Layout Overview Document
Circa 1890.
Typical Colorado mountain
railroading. The mainline follows a
creek as it climbs into the mountains.
At one point a branch line splits off and head towards a mining
community.
The major town on the line
is the hub for all passengers and freight shipped to and from the various
stations and towns along the main line.
The town lies at the foot of the mountains near the entrance to the
canyon. Connections from various other
railroads and stage lines are made at this point.
All engines and cars are
repaired at these facilities. New cars
are made in the shops as well.
60-70
foot. Gallows or A-Frame, definitely
wooden. Tracks should lead into a small
roundhouse.
“A
Gallows Turntable”, Mainline Modeler, January 2002, page 58.
“The
El Portal, California, Turntable”, Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette,
September/October 2000, page 58.
“SP
Gallows Turntable”, Locomotive Terminals and Railroad Structures, page 20.
“The
Modelmakers’ Notebook: A Gallows Turntable, Part 1 – The Table”, Narrow Gauge
& Short Line Gazette, November/December 1989, page 72.
“The
Modelmakers’ Notebook: A Gallows Turntable, Part 2 – The Gallows and Pit”,
Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette, January/February 1990, page 72.
“Turn
Of Century Gallows Turntable Plan”, NMRA Bulletin, January 1978, page 55.
3-4 stalls with extra
storage track nearby.
See
Campbell’s kit for ideas. Also refer to
The RGS Story books for photos and plans.
Not
sure about this. Possibly a simple
loading ramp where coal is shoveled into the tender. An elevated track would hold a gondola supplying the coal. See The RGS Story and the Ute Coal and Coke
Company, and Porter Coal Mine. Also,
see Coal Bins at Vance Junction. Reduce
to 4 bins. Coal will be delivered from
a coal mine somewhere along the line.
Need to do more research
on this one.
Round. See the many RGS tanks.
Do
more research on how these worked, and how they were supplied. Presumably the ice was used in reefers. See Ridgeway in The RGS Story series.
Gandy dancer style. Include a shed for storing the hand car.
See the RGS or D&RGW
flangers. Slides from Colorado
vacation. Photos of flangers and plows
can be found in The RGS Story series, and other books.
Sizable
station with platform. Probably use the
Skull Valley kit from Campbell. Include
passengers, waiting benches, outhouses.
Storage tracks nearby for passenger cars. One is probably sufficient.
Freight station with
platform. May be combined with
passenger station. Include crates and
equipment for loading freight.
Track
leading to staging area where other trains may be stored. Two staging tracks should be
sufficient. This will represent
connections to other roads such as the D&RGW, C&S, UP, etc.
Include
main street (dirt of course) and many brick buildings. See slides from Victor, Colorado. Some false front wood structures are
ok. Possibly more than one street. Street should cross track at least
once. If a stream goes through town, a
path and foot bridge should cross the stream.
Horses, carriages, passengers, railroad crew should all be included in
the scene.
See
Denver South Park and Pacific, M.C.Poor, page 128, bottom photo.
Ibid.,
page 183, bottom photo (Buena Vista Land Company).
This is the end of line
along the branch line. Should be a more
rustic town, with false front buildings, dirt streets (muddy?), and lots of
mining activity.
Several
mining buildings (Stamp Mill, Mine Head Frame); Base this on the Maud Monroe
mine in Idaho Springs, Colorado (see plans from Don Griffin). 18” gauge track leading into mine with Ore
Cars. Main mine buildings can be up the
side of the mountain with tramway to get ore to mill. Tracks for loading and minerals.
Tracks for storing empties.
Combination
passenger/freight station.
Mostly,
if not all, will be wooden false front buildings. Include main street (dirt of course) with wagon wheel ruts. Buildings should look more rustic and
ramshackled. See slides of
Independence, Colorado near Victor, Colorado.
Not much as far as
servicing facilities. Just enough to
get any problematic motive power back to the main town for repair.
This will be needed to
turn the engines around for the return trip.
2
stalls with a possible outside storage track.
Use the kit already owned.
Round
(see RGS tanks in The RGS Story.)
This
should definitely be more rustic, requiring more manual labor.
For
local switching of gondolas.
This town is at the end of
the mainline (as opposed to the branch line leading up to the mining
town). There will be mining activity
around here, but also a lot of general commerce and passenger activity,
including tourists. A small cozey
setting in a valley, with some brick buildings, as well as some wooden false
front buildings.
A small mine up on the
side of a nearby mill or mountain.
Either a spur track or wagons to haul the ore to the station.
Use a mix of brick and
wooden false front buildings.
Include plenty of stops
along the mainline for freight and passenger delivery and pickup. These should be simple, with a single
building or two and some sidings or spurs.
Most should also have a water tower.
The lumber mill supplies
lumber (of course) to all other towns
and locations along the main line and branch line. The mill itself could be modelled, or a simple freight station
with wagons of lumber being delivered could suffice.
Supplies
coal to the railroad, towns and mines.
Include 1 or 2 short tracks for loading cars and storing empties. Maybe have the mine itself clinging to the
side of a mountain somewhere. See The
RGS Story series, and the Ute Coal and Coke Company, and the Porter Coal Mine
for ideas. There should be large enough
coal bins for storing lots of coal.
This
should be in a relatively flat stretch, representing a valley or plateau. A good spot might be to put this under the
upper deck of the layout where height is not an issue. Include a small siding for storage and
loading. Livestock can be either cattle
or sheep. Include small buildings,
maybe a cabin or two. It may be best to
include this in either of the end-of-line towns to save room.
A small narrow gauge
railroad servicing the many mines in the area.
This should probably be modeled at the end-of-branch-line mining
town. Narrow gauge shays or climaxes
will be appropriate. The ore cars can
be the Trout Creek kits purchased. Do
more research on the history of the Gilpin Railroad. This was a two-footer build in and around Central City and Black
Hawk Colorado, and included nearly 26 miles of track at one point. Find a copy of Mr. H. T. Crittenden’s
complete history of the Gilpin Railroad, published in the Railway &
Locomotive Historical Society’s Bulletin No. 57. There should be other books on the subject as well.
There will only be at most
one stop besides the end-of-line mining town.
This can have steeper grades.
The junction point where the branchline meets the mainline will be a station
with passenger and freight transfer facilities. See the Forks Creek.
Refer to the Colorado Rail Annual No. 10: Narrow Gauge to Central and
Silver Plume.
Include
lots of these of all types, including at least one long curved trestle gripping
side of mountain. Several short bridges
crossing rivers and gulches as needed.
Refer to the many bridges found in The RGS Story series, The Rainbow
Route, and other books.
A
wandering river in a canyon follows the mainline (or is it the other way
around?). Refer to Clear Creek in the Colorado Rail Annual No. 10: Narrow Gauge to
Central and Silver Plume. Also see
the many slides from Colorado.
At
least one sheer cliff above and below a track.
The track should be crawling along a narrow shelf and crossing trestles. Lots of rugged terrain. See the many, many photos in the books.
3%
grades on mainline, greater in mining district if locomotives will handle
it. Test this out.
Include
rough cut tunnels as well as timber tunnel openings. Hidden tunnels can be used to give the illusion that trains are
going off in one directly, only to appear in another location. Use these to divide scenes.
Refer to photos and
slides.
Lots
of them. Many varieties. Include large pines, dead trees, aspen,
birch, etc. Ponderosa Pines
(huge!). See books and other references
for ideas, as well as slides from Colorado.
Again,
refer to books for ideas. Use color
photos and slides to match colors.