Wordless Wednesday

Denver Union Station circa 2008. Photo from Wikipedia.

Cameron Turner

Wordless Wednesday

DRGW3155 Leads the Ski Train west out of Tunnel 1 in March 1997 - Photo by James Belmont.

Cameron Turner

The Branches: The Golden Branch

Another branch I wanted to include is not even a D&RGW branch, it is actually a former Colorado and Southern, later Burlington Northern, now BNSF branch from C&S Junction to my hometown of Golden, Colorado.

SD9 BN6226 was the assigned Golden Switcher in 1980. Photo by Mike Condren.

Over the years, I have seen everything from first generation power, to second generation power, to former coal drag locomotives, to modern warbonnets on the branch. There is typically at least two trains a day on the branch, a morning and an evening beer train. Trains often run 100 cars, so they are moving lots of traffic, primarily out of Coors, although there are other industries on the line.

BNSF4555 leaving Golden Yard in 2018. Image from Michael Harriman.

2009 brought BNSF8300 to the run. Photo by Olaf Junges.

Coors is obviously the biggest customer on the line, and would provide a lot of traffic to the branch. In my plan, I also included a number of the other industries. The branch is located above Arvada and below the middle tunnel district on the layout, and wraps back around to end with Golden Yard above Cargill and below Crescent siding.

Horton and Terrill Junction on the Golden Branch.

The line emerges from the helix and runs through a residential area of Wheat Ridge/Arvada before crossing Kipling Parkway. Past Kipling, I included several industries that sit alongside the branch. At Terrill Junction, the line to the East Yard at Coors breaks away from the branch near Mt. Olivet Cemetery.

Golden Yard on the Golden Branch.

After Terrill Junction, the branch passes several more industries before terminating in Golden Yard. On the prototype, Golden Yard also has a connection to the Coors North Yard, but I modified the nature of the yard to include items such as a Commuter Rail Station, a brick yard (there once was one in Golden) and I retained the Jolly Rancher Factory. The actual Golden Yard also does some car maintenance for Coors but I plan to use it more as a termination point for a local that will switch the branch and provide some "hot" deliveries from a Coors Packaging Plant to the Packaging Buildings at Coors. And of course, coming off Terrill Junction, I have a connection to a model of the Coors Brewery and rail facilities. But that is the topic of the next post. To Close, let me leave you with a video I found of a train leaving Golden Yard.

Cameron Turner

The Branches: Rocky Flats Branch

One of the elements I like about how this plan came together was the ability to include many of the branches in the area. One relatively minor branch runs from Rocky siding, north along Highway 93 towards Boulder. The branch also serves an aggregates plant, and at one time there was a lumber dealer and a sand and gravel dealer as well.

The Rocky Local climbs the ridge above Rocky Siding in this 2005 photo by Tyler Eaton.

The branch climbs out of rocky on a 4% grade to get out of the upper part of Barbara Gulch before crossing Highway 93 and Highway 72 as it swings north. I've modeled it as shown below.

Rocky Flats Branch leaving Rocky in the Layout.

My rendition has to have the branch follow the main line back towards Barbara Gulch before it will cross Highway 93 and disappear from view into a helix. The helix allows the line to drop down below the layout at Rocky on a lower deck at 27.5" off the floor. This gives it about 12" of clearance to the bottom of the benchwork supporting Rocky siding. I envision that the branch would be operated from a rolling chair or stool, which means that the track level is a little below that of an office desk. The initial grade of 4% out of Rocky is also modeled, so the branch climbs before descending the helix.

The Lower Deck portion of the Rocky Branch.

After descending the helix to the lower deck, the branch emerges from the helix through a cut and crosses Highway 72 before swinging over the South Boulder Diversion Canal and approaching what on the D&RGW timetable is called AEC Spur. This spur served the old Atomic Energy Commission Rocky Flats Nuclear Site, which produced Plutonium Triggers for the US nuclear weapons arsenal. In my era, the site is still served, with cleanup and the removal of nuclear materials being the primary traffic off the spur.

Further up the branch, I included a spur for the lumber dealer and a sand and gravel dealer. I also freelanced the addition of a Bentonite Plant after reading about modeling such a facility and remembering that Bentonite is also common in the area. There never was such a facility, but the idea caught my interest, was plausible and so I added it in to the branch. I also added a spur to the National Wind Test Center, located just past the end of the branch. This center tests wind power generation equipment. My era is a little early for it, but I decided to include it and this allows me to have some wind turbine traffic delivering equipment to be tested at the site.

