Project Segway – A Revised Olympia in the Office Plan

(Occasionally, other events do occur and so I will from time to time go off-topic to discuss another railroad related project or event that is going on currently – we will get back to our regularly scheduled programming…)

Based on the results of the gradetesting project, I reworked the Olympia in the Office plan that I originally developed. The new plan has grades of no more than 3% and a minimum radius of 170mm (6.7”). I kept the basic structure of the layout, with three decks and a similar footprint. Even most of the towns were conceptually retained. Nonetheless, the incorporation of the car floats meant that there were changes in the layout to accommodate the car floats.

Deck 1 - Gladhaven and Cave Port.

The first deck is actually two separate parts. The first one is a staging area in the form of a town of Cave Port. This is a fiddle/staging yard, analogous to the town of Cave Point on the MR version of Olympia. It uses a simple manual turntable at the left end to allow engines to escape. I am thinking that I will try to make this turntable work similarly to the MR sector plate, and I can even make it removable to manually turn the engines (or allow it to pivot around to do the same). Cave Port is actually reached from the second deck connecting to Olympia Timber. I envision Cave Port as a land connection to the outside world.

Cave Port Fiddle/Staging Yard.

At the right end of the lower deck (albeit at a lower height) is the port town of Gladhaven. Gladhaven receives both coastal ships and a transfer point for cargo to be loaded onto barges for the trip to Olympia Timber on Deck 2. Thus, Gladhaven is primarily a switching location, built around harbor traffic and the Hyde Pulp Mill offered by Republic Locomotive Works in N-scale. The new plan gives me a lot more room for the harbor, but does place the yard back behind the Pulp Mill.

The Port of Gladhaven.

The ferry barge at Gladhaven provides a connection to the sawmill at Olympia Timber and the main line that runs between Cave Port and Camp Union on Deck 2. I ultimately envision the barges functioning much like they do on Mark Dance's Columbia and Western. There is a nifty video about the barges on Slocan Lake, BC that is linked to below.

The second deck connects the fiddle/staging yard of Cave Port to the ferry from Gladhaven with the Sawmill at Olympia Timber and the main logging camp established at Camp Union. Camp Union has a second ferry slip that connects Camp Union to the settlement of Sand Creek. I have isolated these two ferry locations with a mountainous canyon crossing similar to the Georgetown loop. Not only does this climb add a lot of mainline to the run. While Olympia Timber and Camp Union are physically about 4 feet from each other, a train needs to run almost 20 feet and climb 6 inches to travel between them.

Deck 2 - Olympia Timber and the Sawmill to Camp Union.

Camp Union is connected to the settlement of Sand Creek via a second set of ferries. While I have planned on all of these sharing a common footprint and interface, I do not intend for the ferries departing from Gladhaven to arrive at Sand Creek, or for ferries departing from Camp Union to end up at Olympia Timber. These would make the mainline redundant.

Deck 3 - Sand Creek to Eureka Camp 8 and the other camps.

The third deck works much the same way as it did originally. The biggest change is that Forx was relocated and scaled back. The main line no longer splits at Forx to reach Sand Creek and Eureka's Camp 8. So, Forx is a much less significant place. Sand Creek, however, gains some new industries and real estate.

It is interesting to note that the new plan has more turnouts than the prior plan. This is largely driven by the increase in car ferry locations. These locations added 6 turnouts out of the 11 added to the plan.

An additional significant outcome is that each deck of the layout effectively becomes its own layout. Gladhaven can operate as its own switching layout, with the car ferry serving as a connection to staging. Deck 2 can operate on its own as well with Cave Port and the ferry to Gladhaven operating as staging (without even actually connecting to Gladhaven in reality). Deck 3 also functions independently, with Sand Creek to Eureka working as its own layout with the Sand Creek Ferry serving as a staging connection. This means that the layout can be built in clear phases, and need not even be built completely. I could easily decide that two decks are enough, and not build the third. And if I needed to relocate it someday from my office to home, that could be done too. Indeed, the size of the components, estimated at 21.5" by 60" maximum (exact height to be determined) also makes the layout very transportable, allowing it to even be taken to shows. With that in mind, at a show, it need not necessarily be set up as a two or three deck layout, but could instead take on a number of shapes and orientations as needed.

