An overview of Joe Atkinson's Subdivision 4, West End, representing the western-most portion of the IAIS from Atlantic to Council Bluffs in May 2005. The photos here offer a brief tour of the layout, beginning in Atlantic and working west to Council Bluffs, along with a few photos of corresponding scenes from the prototype.

The layout spans two rooms. The main layout room, in the lower left corner of the plan below, is approximately 15'x21', while the room that contains staging and UP's Pool Yard, upper right corner of the plan, is about 15'x16'. Roadbed is a combination of Homabed on plywood in the more track-dense areas and Homasote splines elsewhere. I've had no humidity problems with either.

About 90% of the visible track is handlaid, but I used Micro Engineering code 83 flex track in areas where access limited my ability to drive spikes. Trackwork is 100% complete, as is basic scenery (bridges, roads, backdrop, static grass, trees, etc.) except for areas around farm fields and structures where things will be finished as the adjacent scene is completed. The layout is controlled with a Lenz DCC system using ProtoThrottle wireless throttles.