My passion for model railroading has changed and grown over the years. What hasn’t changed is my affection for the two railroads I remember most from my childhood, the Missouri Pacific and the Frisco. A move several years ago caused me to abandon my previous layout, but when it came to rebuild, I stuck with my favorite scale, HO, and my favorite roads, Mopac and Frisco.
My freelanced Meramec Valley and Pacific Lines is based on the Missouri Pacific Lines Sedalia Sub from St. Louis to Kansas City, Missouri. The modeled portion of the Frisco is from Pacific to Newburg, Missouri. The name for my layout comes from the Meramec River Valley, which the eastern portion of the division traverses before reaching St. Louis.
The MV&P operates under the freelanced notion that the Frisco continued to lease trackage rights from Mopac from Pacific to St. Louis, rather than constructing their own line. The towns of Sedalia and Valley Park, and Newburg are represented. St. Louis is staging for westbound trains while Kansas City is now represented by a recently added freight yard.
Two of the most frequently hauled commodities on this freelanced operation are coal and grain. The layout is set in the early 1960’s to mid 1970’s. First generation diesels are still plentiful, but you could see an occasional SD40.