So, after a false start with a helix, I am pretty happy with the revised plan. Happy enough that I am going to continue detailing the plan. I have assembled three of the 8 bookcases for the layout in my office, and I am working on the other five. So, we may well discuss Olympia iN the Office again.

Cameron Turner

Project Segway – Grade Tests for Olympia

(Occasionally, other events do occur and so I will from time to time go off-topic to discuss another railroad related project or event that is going on currently – we will get back to our regularly scheduled programming…)

Picking up from the previous post ( ProjectSegway – The Olympia Helix Tests ), I realized that the designed grades on my Olympia iN the Office plan were just unrealistic for the length of trains that I wanted to run. But, before I go too far in redesigning the plan, I wanted to test out a more moderate set of grades. So, this weekend, I went about testing a 3% grade with a 170mm curve using sectional Rokuhan track re-purposed from the helix. I tested the Rokuhan Shorty Mechanism, a Microtrains Z-scale GP35, and an AZL F59. All three locomotives pushed the cars up the grade. Pulling performance may be different. I videoed the tests and they can be seen below.

This test apparatus was just a short stretch of straight and level track, which transitioned to a 3% grade using Woodland Scenics Foam inclines along another straihgt section. These inclines were taped to my kitchen counter using blue painters tape. The grade continued at 3% around a 180 degree curve of 170mm radius, and into a final straight section still at 3%. Trains were powered by a BlueLine controller powered by a 9V battery.

In summary, weight makes a huge difference. With the Rokuhan Shorty, I could only push 1 car up this grade. That is until I taped a quarter above the drive truck. With a quarter in place, I could push 4 cars up the grade and around the curve. With 2 quarters, I could push 7 cars. The Microtrains GP35 would push 9 cars, and the AZL F59 would push 14 cars.

The Rokuhan Shorty mechanism weighs all of 8.47g (0.3 oz), the Microtrains GP35 weigh 35.8g (1.26 oz) and the AZL F59 weighs 50.37g (1.78 oz). Each of those quarters weighed 5.67g (0.2 oz), so they more than doubled the weight of the Shorty. So, weight is a big deal, and I found that it made a difference adding it over the driving truck (which I did) versus over the training truck. So, use of the shorty will need to carefully build weight into the mechanism. None of this is a surprise. The video also clearly shows the added effect of the curve causing most of the locomotives to slow down as they pushed their trains up the hill.

With the quarters, I may have been able to get the shorty to push more up that 5% grade. However, the GP35 was only able to reliably push three cars up that grade, and the F59 did four. So, I have a couple of data points. I really should put together a proper grade/curvature chart for N and Z scale, which would also cover Nn3. Something else to add to the list of tasks to do.

That said, this gives me some data for the redesign of Olympia in the Office. If I can keep the grades down to say 3%, I think I would be a lot happier. And just for reference, if you poke around on the web, you do find that Z-scalers often recommend 2.5% as a maximum grade for Ztrak layouts and trains, so these results are quite consistent with those experiences.


Cameron Turner

Project Segway – The Olympia Helix Tests

(Occasionally, other events do occur and so I will from time to time go off-topic to discuss another railroad related project or event that is going on currently – we will get back to our regularly scheduled programming…)

So, as mentioned previously ( Project Segway –Introducing Olympia iN the Office ), one of the critical components of the Olympia iN the Office Design is the helix. In particular, the ruling helix between Deck 1 and Deck 2. With a ruling grade of between 4.3% and 4.9%, this is clearly a potential problem. The helix is designed as an oval, with 55mm straight sections on opposite sides and end radii of 170mm. In order to test out the feasibility of this design, I built a helix out of foamcore and Styrofoam using Rokuhan sectional track. The test helix consists of 2.5 turns.

Olympia Helix for testing.

Testing of the helix proceeded with several different mechanisms, including a Rokuhan “Shorty”, a Microtrains GP35, an AZL GP9, and an AZL F59. Each of which I am considering as candidates for mechanisms for the layout. I used several Microtrains Nn3 boxcars for to test the ability of the mechanisms to push and pull trains up the helix.

