<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ironhorseman: Friscobob - The Kiamichi sounds like a thriving operation! I'm old enough that I don't really know much about diesel movive power, and I can't help but wonder if the Kiamichi has been around long enough to have had steam ? If so, do you know anything about them? Photos? The 2-8-2 Mikado that I run was manufactured by Baldwin in 1915 for the Caddo & Choctaw (sp?) Lumber company which was located in the west-centeral area of OK. I have been unabel to find any information to date about this now defunct RR. Have you ever heard of it? Bill "Get Goosed on the Yreka Western"<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Bill, The Kiamichi began operations on July 22, 1987, on 227.5 miles of track sold by the BN to Jack Hadley & his family. This track was once the southern end of the Frisco's Central Division, a line that ran from Monett, MO to Paris, TX via Ft. Smith, AR. Any steam that ran on this line was of Frisco livery, and the most popular locomotives on the north-south line were the consolidations- not too sure about the Hope-Ardmore line. Best place to look this up would be in Joe Colias's book Frisco Power, which doucments all the steam locomotive types,as well as the early diesels. ------------------ Ship IT on the Frisco! Bob T.
My favorite is the Nevada County Narrow Gauge (NCNG). Affectionately called the Never Come Never Go. It is my favorite because I used to live on top of the Empire Mine in Grass Valley, CA near where the railroad ran. Remnants of the line were still around and some still are. The steel bridge across the Bear River was still standing. At one time it was the highest train bridge in CA. I am modeling the NCNG but decided to update it to the 60's, make it standard gauge, and make it a branch of the Southern Pacific.
Favorite Shortline? Gotta give my vote to the Arizona Eastern Railway that runs between Globe, AZ and Bowie, AZ on an old SP sub. Lots of history on these old rails. SP Passenger depots are all still standing, as well as 90% of the other structures.
NCNG .. I am very familiar with the area you are talking about. I was not aware there was an old narrow gauge though. I learn something new every day and Trainboard.com has been very educational for me. I used to go trout fishing up in your neck of the woods ... mostly on the Yuba River and it's tributaries. Pugsley - are you modeling the AERR? Was it a standard gauge? I was hoping that we could generate a whole bunch of pictures in this forum when I first posted it. I'm sure all of us would be interested to see old photos, and photos of what remains of your favorite shortline and or narrow gauge. How 'bout it? Do you have any to share? Bill "Get Goosed on the Yreka Western"
The NCNG ran from Nevada City, through Grass Valley, and connected with the SP at Colfax. Some of the original equipment is being restored and displayed in Nevada City if you ever get down that way.
IronHorseman -- Sorry no web page. I'll check in to putting some slides on floppy. There are a lot of technotypes around here that can maybe help me too. Seems lately there are more TC&W locomotives running on the RRV&W than there are RRV&W locos. Not too many of the CF7s left. I did notice one of the CF7s a while back re-stenciled for the TC&W and then it dissapearred, probably to Glencoe.
NCNG - do you know if any of the locomotives on display are operational? Of all who made some sort of answer about their favorite shortline, and for those who are building a model of it ... how many of you hand-lay your rail .. (lay ties, rail with spikes)? Have you tried hot glue? Bill "Get Goosed on the Yreka Western"
Hand laying track Some people do and some people hate it. Myself, I love it. Only way to fly. I have never used Hot Glue. In fact, it never entered my mind. I just use regular old white or yellow glue, what ever I have handy. One thing that was brought up on the Sn3 List was the type of glue for the ballast. Most people use white glue. If you want to reduce a lot of noise, use Matte Medium. It is not cheap but works very good. It also drys clear with no shine. It is available at your better art and craft stores. Your spikes too big, make your own from either staples or bend your oun from piano wire of the proper diameter. Nothing more fun than building your own turnouts and laying Code 40 rail . I'll leave now before the flames start Jim Harrawood
Slimjim- Code 40??? I thought I was tormenting myself with that code 55 I use for my narrow gauge! I did alot of handlaid rail with spikes until I discovered how to do it with a hot glue gun. It took a little practice to figure out how fast to move the gun across the bottom of the rails, but it works very well. And when you have to make an adjustment to the gauge of the rail, all you have to do is run a hot soldering iron over the top of it and move it to where ever you need it! I have been using 'foam-board' for the roadbed, which really dampens down the sound factor a great deal. You can get foam-board in various thicknesses at your local art supply dealer ... and it's alot cheeper than homosote. I have had absolutely no problem with expansion or contraction either. Bill "Get Goosed on the Yreka Western"
Bill, I must have been having a Senior Moment on the glue . I thought you were refering to attaching ties. Ah, the old Pliobond method but using a different medium. Which of the different types do you use? Back to the code 40. After you work with it for a while then go to the larger stuff it sure is easy. A while back when I was still in SoCal a friend wanted me to build him a couple special turnouts out of code 83. Boy that stuff sure is easy to work with . Jim Harrawood
Regarding operating loco's on the NCNG. I don't think so. Check out the NCNG website at http://www.oro.net/~ncngrr. Regarding hand laying track, yes I do. I use code 83 on the SP main line and code 70 everywhere else. I use flex track for long hidden sections where I hope I don't have to do maintenance. I started hand laying a long time ago to save money. You can build a switch for about $2.00 in materials. It isn't cheaper for all the other track but I think it looks nicer than the flex track. I tried Pliobond way back when. I wasn't too happy with the results. After several years the bond broke. How long have you been using hot glue? Any failures after a period of time? Micro Engineering is now selling micro spikes. Have you tried any yet? A lot easier than making your own. I bought some and plan to use them on some viaducts.
