Ever since I have started railfanning the old D&RGW Moffat Route, and having ridden on Amtrak thru it, I have been smitten. The bug has bitten again, and I am thinking on the next layout. Not in this house, not enough room. The room, as the drawing I am about to show doesn't mention, needs to be at least 22x16'. I drew up a rough plan, NOT to scale, using my existing modular system. I want to model from Tunnel 1 to Tunnel 29. I have personally railfanned 70% of this area, and will use my own photos for scenicking it. Tunnel 1 will be the entrance to East staging--Denver and points east. Tunnel 29 will lead to west staging, Pinecliffe, and Moffat Tunnel/points west. This will be a point-to-point style railroad, and be designed for portability. My present layout isn't. The modules will be cleaned off, as much track and turnouts salvaged as possible. Staging will be under layout. The entire route from Tunnel 1 to the South Draw area will be flat, while from Tunnel 16 to Tunnel 29, the route will have a 1-2% ruling grade. This will net me about 6-8" of grade seperation for staging. The only 2 sidings, Plain and Crescent, will be about 10' long. All turnouts will be #6 or better. All curves will be 18" rad. or better. The tunnel placement is very rough, but the longer tunnels on the plan do reprsent the longer tunnels on the route. Tunnel 8, 10, 17, 19, 23, and 24 are 700+ feet long, and while selectively compressed, will be long enough to be believeable. My goal is to model a seldom-seen section of a very scenic, and very rugged railroad, as faithful to the prototype as possible, given the space constraints. This area is only a mere 12.95 miles long, and I will attempt to devote roughly 56' of visible mainline to it. Any thoughts? [ January 29, 2006, 03:03 PM: Message edited by: HemiAdda2d ]
Is it done yet??? Can't wait to see how you would do Glenwood Canyon as that is a great trip just through that section of Colorado. Go for it!!!!!!!
It's a great line to model especially with it's stop and wait action of one track mainline. Nothing like seeing the trains stack up and wait for the Zeph no matter what time period you choose. Hmmmm... seems a shame not to have big ten on the plan. Big ten is like the Tehachapi of the west slope. But that's my slant on this line. I would do more selective compression and capture some of the east slope as well. Maybe make the layout in a Big letter E shape, with scenic dividers all the way up all the legs of it. There is a small canyon, can't remember the name, just west of hotsulpher springs. Driving through there really caught my attention. Have you seen any of the foamrail modules they are making in Boulder CO? Kieth is part of that group. They make great modules on a very low budget. You might want to utilize some of their techniques. I often think about switching to D&RGW because I live so close to it. It's sort of a no brainer, So I understand your fascination with this line. [ 22. October 2004, 22:10: Message edited by: traingeekboy ]
I don't have the space in this house. If/when I buy or move next, the basement is a big consideration. I want to use my foam techniques for scenery, but I will need to keep it lightweight. The Moffat route is solid rock, and I'll need lots of rock molds! I am still working out how to do double-deck staging under layout without a helix.
If I decide to do this layout, I will start to stockpile track, some more turnouts, and scenery materials.
Dude, why wait? Just build some important scenes and use them in a later layout when you have the real space to do the layout. Why not just have a giant run through staging yard on the back side of it. No need for helix's.
I would love to include Big Ten/Little Ten/Rocky siding, etc all the way to the Moffat Tunnel, but I simply have no space for that, with all that I have planned already. Besides, I couldn't possibly best Mike Danneman's rendition of Big Ten/Coal Creek Canyon.... Mike decided not to model the 'interior', other than a few places. I wanted to model as faithfully as I could a short section rather than compress everythign so much that it's not realistic. Budget is not big, either, another consideration.
I have entertained the thought of building a highly-correct representation of Tunnel 27 in a diorama.... Both sides of the scenic divider are going to be scenicked..
No, I haven't seen those! Keith, are you watching? How did ya'll do that neat rockwork? I could use cheap white beadboard for scenery, and keep costs down...
Demo's lay within this site. the only drag is the lack of pictures in the demo's. Pictures are always so helpful, and this IS the internet. http://bcn.boulder.co.us/recreation/bmrc/bmrcnsig.html
he he he... You can run but you can't hide Keith! http://bcn.boulder.co.us/recreation/bmrc/bmrcnsigatwork.htm
I just read that... I have used foam for 80% of all the layouts I have built, but never thought of using only foam, not plaster or rock molds... I may give that a try, with my T27 diorama....
T27's are not prototype on USA N scale layouts no matter what you try to tell me. lol Tank you very much. I assume a T-27 is a predeccessor of the T-38. check out this site: http://www.missing-lynx.com/rw/rw.htm [ 22. October 2004, 22:37: Message edited by: traingeekboy ]
Always a smartypants in every crowd... I actually want to re-create in N scale; this shot: Tunnel 27:
*in his best Elvis impersonation* Thank ya, thank you very much! And BTW, I miscalculated my mainline length... It is 56' out to South Draw... So the main will be about 112' long, a record for me! That's minus staging, folks!
Have you seen the D&RGW layout that has been featured in N Scale Railroading magazine? Now there's some inspiration! Boxcab E50
I are here, I think! The Foamrail rockwork is ALL foam. Carved by a variety of methods. Ranging from a single edge razor blade, hacksaw blade, screwdriver etc......to a wire brush. Even Scalecoat paint thinner! Guess I'd better get a shot of the methods "tower" and post it as well. Shows various ways to get the features one is after. The loop that Geky shows is all foam as well, including the trees!! Hemi: For foam scenery, you're best off using the blue, pink or green foams. The white styriofoam, while cheaper, is also MUCH messier and nowhere as easy to cut/carve as the other stuff. I removed my Faomrail stuff from Rail Images a while back. Think I'll have to repost those photos, showing an "in progress" endloop I've been building. For anyone interested in Foamrail, you're welcome to attend an NSIG meeting for a Saturday work session. Contact me if interested, so I can let meeting host know thta extra visitors are attending, and for directions. An added bonus, is that you'll get "hands on"