Unfortunately, the results were not very satisfactory. The “Shorty” was able to only move 1 car at a time reliably up the helix. The other three mechanisms were able to reliably move three cars each up the helix. None were able to move my target of five cars, and none were even able to move four. Three cars is simply not satisfactory, particularly since the helix will be a major obstacle in the layout. Furthermore, I found that in the event of an uncoupling, the trains would rapidly accelerate down the helix and given the tight curves at the ends, the resulting derailment was inevitable and typically were catastrophic. It became clear that the helix was just too tight, too steep and in this case, too inaccessible to satisfy my operational desires. If it were not for the combination of tight curves and steep grades, the helix was more workable. It is clearly the combination that is the problem.

This is a show stopper in my mind. So, the helix is out. Fortunately, the solution appears to be fairly obvious too. The car ferry could be used as the means of connection between the decks, much as Mark Dance does on his Columbia and Western for his branchline operations. But, that will take some redesign work on each deck to make it work a bit better. The lesson to be taken here is that critical elements in a plan need to be tested and confirmed as being viable. I should have tested out the helix concept sooner, and certainly before completing the entire track plan. Based on the erroneous assumption that the helix was viable, I designed in similar curve and grade conditions in other parts of the layout design. These need to be addressed as well in the revisions.

Cameron Turner

Project Segway – Introducing Olympia iN the Office

(Occasionally, other events do occur and so I will from time to time go off-topic to discuss another railroad related project or event that is going on in my life currently – we will get back to our regularly scheduled programming…)

I am a big fan of several of the recent project layouts coming out of Model Railroader. Not only do I have a fondness for Canadian Canyons, but I also have a fondness for a completely different project railroad, Olympia featured in the Olympia and Olympia 2: The Log Blog Series. I’m looking forward to Olympia 3: Sand Creek coming soon on MRVP. My office at work has had a long wall that is poorly used. It has a 7-foot bookcase that is partially blocked by the end of my desk rendering several shelves on the bookcase virtually unusable. I’ve long wanted to replace this single tall bookcase with a set of shorter but longer bookcases along the wall. Across the top, I’ve always thought that a small model railroad could be attractive. But the subject of that railroad has eluded me, until now. Let me introduce, Olympia iN the Office.

Olympia in the Office Logo.

I’ve decided to name my railroad the Rio Gorre and Olympia Railroad, and to model the railroad in Nn3, hence the emphasis on the “N” in the word “in”. My space (20” by 156”) is similar to that of the Olympia + Olympia 2 project layout (22” by 156”) but since my railroad will be in N-scale, versus On30, I expect to be able to have a lot more dominant scenery. I did think about simply modeling in On30, but frankly, I didn’t want to switch scales, and while my space is similar, I have a door swinging into the space that would make a duplication of the project railroad difficult. Finally, I have an ample collection of Nn3 equipment, and with the introduction of the Rokuhan Shorties, and several of the recent small Z-scale hood diesels, kitbashing equipment for a logging line becomes reasonably practical.

AZL GP-9 Mechanism (z-scale).

MT GP-35 Mechanism (z-scale).

Rokuhan "Shorty" Mechanism (z-scale).

65 ton Whitcomb Diesel Conversion kit (Nn3).

With this idea in mind, I began to consider possible layout configurations in the office. A multideck concept seemed most plausible, as the bookshelves near my desk will be lower than the ones further along the wall. So, I could image a small section over the two 48" tall shelves by my desk, with a second deck running the length of the wall, narrowing to a small town/staging area on the wall behind the door.

Office Concept.

This led to the idea of a small helix in the corner in the upper right of the diagram, which would otherwise be somewhat useless space. However, the helix would have 170mm radius curves (about 6.7” radius) which is tight but not unheard of in Nn3. However, the helix could be oval, with at least short straight sections on each side, extending the run. I estimated that I could get about 1178mm (46.4”) of length into a helix lap at a minimum, and I would need to climb 50.8mm to 57.15mm (2” to 2.25”) at a minimum per lap to get my lap over lap clearance. That translates to a grade of 4.3 to 4.9% in the helix. In my mind, this would have to be checked. It is extreme, but maybe it could be managed. So, I kept going with the plan, although my two decks became three, with deck heights of approximately 48”, 60” and 72” ultimately.

Deck 1 - The port town of Gladhaven.