Jim and NCNG, I have only tried using Pliobond once and did not like the way it worked, so I removed the little that I laid with it and went back to using spikes only. When I got into narrow gauge I had problems with the wheel flanges hitting the tops of the spikes. There was an artical in one of the modeler's magazines that suggested foamboard roadbed and hotglue. It sounded interesting so I thought I'd try it. It has been on my pike for about 10 years now and there has been no problem with it at all. Part of that may be because it is in my full basement, which maintains temps between 55 and 65 degrees ... depending if I have the furnace on or not. And you are right .. hand laid track does look a whole lot better than store bought! Besides, it's great therapy too. Jim .. your code 40 turnouts .. are they standard type or stubs? I can't hardly imagine trying to file and form something that small without torquing it all out of shape before I'd get it laid! *g* Bill "Get Goosed on the Yreka Western"
Bill, Code 40, both. It is not for the faint of heart. You need to be in the right mood and have the proper tools. Also helps to have a good set of 2X glasses or an optovisor(sp). I haven't done any in a while. The bigger stuff is a whole lot easier to work with. Jim Harrawood
I haven't handlaid track for a while, but one of my first HO layouts ( a shelf-type switching pike) was completely handlaid code 70, using Campbell profile ties glued to the Homasote roadbed, and the rail hand-spiked using Kadee track gauges and a pair of needle-nosed pliers. I currently use code 83 on my layout (all commercial flextrack & turnouts), with a couple of code 70 spurs (again, commercial flextrack). I went back to flextrack for easier & quicker tracklaying, although a handlaid turnout can wrok easier that a "store-bought" one in certain situations. ------------------ Ship IT on the Frisco! Bob T.
When I first began hand laying rail I was using code 100 ... that was just to give myself confidence that I could make turnouts work smooth. Afterwards, I started a new layout using the code 70 rail over Campbell low profile scale ties. Have you ever hand laid an " X " crossing? That's a good challange too! And how about dual gauge, including dual gauge turnouts using both code 70 and 55 rail? And oh yeah ... I like to drink boiling coffee right from the pot too! Bill "Get Goosed on the Yreka Western"
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ironhorseman: When I first began hand laying rail I was using code 100 ... that was just to give myself confidence that I could make turnouts work smooth. Afterwards, I started a new layout using the code 70 rail over Campbell low profile scale ties. Have you ever hand laid an " X " crossing? That's a good challange too! And how about dual gauge, including dual gauge turnouts using both code 70 and 55 rail? And oh yeah ... I like to drink boiling coffee right from the pot too! Bill "Get Goosed on the Yreka Western"<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Bill, Welcome to the Glutton for Punishment Club! As Chief Klutz, I award you the Order of the Rusty X-Acto. Use it in good health... or to stir your margaritas..... LOLOL ------------------ Ship IT on the Frisco! Bob T.
My favorite shortline is the Barre & Chelsea. It ran from Montpelier, VT and connected with the Boston & Maine at Woodsville, NH during 1947-1956. It will be part of (albeit a small part)my HO scale B&M layout. As for narrow gauge, although I don"t model it, I've always liked the East Broad Top and it's connection with the Pennsylvania RR. Duane
Hi Duane - Welcome aboard Trainboard.com Your addition to this forum is greatly appreciated. Do you have any photos of your favorite shortline's equipment that you might be able to share with us? Either the prototypical or something from your model. What was your shortline's main source of freight? Was there any passenger service? ------------------ Bill "Get Goosed on the Yreka Western"
Hello, I'm new to the board... I have 3 favorite NG/Shortline RRs, and in a particular order: 1. Nevada County Narrow Gauge It was just a great little mountian line. 2. Carson & Colorado Before it was the SP Narrow Gauge. The locomotives and rolling stock were just beautiful which complimented the senery of Owens Valley (pre-Los Angeles) and Nevada. 3. Sierra Railroad I grew up at the "downhill" end of the line in Oakdale, Ca. It's hard not to love it. The area it travels through and the variety of equipment that cycled through the roster is still amazing. I like others, but those are the ones I spend money on books about. My love of the first 2 is acumulating into a 2.5" scale live steam 4-4-0. The Carson & Colorado #4, which later became the NCNG #7. It'll run with C&C colors (as per builders photo) but I'll be thinking about the NCNG when running it.
Hi there Cal-NGSL-Nut .. *grin* First off, I would like to welcome you to this forum. To date, as you may have already noticed, we have had a fairly good response in here. We welcome any and all comments you might have without judgment on our part. We are here to have fun ... and to learn! I am very familiar with the shortlines that you described. My grandfather used to have a ranch outside Coulterville (Greely Hill) and I have been to your town many, many times over the years. I often wonder if that little Porter 0-4-0 is still sitting on the corner of Main Street and SR49 in Coulterville. Maybe you could show us some pics of some of the features of the railroads you like .. and how you are building your model of it? ------------------ Bill "Get Goosed on the Yreka Western"
