit on the mine module. This took Miles several weeks and lots of headaches to assemble due to the kit’s intricacy and some of the parts being warped. Nevertheless, work continued, with basic scenery on three of the modules being completed the night before I packed the van for the trip to Colorado.
On the San Juan Central V2, we experimented with emerging techniques in wiring and module connectivity. Miles, on another of his client’s layouts, discovered Waygo connectors and their ease and modability in wiring DCC layouts. We put these to use on the SJC2 in earnest, saving time in wiring troubleshooting things like short circuits. What was once days of work was compressed into about an hour or so of troubleshooting. We also fashioned electrical connections for the modules through “guitar jacks”. In all, the San Juan Central V2 is an exercise in novel layout building techniques, while also serving as a resurrection of various techniques from the archives of MR and similar publications.
As it stands now, Miles and I continue to pluck away at the layout. Our current goals include completing basic scenery on all four modules, as well as scratchbuilding the stamp mill and trestle on the logging module. I’m also continuing to flesh out operations to get some “play value” out of this relatively simple layout.
At this point in the layout’s life I would only change a couple things. I wish we had opted for a simpler steel trestle kit from Walthers rather than the Micro Engineering kit, which is not entirely conducive to beginner modelers. Despite the idea of the layout as something that can easily be constructed using commercially available kits and components, I also wish to slowly replace the commercial scenery and structures with more scratchbuilt or craftsman components to truly maximize the potential for the scenery and atmosphere of the layout.
The San Juan Central V2 is a continually evolving collaborative effort in bringing HOn3 layout construction and narrow gauge modeling to a modern audience. I believe the saying “standing on the shoulders of giants” really rings true here, seeing as Miles and I are drawing upon everyone from Malcolm Furlow, John Allen, and John Olsen to the likes of Doug and Barbara Geiger, Lance Mindheim, and Tom Colletti. We hope that this layout is able to inspire a new generation of narrow gauge modelers and show that HOn3 is much more approachable than what is commonly believed.