The lowest deck became the town of Gladhaven, a port town and connection to the outside world via car ferry. The primary industry in the town is a Pulp Mill, although there are also a number of harbor spots associated with bringing materials in for the lumber operations. The result is a small but thriving town – a little rougher when the loggers come to town – and a lot quieter when they are in the hills. The mainline slips out of Gladhaven and climbs the helix into those hills on the right hand side.

Deck 2 - the Sawmill (Olympia Timber) to Camp Union.

The train climbs the helix to enter the Olympia Timber Sawmill complex on the right hand side. Trains proceed to the left, entering Olympia Timber, but then have to reverse course to climb the hills above the sawmill complex to climb to Camp Union. Along the way (about midpoint of the layout) they will pass by a gravel operation which provides material for the railroad. Upon reaching Camp Union on the left, they find the base logging camp. Trains again reverse direction to head into a second helix to climb to the third deck.

Deck 3 – Forxs, Sand Creek and the Camps.

On the third deck, the trains exit the helix into the settlement of Forxs. I envision this as little more than a whistle stop, similar to Forks Creek on the Colorado and Southern. Some trains would continue to the left into Sand Creek, and maybe taking the switch back at Sand Creek, climbing into Camp 5 to get timber. Other trains would continue to the right out of Forxs where they would either climb the switch backs at Junction 2 to reach Camp 7, or to continue to climb the hill to Camp 8. Camp 8 is more of a mining town than a logging town but would be a mixture of Red Mountain on the Silverton Northern, and Camp 8 from the Dolly Varden Railway where I took the name. Camp 8 would be high enough that it would rest partially on top of the hutch behind my desk, allowing a near full scale model of the National Belle Mine.

Anyway, that is one of the segway projects that I have had on my mind, largely driven by the purchase and arrival of the bookshelves for my office. Since a lot of my research ties to mechatronics and 3D printing, having a small layout in my office that has some examples of both types of technology would be useful (as well as enjoyable) so, if I can come up with something that works for me, I would like to have it in my office. This design has potential. Enough so, that I need to now go back a test out the helix. Based on the rest of the plan, it looks like a typical train would be an engine and 4-5 cars. So, time for a helix prototype.

Cameron Turner

A Little bit of a Narrow (Gauge) Imagination

A little imagination goes a long way. And with narrow gauge modeling, it goes even further. I started model railroading with my father and an O scale layout. By high school, I moved to HO, and by college, I moved to N. By the time I was in graduate school, Nn3 seemed to be the way to go, because of both the small size and the challenge. I even built nearly a scale mile of Nn3 modules that I took to the National Train Show in St. Louis in 2001. I still enjoy tinkering with narrow gauge ideas, and layout plans. But, as I have become increasingly interested in operations, it isn't the small size of Nn3 that makes me hesitate, but my feeling that the operations are kind of small, low density affairs. I've operated enough in both N and Nn3 to feel like I can operate in those scales. I've also operated both on standard gauge and narrow gauge layouts. Both can be satisfying. But I find that the narrow gauge lines, to remain plausible, just do not have the feel of operating a standard gauge line.

One particular inspiration in how to get the operations "feel" I want, but model narrow gauge is to copy Bob Hayden's approach on the Carrabasset and Dead River Railway. The C&DR is a Maine 2-footer, but models an era after which all the prototype lines had been abandoned. And it is not a fading concern, but a healthy, vital railroad, featuring new diesels, passenger service, and even innovations such as unit trains.

In some ways, the prototype equivalent is the White Pass and Yukon Railroad in Alaska, that operated as a narrow gauge freight line until 1982, and now operates as a tourist line. The line operates primarily with diesels, and even sported intermodel trains at one point.

It is as a healthy going concern that I imagine my Rio Gorre Northern. As one of my other hobbies is the history of the atomic bomb, I even think I would set the layout in 1952, shortly before the H-bomb was first tested. Part of the theme of the layout would be that the line serves and provides transportation of military-grade equipment and materials needed for the nuclear arsenal. Were this equipment goes exactly is a little bit more of a mystery, but there are rumors of a secret town hidden in the northern mountains of the west. And there are rumors of a mysterious black train that runs at night delivering personnel to this location, the so called "Black Goose." Most locals laugh at the legend of this train which does not exist, but train crews are always wary to clear the line when the goose is making its mysterious run...although none can say that they have ever seen it.

