Nicasio Northern Railway
Panoramic view of the railroad
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The StoryIn the early 20th century the farmers and ranchers of the North San Francisco Bay decided that they needed a way to get their product to market. They pooled their resources and built the Nicasio Southern Railroad from Nicasio, Marin County, CA, USA to the port of Bayside on San Francisco Bay. Between underestimating the cost of construction and overestimating the traffic, the railroad failed. San Francisco financiers saw an opportunity, took over the railroad as the Nicasio Northern Railway, and extended it to Ureeka. At this time (1929, approximately) the road is surviving, barely. The Nicasio Northern is a short line, best characterized as a “rails in the mud” San Francisco North Bay railroad. It operates freight and passenger, including a ferry schedule to San Francisco. Its route goes from Bayside to Ureeka in the north (railroad east). The connection to the national rail network is via Skalville to Yawn (staging). Wittils boasts the Highland Lumber Co. which has lumber mills worked by the company's logging railroad. There are also interchange tracks to the Casper & Big River RR which goes to the coast. The Nicasio Northern railway weaves through the hills on muddy and slippery roadbed. Need I mention that this is earthquake country? Even if the right of way was once perfectly laid out with straight tangents and smooth grades and curves, it didn’t stay that way. The little steam engines rock and roll as they lead their trains across the pike. The ModelThe Nicasio Northern is an HO-scale model railroad. It is designed for TT&TO operation with JMRI switchlists. It runs only steam (and a Doodlebug), with Soundtraxx sound in the locomotives and Digitrax DCC for control. Track is complete and operational. The layout has a peninsula in the center of the 15 x 21 foot space, and the rest of the track runs around perimeter of the room. Bayside yards and the engine terminal are on the peninsula. It has 40” aisles. It is NOT disabled accessible (stairs). |
Documents (PDF)
The new NNRwy schematics: Lower level; Upper level.
Straight line schematic.
Operations Video
Operating the Nicasio Northern (Youtube)
(A little out of date, but thank you to Adam Palmer!)
Pictures
Bayside looking East |
Bayside looking West |
Bayside Passenger |
Bayside Ferry Landing & Engine Facility |
Wharf & Icehouse |
Backdoor |
Skalville |
Skalville & Dry Creek Trestle |
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Nicasio Station  |
Nicasio |
Wittils |
Wittils & Ureeka (distant) |
Highland Lumber & Casper & Big River Interchanges |
Wittils |
Highland Lumber Planing Mill |
Highland Lumber Mill |
Jon's Github site
Various files and documents may be found on Jon's Github site: https://github.com/joneschmidt This includes Arduino code and example files.
Published Articles/Clinics
Wake The Operator
This article describes an alarm box we built to notify agent/operators of approaching trains on the Central Vermont in NorCal. It is published in the Q4 2024 PCR Branch Line magazine starting on page 24.
Car Orders On The Central Vermont
This article describes how we use JMRI OperationsPro as the basis for generating prototypical waybills and empty car orders on the Central Vermont in NorCal. It is published in the Q3 2024 PCR Branch Line magazine starting on page 30.
Should You Use JMRI OperationsPro?
This article discusses the pros and cons of using the JMRI OperationsPro software for managing car movement on your railroad. It is published in the Q4 2023 PCR Branch Line magazine starting on page 24.
Animate a Train Order Semaphore
This article shows how to install an animated semaphore and associated controls using the Model Railroad Control Systems Dual Semaphore Servo Controller. It is published in the April 2023 Railroad Model Craftsman magazine starting on page 90. An earlier version may be found here.
Large Layout Wiring
Layouts require electricity. No matter whether you are running with DC or DCC, signals or turnout controls, or simply lighting, you will have to run wires. This article documents some of my thoughts on do’s and don’ts for layout wiring. It reflects my experiences with the my Nicasio Northern and with the Central Vermont. Disclaimer: I am not an electrical engineer, so many of my comments may be arguable. Published in the PCR Branch Line Q1 2023 issue (page 25). Presented at the PCR Tech Line conference in April 2024.
