2015 Train Mountain Triennial

The speed limit at Train Mountain is 7 mph. that relates to approximately 10 seconds between milepost markers. There are POSTED speed restricted areas, these are usually within any of the marked yard limits, most of the top area around the BackShop, Containerville, Main Yard, Central Station, Crisp Yard, and K&W loading area and yard, etc,. That speed is 3 mph. During the Triennial there also areas that should be considered 'restricted speeds' just due to the added congestion of a couple of hundred trains. Those areas are rounding Blue Caboose Campground, Midway Circle and possibly around South Meadow or Six Acre where kids might be playing. If you are in doubt PLEASE slow down and be safe.

Another major safety concern is where ever there is a diamond crossing. Over the years we have replaced a lot of the ground throws on the mainline with those very nice and handy remote switch stands. Thats the good news, the bad news is we no longer routinely reset the ground throw back to a 'normal' route after crossing through those diamonds. That leaves the switch thrown for the diamond. So here is a special safety request, if you take one of these diamond crossings PLEASE stop and let your conductor RESET the switch back to the GREEN route before proceeding. We will attempt to have those areas of concern marked with special signage but it is still up to you to operate your train safely. A couple of these diamonds are located at; the exit to the South Portal Fire Pit, at Blue Caboose as you exit downhill from K&W, behind the Motorpool building, at Youngstown, and at South Portal itself. If you are not sure which way the remote is supposed to be make it GREEN. Yellow is for an alternate route.

Train Mountain has a document that was started by Quentin at the very beginning of Train Mountain. This document is an attempt to put everything about the operation of the railroad in writing. This document is called the Train Mountain Encyclopedia. The following speed limits information is quoted from this document.

Speed Limits.

The maximum train speed is seven miles per hour, except for the following areas, which are posted otherwise:

3 mph in the Main Yard and the Passenger Yard at Central Station. This starts as trains leave Wedding Cake and ends after Grand Junction. Note: We now include all track on the upper loop in the 3 mph area.

5 m.p.h. in the Blue Caboose Sub-Division. This is the track between the two grade crossings that curves around the Blue Caboose Campground.

10 m.p.h Elizabeth River Loop in the Douglas Sub-Division. This is all steel rail on plastic ties.



An engineer can calculate train speed with the Mileposts located every 105.6' along the right of way. By using a stopwatch, or by counting "One thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three…" an engineer can count the number of seconds it takes to cover the distance from one milepost to another and thereby determine train speed in miles per hour by using the table set forth above.

Recognizing that an increasing number of our members reside in countries that use the metric system instead of our quaint system of inches, feet, yards and miles, we have provided the calculation for both miles and kilometers.

Engineers who exceed the applicable speed limit will have their track privileges suspended. (10/06)

Special Speed Considerations During the Triennial

We will have some 200 plus trains at the Triennial. Please consider the others and your safety when running during the meet. When Train Mountain was being built the original track was laid using Port Orford Cedar ties. In the Oregon climate they last around 25 years. This year marks Train Mountain's 25th Anniversary. As such our reccomendation is if you are on wooden ties slow down to 5 mph. If you are in a congested area slow down to 5 mph. If you are in an area with some blind curves, PLEASE slow down to 5 mph. During the Triennial we should all stick to the 7 mph maximum everywhere!

Triennial Committee