In my imagination, the line begins at a port town. The port itself is known as Port, and the town as Porthmadog. Out of this terminus, runs a branch to the town of Gladhaven, a fishing and lumber town. The main climbs to summit its first range at Furlow Pass, and descends into the major terminal of Gorre. Gorre is the major terminal on the line, and from Gorre run a number of branch lines to various destinations. The line leaves Gorre, and climbs a second summit with the twin stations of Alpine and Tundra, before descending once again to a standard gauge line at Kaybeck.

The standard gauge connection could be any of a number of railroads, and might change to fit my fancy. And the branches may be operations of other lines, such as the Alpine, Kaybeck and Tundra (AKT), the Alpine Central (AC), the Gorre and Northern (GN), the Big Water and Tall Timber (BWTT), the Devils Gulch and Helegon (DG&H), The Gorre, Daphetid and Northernly (GDN), etc.

Along the way, we would see sights that resemble, the Georgetown Loop, Forks Creek, Ophir, Lizard Head Pass, Trout Lake, the Highline on the RGS, the Highline on the Durango and Silverton, Vance Junction, Windy Point, Cumbres Pass, spectacular bridges, and mines, mills, logging, and livestock. Power would be a mix of steam and diesel, and the cars would e an eclectic collection of long gone roads. Roads are not penetrating this tough country, at least not easily, and thus the railroad is the lifeline. Some say that the military has something to do with that, preferring the lack of roads and the resulting isolation to becoming a well trafficked area. Basically, the railroad would be my favorite everythings.

I don't really have LDEs for this line. It is the most freeform and undefined concept I have. I've always kept it that way so that I can imagine it in whatever space I have. I have looked at it as both a home layout empire, but also as a portable railroad that I could take to train shows. But it would not be a display layout, as much as an operating demonstration layout. However, I have also thought of it as a starter layout. Something small, that can begin operating in say 12 months, and brought to completion in 2-3 years - that would give me something to enjoy, while the larger layout was pursued, and would give me something that could live beyond the larger railroad empire.

Following the waters home

`I grew up in Golden, Colorado at the base of the foothills of the Rockies. No wonder my interests tend towards Colorado roads, and I have a bit of a narrow gauge interest. So I suppose it should not be a surprise that I would also put the Colorado Central on my list of possible subjects.

The Colorado Central ran from Denver, out to Golden and followed Clear Creek into the mountains. At Forks Creek, the line split, heading to Black Hawk and Central City on one route, and continuing up to Idaho Springs, Georgetown and Silver Plume. Along the way, the line climbs the Georgetown Route, winds through Clear Creek Canyon and serves the mining communities along the way. Perhaps the most famous rendition of the line is the HOn3 Union Central and Northern Railroad, housed in the Cheyenne Depot and built by Harry Brunk. Much of the construction of the model railroad is covered in a series in the Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette, and republished in not just one, but two books Up Clear Creek on the Narrow Gauge and More Up Clear Creek on the Narrow Gauge.



The UC&N model railroad also is captured on YouTube in a fun video.

Most of the models of this line seem to focus on the portion of the line west of Golden. Golden and Denver are often unmodeled - or represented with staging. Interestingly enough, the ends of the line interchanged. In Denver, the line interchanged with the major railroads in Denver, and on the western ends, there was the Argentine Central in Silver Plume, and the Gilpin Gold Tram, a unique 2' gauge railroad) in Black Hawk. There are several fantastic books on these lines including Colorado Railroad Museum Annual #10,  Colorado Railroad Museum Annual #26, Georgetown and the Loop, The Colorado Central Railroad, and The Gilpin Gold Tram, and the Gilpin Railroad Era, among others. These connections are particularly interesting. Unfortunately, none of these lines made it past WW2, although part of the line between Georgetown and Silver Plume was rebuilt and operates as a tourist line. Parts of the line were standard gauged, operated by the Colorado and Southern, and today by BNSF as the Golden Branch serving Coors.

Like the other narrow gauge ideas, this one would be a smaller operation. Operationally, the LDEs would include:

• Denver
• Arvada
• Golden
• Forks Creek
• Idaho Springs
• Georgetown
• Silver Plume (and the Argentine Central)
• Black Hawk (Gilpin Gold Tram)
• Central City

The scenic LDEs would include:

• Clear Creek Canyon
• The Central City Switchback
• The Georgetown Loop
• Mines and Mills galore!

