Things continue to be very busy at the start of the semester, so I am trying to squeeze in a couple of quick posts. Today, welcome to Tabernash Colorado!
Tabernash is a small community at the western end of the Winter Park Valley. To the west, the main line enters Fraser Canyon. To the East, the grade steepens to 2% as the line runs up to the Moffat Tunnel. Tabernash is the site of a long siding, a reverse loop connected to a wye, and is currently a layover location for the Ski Train. In the past, Tabernash was also a helper location where engines were added for the run up to the Moffat Tunnel. In more recent times, these helpers were used as swing helpers, running all the way to Denver to provide braking on the eastern descent from the Moffat Tunnel.
 |
| Eastbound DRGW 5361, 5369, 5358, 5370, and 5368 lead a coal train east out of Tabernash in November 1976. Photo from CarrTracks. |
All of these make Tabernash desirable to include in the layout, if only to be able to model these different operational elements.
The western end of Tabernash crosses a brief bit of ranch land as it enters Fraser Canyon. Here the main line is isolated from the road, making Fraser Canyon on of the more remote sections of the Moffat Line.
 |
| The siding wraps around Tabernash. You can see the freight on the left on the siding (old main), while Amtrak takes the new main on the right. Photo by Michael Harding. |
To model Tabernash, I located it below East Portal, and above North Yard. The old main representing the siding wraps around the blob that contains the Moffat Tunnel Helix, providing a lot of length, while not lengthening the scene too much. The resulting siding is 216 inches long, making it the second longest siding on the layout to Rollins. Prototypically, it should be longer than Rollins, but the siding is long enough to hold any train I plan to run. I have added a pair of spurs to the town to allow for a team track and a local industry or two, just to have a little bit more operational capability.
 |
| Track Plan for Tabernash, CO. |
Tabernash will reside almost 3 feet above North Yard, and given that there is only a little bit of operations there, I think it should not interfere too much with North Yard Operations. The nod-under at the wye for Tabernash will also have a clearance of more than 5 feet, so it will be a nod-under. However, its presence may also encourage folks to resist the temptation to pass into the North Yard area, and instead walk around the bookcases (representing the bottom of the aisle) to see their train from the Fraser Canyon end. Tabernash is also about 14 inches below East Portal, so there should be reasonable clearance between the two scenes.
Cameron Turner
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment