Our model RR club has Home layout tours just for the members. We feature a different club member's layout each month. This month we visited Jack Morgan's H0n3 logging railroad. I learned a little about narrow gauge and a lot about an incline railway. Looks like a dangerous operation to me. I will post pictures over the next few days. The layout is open each Tuesday, so I can go back and ask questions if I can't answer them here. These are people scenes. There are a lot of people here for any scale. A lot of people! Notice dual gauge track. Can you find Santa Claus? Close up. Narrow gauge track. The engine and cars are still under construction. More later.
Thanks for posting the pictures. I notice this layout is also a "dual gauge" which I have always found fascinating. I can imagine something like that would be fun to operate as well as building/kitbashing models for the narrow gauge portion.
Yes, dual gauge. In fact, Jack pointed out a place where the narrow gauge part of the track changes sides from one to the other. I will have to get a picture of that next Tuesday. This ia a large crane or drill that was scratch built by Bob Clarke. Not bad. ([edit] This is a McGiffert loader. Thanks, acousticco.) Another view. The whole train. This is the mechanism that controls the incline cables. This thing really does work. I was standing on a step to take the picture. The mechanical house is about six feet above the floor. More tomorrow.
That is a great looking layout! The log loader in the second set of pictures is a McGiffert loader. They were self propelled with a set of wheels that were pulled up under the floor so log cars could pass underneath during loading. This link has some history and lots of great pictures: McGiffert Loader Great stuff! -Cody BTW if it's HOn3 the gauge would be 10.5mm
The Incline Jack Morgan is one of the few people I know who does not have a computer. It's obvious where he spends his time. Maybe that is telling us something? I am standing on the floor looking up at the top of the layout. The incline mechanism is to the left. You can see the steep incline as it drops left to right. A view of the top of the incline. Clear cutting is in effect, even if not politically correct. The logging trucks are being lowered down the incline. You can see the cables extending back to the incline machinery shed. I'm not sure who is at the bottom to catch these things if the cables fail. An overall view of the incline as Jack operates the mechanism. Too steep! I told jack that it was no wonder the incline railways went out of business. This operation is dangerous! There is no way OSHA would approve of his layout much less a real railroad operating in this manner. Heh, heh, heh... Heck of a railroad! I have a few more pictures.
Three More Jack is the face you see in the middle of this photo. View from the top looking down. This is the most vertical layout I have ever seen. I am not sure how all of the scenery in this picture will be tied together.
Other views of people and the layout. More on the non-prize winning timber trestle later. Jack is in the left background here. Joe and Sharon Mainz of the current Kalmbach Great Model Railroads, 2008 are the other two individuals pictured. Jack's collection of H0 scale cars. Jack is a collector of many things. Bill Eubanks of Zengerle Bridge fame is high atop it all. The bridge story. Jack scratch builds this trestle pictured below for a model railroad convention contest in Austin. Everything is fine. Good model, competitive, looks nice, the judges like it, etc. As the last judge turns away after judging the model, his sleeve catches on the trestle and it goes to the floor. All the way to the floor where it resides in 500 pieces. Jack says it is 500 pieces because there were 2000 pieces in the trestle and it didn't come apart completely. Jack always looks on the bright side. Jack didn't win any prizes at the contest, but he did get to build the trestle again. I guess those things happen. It sure is a nice trestle. Actually, that last was not true. Jack did get a special prize for competing in the contest. I said he should have gotten a special prize for not hurting anyone. Hope you enjoyed the visit. I will have a few more pictures on specific topics next week.
Did anyone else notice the Grim Reaper? And a question were there's hand on the control operating the incline. Just infront of his hand. Is that a dinosaur??
I visited Jack Morgan's layout again tonight. Here are some answers to the questions posed. The layout is H0n3 or 36 inch gauge. In H0 scale, the tracks are 12 mm apart. There is a dinosaur on the layout. It is apparently a pet following the railfan. Here is a swish. Both of the bottom two tracks have a swish. Jack collects H0 scale kits. Here are some. I had not heard of some of these manufacturers. This is a "Silver Streak" kit. The tank car has a metal frame and a wooden dowel covered with paper for the tank. It was a nice layout tour. I had never seen an incline operation before. Jack was very good friends with Bob Clarke, owner of the Ironhead Timber Company.