One of the challenges, would be modeling the Gilpin Gold Tram. And herein enters T-gauge again. N-scale is 9mm between the rails representing 4'8.5". A 24" gauge line in N-scale would have a gauge of 3.8mm. At 3.2mm, T-gauge is a little tight (20.2") but it is certainly close to Nn2. I even have an Nn2 prototype of one of the tram cars made through 3D printing. More interesting is that for Z-scale, the track gauge is 6.5mm, and so Zn2 would be 2.8mm, and so T-gauge scales out at 27" in Z. It is not implausible to represent Black Hawk in N-scale, and transition to z-scale while climbing to the mines outside of town. As long as the individual towns are kept correct, I think that T-gauge equipment could be the basis for both Nn2 and Zn2. 

The idea of doing something with the Gilpin Gold Tram has definitely hooked my interest, and I have decided to at least build a small 22"x42" Zn2 layout to test out some ideas and determine technical feasibility. I've include the track plan. 

The plan is based on the Jerome and Southwestern, with some modifications. The key questions are Turnouts, track and equipment. I was able to 3D print a car easy enough, fortunately, there are some T-gauge mechanisms that look to be good candidates for the diminutive little shays that plied the line, and so in my mind, the last hurdle is couplers - at least in terms of the equipment.

But, just in case, I ran another calculation and discovered, that Z-gauge track (6.5mm) is very close to HOn2. Not HOn30" as as been done and popularized by Dave Frary and Bob Hayden, but actual HOn2. Okay, it is a little tight at 22.3" instead of 24", but that is close. Track, turnouts and equipment is easy. Some Z or Nn3 cars are actually kind of close to HOn2, or at least the cars on the Gilpin Gold Tram. There are some possible Z-scale mechanisms that could be motive power, and link and pin couplers are do-able. A shelf layout in HOn2 to have a little bit of the kingdom of Gilpin, is possible. In fact, this post took a long time, because I wanted to finish this.

Description: A Gilpin Tramway Ore Car from the 3rd order of cars, ordered in 1895. The cars were numbered 86-155. Requires some 28 gauge wire to represent the spacing rods across the top of the car, and to represent the brake stems, as well as Z-scale Archbar Trucks. To complete the model, Link and Pin couplers and the Brake Wheel should also be purchased, which are designed to be compatible with this model. In addition, 2 M0.5 0.50UNM Metric Screws are necessary to secure the link and pin couplers. The link can be simulated with 0.7mm wire (such as that used in a paperclip. The car is HO scale, 2' gauge, represented using Z-gauge tracks (6.5mm) which equates to 22.3" in HO scale. Recommended in Frosted Extreme Detail or Frosted Ultra Detail options. Polished materials may have reduced detail.

I am quite pleased with the result and eager to hold the prototype. Getting these files done, became my goal so that I could open my Shapeways shop, and also order my prototype car to see if this vision could be realized. The shop can be found here.

Or, check out the blog post.

This line is interesting to me - but it offers small narrow gauge power, 2-6-0s and 2-8-0s, but it is interesting. It would b a lower key operation, and more of a model building exercise. I am not sure this is the layout - but it is interesting to consider.

Into the San Juans

Growing up, I often got to go camping with my father at a small campground above the town of Silverton, Colorado. We would be there about a week, and we had ample opportunities to explore the areas around Silverton. We would drive up to Animas Forks, hike around Red Mountain, stop in Ouray, visit Ridgeway and Durango, and watch the new Durango and Silverton Railroad arrive in Silverton before racing to beat the crowd to the Pickle Barrel for lunch, before going to Smedley's Ice Cream Parlor for root beer floats.

Silverton is an interesting railroad town. Isolated in Baker Park, no less than four narrow gauge lines radiated out from town. The Silverton Railroad climbed over Red Mountain Pass serving the mines north of Silverton towards Ouray, before topography prevented the line from descending into Ouray. The Silverton Northern extended out of Silverton along the upper Animas River,  first to Eureka, and ultimately to Animas Forks to serve mines including the Sunnyside Mine. A third road, the Silverton, Gladstone and Northerly, wandered up the course of Cement Creek, to th town of Gladstone, serving the mines there. While different entities, all three lines were ultimately owned by Otto Mears, and operated as a unit.