Through The Wall
The Central Vermont has expanded into a back room. The trackage leading into that back room includes a turnout and is largely invisible. The Nicasio Noodlings article published in the PCR Branch Line Q4 2022 issue (page 29) explains how we built a control panel, signalling, and the associated detection circuits to prevent cornfield meets when moving trains between the rooms.
Arduino for Model Railroading: Hitting The Bell
I presented at the PCR NMRA 2022 conference on my first Arduino project called Hitting The Bell. See their Clinics page. This project implements an alert for a model railroad tower. It is now called the Approach Indicator and is a MRCS product. Follow this link to see the presentation.
The Put-Away Project!
As we recover from the dry period of operations caused by the pandemic, we need to re-synchronize the cars on the Central Vermont in NorCal with our JMRI Operations definitions. "The Put-Away Project" article published in the PCR Branch Line Q2 2022 issue (page 19) explains how we did this for the 700+ cars on the CV. Presented at the PCR Tech Line conference in April 2024, and the PCR Coast Division Saturday Zoom. The Youtube version is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU3T27BIqoM
Don't Have A Nice Trip!
This short article on using a railroad tell-tale in the layout room for safety was published in the PCR Branch Line Q1 2022 issue page 27.
New Operating Scheme (Part III)
This "Nicasio Noodlings" article completes the discussion of creating a new operating scheme for the Nicasio Northern Railway. It was published in the PCR Branch Line Q3 2022 issue page 40.
New Operating Scheme (Part II)
This "Nicasio Noodlings" article continues the discussion of creating a new operating scheme for the Nicasio Northern Railway. It was published in the PCR Branch Line Q1 2022 issue page 22.
New Operating Scheme (Part I)
This "Nicasio Noodlings" article begins the discussion of creating a new operating scheme for the Nicasio Northern Railway. It was published in the PCR's Branch Line Q4 2021 issue page 27.
Creating Crew Instructions From JMRI Operations
BuildInstruction is a JMRI Operations add-on which will create fully-customizable crew instructions from the CSV files built by JMRI Operations. The latest copy of the Excel program and documentation is available on Github at https://github.com/joneschmidt/BuildInstruction The article is published in the January 2022 edition of the The Dispatcher's Office from the Operations Special Interest Group (www.opsig.org).
Dancing With The Passengers
This article discusses switching moves between the mail trains and the commuter trains to handle Railway Post Office cars. Find it in the PCR's Branch Line in the Q2 2021 issue page 22.
Brakeman with a Grip!
This short article on a flagman/brakeman for a model railroad was published in the PCR's Branch Line in the Q1 2021 issue page 34.
Nicasio Noodlings: The Great Tectonic Shift
The article on the rebuilding of the railroad was published in the PCR's Branch Line in the Q1 2021 issue page 28. The Powerpoint presentation was presented to the PCR NMRA OPSig/LDSig meeting on January 31, 2021. See their Clinics page.
Nicasio Noodlings: Frozen Juice
This article in the PCR Branch Line October 2020 issue (page 20) talks about my experiences with turnouts and frog juicers.
Car Movement on the Central Vermont
We presented this article at the PCR meet in May of 2019. See their Clinics page. It discusses what we built in JMRI Operations using Schedules in order to move cars in a prototype manner on Paul Weiss' Central Vermont Railway.
White Pass & Yukon Route Alaska Adventure, April 2011
The White Pass & Yukon Route had a "Spring Steam Rotary Event" which Jon & his friend Robert Gantt Steele attended. Here are Jon's article and photos and some of Robert's paintings from that week. The article is in the PCR Branch Line July-Sept 2011 issue.
Forty Years Later: PCR Branch Line Vol 65 No 4 Oct 2008
The Mobile Terminal and Interchange is replaced by the Nicasio Northern. The story of rediscovering the hobby after 40 years, and reminiscencies of Jon's first layout is on page 37: http://www.pcrnmra.org/pcr/branch/BranchLine_Oct_Dec08.pdf
About
Jon E. Schmidt San Rafael, CAJon is a member of the NMRA and PCR, as well as the Layout Design (LDSIG) and Operations Special Interest Groups (OPSIG). Contact him through these organizations or via the Contact link on the main website. (Updated 4 November 2024)