Its July 30, 1996, firmly in my era and a pair of DRGW GP30s are on the Rocky Local switching the Aggregates plant at the northern end of the branch. Mike Danneman Photo.

After looking at the pictures of the aggregates plant, I decided instead to model it as a cement and aggregates plant. The aggregates come from a quarry on the west side of Highway 93, while the plant is on the east side of the highway with the railroad. At the end of the branch, there is a tight runaround track, so planning is important to switch the plant. Fortunately, there is only one train on the branch at a time.

The plant would be an interesting model to build. While it is about 30" deep, the tracks all stay to the front, so the depth should not hinder operations. It would however be a sizable scratch building project. One other interesting item to note, there is an old plant switcher sitting at the plant in view of Highway 93 on its own panel track. So I could have another really interesting model.

Its 1997 and a pair of GP30s are still on the Rocky Local working the aggregates plant. Photo by MRL390 (aka Tom Danneman).

The branch is not that long, but includes six industries. The track layout is very close to prototypical, with limited runarounds available, so planning of movements is key. Furthermore, the 4% grade into the branch and the helix out of the branch will tax the pair of 4-axle units typically assigned, meaning that to the local may have to leave some cars at Rocky, work part of the branch at return to swap out the remaining cars to complete the job. It will require a bit of coordination between the engineer and the dispatcher to keep the local from plugging Rocky while the local does its work. Add to that the local serving the industries between North Yard and Rocky on the mainline and there is a sizeable amount of potential work. Enough that I can have industries served during different operating sessions. Throw in a special train of nuclear materials from Rocky Flats, or a special windmill train to the NWTC, and this could be very interesting to operate. I'm really excited about modeling this branch. It should be a fun and realistic operation away from the hustle and bustle of the Mainline through the Rockies.

Cameron Turner

A Momentary Aside: Its the Virus...

COVID-19 - ALISSA ECKERT, DAN HIGGINS/CDC

The COVID-19 virus has changed a lot of things. I had been doing a pretty good job posting on the blog, up until being sent home to work virtually in Mid March. Since then, posts have been few and far between, and hobby time has been almost nil.

Working virtually it turns out is more time consuming than working in person, at least for me. At a sometimes flakey internet connection, and trying to manage life in this COVID-19 world, and tornados and well you got lots of things to eat up your time.

I had been hoping to go to the regional NMRA meet in March, but had to forgo that since after my surgery I am in the high risk group for COVID-19. Similarly, I had to pass on going to RockyOp2020. Now, the PCR is canceled, the NMRA national is cancelled, and a bunch of other events are cancelled. Still waiting on the SER convention, but I won't be going. On the bright side, I hear that interest in hobbies such as Model Railroading has picked up with so many people at home these days and looking for things to do at home, inside.

An N-Scale Operating Session - Photo by the Author.

It is sad to see some of the social elements of the hobby coming to a halt, the ops sessions in particular grinding to a halt as people either are unwilling to conglomerate in a basement empire, unable to conglomerate in a basement empire or are unwilling to host people who might have COVID in a basement empire. Its been making me think about the layout I might build. Will it be the operating haven I had imagined, or does it need to be something else? How can I make the layout fun to operate with only a few people - or even just me? Is this what I want to build - or should I be looking at other options that I had not considered? When can I start? With what can I start?

I have a few more posts planned on the Moffat Line plan I had put together, and I have started the next generation of planning, making a few more compromises to allow better access to the crawlspace. And, I have done some work on another, shorter term project that I hope to actually cut wood on in the next couple of weeks. But my wife and I are alive and well. We are holed up, awaiting the all clear - the chance to step out into an all new world.

Oh, and I mentioned tornadoes? Turns out a property my wife and I bought as an investment, met up with one the other night. Nobody was there, but the remodeling job done on the kitchen is very...rustic.

A Rustic Kitchen Remodel. There was actually another room past the sink in the house. Photo by the Author.

It was apparently the result of an EF-3 that placed 3 80 foot trees into the house. Only two rooms do not seem to have visible damage. So, this will be another project coming up...

Stay safe everyone. Stay in. Keep your distance.

Wordless Wednesday

DRGW147 switches North Yard in 1986. Tom Byrnas Photo.

Cameron Turner

Wordless Wednesday

The last Winter Park Ski Train of 2020 due to COVID-19 - 3/14/2020. Photo by Chip.

Cameron Turner

Weirdness Wednesday

Tennessee Pass Re-Openned!!!

DRGW5376 Leads a train pass Cotopaxi, CO. Photo by John Shine.

Cameron Turner