The New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Old Colony Division ran single track from Middleboro Massachusetts to resort towns on Cape Cod. Before World War II this was a route for weekend “sleeper” trains out of New York for vacations. Ferry connections brought visitors from Falmouth and Hyannis to Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard islands.

Cape Cod Rail Road represents post war operations in the early 1950s. It is a single track rural branch line. The layout has partially completed scenery. Towns and structures are freelanced and yards do not necessarily represent actual prototypes. The model consists of two main areas, Upper Cape and Lower Cape. Separating the two areas is the Cape Cod Canal and the iconic Buzzards Bay lift bridge.

One operator services road switching for Upper Cape out of Rochester Yard. Upper Cape represents towns of Middleboro (name only), Rochester, Onset, and Buzzards Bay. There are industries at Onset and freight transfer in Buzzards Bay and Rochester. Rochester Yard is a fiddle yard, a service shed, locomotive fuel and sand. Rochester is home base for the Upper Cape switcher.

Rochester offers fuel oil transfer and a freight house that receives and ships various goods. Onset has a lumber operation that generates wood chips that are shipped north to pulp mills. Onset also has an Ocean Spray cranberry facility that ships cranberries, but also receives packaging and occasionally machinery. Buzzards Bay, in addition to the passenger depot also has Wilson Transfer that constantly receives and ships all sorts of loads.

Lower Cape is serviced by one operator. It represents towns of Falmouth, Yarmouth, and Hyannis. There is a fiddle yard at Hyannis that is home base for the lower cape switcher. Various industries are located in Hyannis, Yarmouth and Falmouth.

Hyannis has a small chocolate operation and meat distribution facility. Falmouth offers a fuel oil and lubrication distributor, and a plumbing supply distributor. Yarmouth has a freight transfer house and a printing ink manufacturer. Various goods come and go from Yarmouth facilities.

A ramp leads from Middleboro to Boston/Readville Yard. Readville Yard is the interchange and classification yard near Boston. The yard has no scenery and is operated by the yardmaster seated on a roll around stool under the layout. The yardmaster breaks down and assembles local freight turns that deliver and pick up traffic from the cape fiddle yards. The freight operates like the prototype as it accesses Hyannis yard by traversing the Buzzards Bay lift bridge. As with the prototype, water traffic takes precedence and the bridge stays in the upper position unless the local freight approaches. Bridge operation is by Buzzards Bay tower U-416 (layout owner or dispatcher if used).

Cape Cod Rail Road is a small layout ideal for the beginner operator but presents a few challenges that may test the experienced operator. All turnouts are servo driven with controls and track diagrams on facia mounted panels. The simple hand held Digitrax throttles are tethered. Personal WiFi throttles and apps may be used. All motive power are sound locomotives and have standard hand held throttle functions:

• F0 - headlight
• F1 - bell
• F2 - horn/whistle
• F6 - brake

Operations are intended to be fun with no pressure to complete all tasks. A crew break is scheduled mid-session for refreshments and conversation.