The Pacific & Great Western Railroad is set in the Pacific North West of the United States of America. It has been conceived as, primarily, a secondary line used as a diversionary route during exceptional weather conditions and so occasionally seeing heavy traffic of both local and through categories.

The original concept of the model was based upon a junction and passing sidings at Glenwood Springs, a turnout to a switchback to the Eagle Ridge Mining Corporation site and a further spur climbing the mountain face to cross a substantial curved wooden trestle.

This concept has been progressively extended such that continuous running is possible on either or both of two levels with the original switchback providing a transfer link between those levels.

The lower level includes, amongst its many features, a section of downtown street running, whilst the upper level incorporates a section of dual gauge track to serve a small mining and quarrying operation.

The period of the model is generally set in the early 1960s with some steam locomotives being used alongside more recently introduced diesels, amongst which typical mainline multiple road power can be seen.

The construction of the layout has involved the extensive use of expanded polystyrene materials both for the basic baseboard surfaces and for the underlying contours of the mountainous terrain modelled. This has contributed greatly to the relatively light weight of the layout.