Detailed Model Railroad Yard Design at Floresta Junction

At the northwest corner of our expansive model railroad scene we find Floresta Junction, a large staging yard for the C&S and D&RGW railways. In the yards of Floresta, trains travelling both the Colorado & Southern and Denver and Rio Grande Western railways drop shipments and are turned around and reloaded for return journeys, but so much more happens than meets the eye upon first glance.

In this video, we take a closer look at the hustle and bustle of Floresta Junction, and introduce some of the key components of model railroad yard design that we utilize and you can work into your own staging yard to make it come to life. So let’s zoom in on the busy scene in this staging yard to get a sense of what makes all the gears turn at the gateway to the unfamiliar Rio Grande.

Essential makeup of model railroad yard design

When Engine 58 chugs out of the darkness of Tunnel 8 and makes its way into Floresta, you’ll notice there’s a lot going on within the confines of this bustling model railroad yard design. For instance, in one corner of the yard you will find the largest anthracite breaker west of the Mississippi, which one our expert modelers constructed using coffee stirrers and corrugated paper for the siding and roofing, respectively. Despite the building’s lack of depth, Tony Koester explains what makes it stand as the most physically imposing buildings in this model railroad yard design.

Elsewhere in Floresta can be found a stock yard, where animals are loaded and unloaded depending on the day’s shipments, as well as a depot and country store that is shared by the C&S and D&RGW rail companies. Complete with muted-painted figurines and realistic sounds from all the buildings, the Floresta model railroad yard design is astonishingly lifelike. Take a look around the rest of the yard to see what else lies in store for viewers of this breathtaking scene!