Welcome to the Spokane International Railway
A portable N scale project railroad which is featured in the N Scale Railroading magazine. My name is Mike Pagano and I have put together a series of articles with the help from other modelers to illustrate topics of portability, light weight construction, resiliency, and reliability. We also wanted to to build a layout based on prototype information, new techniques and have fun building it. As one of the members said "You too can build a railroad" and I have helped other friends build their N scale railroads in the conventional ways of a permanent model structure. My goal was to build a operating layout that could be set up temporarily in a family room and have a few friends over to operate the pike. This Layout was introduces in the July/Aug 2007 issue of N Scale Railroading magazine as a series of "how to"articles.
The following issues described the construction details of this unique portable N scale layout. The model is built using aluminum benchwork construction methods found on The Clinchfield Railroad in N Scale, designed by the late Gordon Odegard for Model Railroader back in 1978. There are four frame sections. Two 36" x 72" self supporting tables with folding legs and two 23"x 84" bridge sections that interlock into the frame of the two table sections. This makes the foot print of the layout 6ft x 13ft. Unlike the Clinchfield RR, each table section is sheathed with a thin layer of plywood and built up with layers of styrofoam insulation. 
All the track is laid on cork glued to the styrofoam sub-roadbed. This is what it looks like in its beginning stages. Different thicknesses of extruded Styrofoam are glued together to change the elevation of the scenery and the mainline. Making the layout portable means making it light weight. Each section is designed to be handled by one or two people. The Clinchfield design was one of the best N scale portable railroads built for display as well as portability. I wanted to take the layout design to the next level by using the new products available to today's modelers.