But Silverton had a fourth line, the Denver and Rio Grande Western, reaching the line via a branch from Durango. Thus, Silverton became something of an oddity, a rare location where multiple narrow gauge lines interchanged. Even at the other end of the branch, a similar situation evolved. In Durango, not only did the D&RGW come in from the east from Chama, but the Farmington Branch went south, and the Rio Grande Southern extended north, working up through Telluride to connect to the D&RGW at Ridgeway, where the D&RGW came through on the Marshall Pass line. In addition, at this end of the line, was the D&RGW Ouray Branch, that came within a few miles of the Silverton Railroad. In fact, the Silverton Railroad came within about 5 miles of Pandora, at the end of the RGS Telluride Branch. Admittedly, there was a pretty big mountain between the two, and so by rail it was closer to 150 miles, but, the point is, these lines were all intertwined into the same area.

The RGS is famous in its own right, climbing over Dallas Divide, Lizard Head Pass and Cima Hill and the lesser known Millwood Summit between Ridgeway and Durango.Towns such as Rico, Mancos, Dollores, Ophir, and Vance Junction all dotted the line. And there were bridges of all sizes all along the line. The RGS is at least as common a modeling subject as the D&RGW, and the two were very much intertwined.

Many of the towns, and mines and mills in the area are fascinating subjects. And in N-scale, several would make fantastic models that could be done with limited or even no compression. Many of these roads saw smaller steam engines, instead of K-36s and K-37s, K-27s and K-28s were common, and a number of consolidations (C-class) 2-8-0's also served the area.

K-27 DRGW #463

DRGW K-28

RGS #40 (Consolidation)

So, if I was to build a San Juans layout, what might it look like. Well, first there is a clear choice to make, 1) anchor the layout in Durango, or 2) anchor the layout in Silverton. Durango was the larger set of facilities as the terminus of the D&RGW, with both the Silverton and Farmington branches radiating out. The RGS becomes a essentially a bridge route between the four corners region of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona, and the D&RGW mainline north of Ridgeway.

Silverton on the other hand is a hub, but it is the hub at the end of a branch line, and really, the three Silverton roads are just branch lines off the branch line. Traffic would be in any realistic scenario, much less on a Silverton centric model, than on a Durango centric model. Furthermore, by World War II, the Silverton lines were essentially over, whereas the RGS continued into the Post WWII era.

Part of this success was the presence of Uranium ore on the line, and its need for the Manhattan Project. As I have worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and have a bit of a hobby in learning about Atomic History, this is intriguing. Furthermore, it is plausible to formulate a history where the RGS did not just struggle into the post WWII era, but maybe even prospered due to its atomic connections. While I am not opposed to modeling an era set a century or more ago, I am more drawn to a post-WWII era, and one of my favorite model railroads, Dave Frary's Carrabasset and Dear River, did just this to extend the life of a Maine 2-footer into the post WWII era. So, if a Durango Centric line is my preference, what would it look like?

Well, I think you start with Durango. The line to Chama, and the branches to Silverton and Farmington continued to operate into the 1960s and beyond, in part due to the oil and gas discoveries near Farmington. Much of this traffic came via Chama, but by then, the RGS was long gone. Perhaps if it was still there, the traffic could have come via the RGS. In this scenario, the RGS could have become central to the production of Uranium, and so the line may have even prospered after WWII, long enough to benefit from oil and gas discoveries in the 1960s, and even maybe to become a bridge route of sorts between the central railroad corridor and the southern railroad corridor. Maybe not likely, but not entirely implausible, particularly with a military-industrial complex need to maintain the line and perhaps discourage easy alternative access (so as to protect the resources in the event of an attack). Maybe it even becomes a transition era steam/diesel NG railroad more like the White Pass and Yukon.

So, what might the operational LDEs look like? I think that they would include:

• Durango (Connections to Farmington, Chama, and Silverton)
• Mancos/Dolores
• Cima Hill
• Millwood Summit
• Rico (Enterprise Branch)
• Lizard Head Pass
• Ophir
• Vance Junction (Telluride/Pandora Branch)
• Vanadium (Uranium Source)
• Dallas Divide
• Ridgeway (Junction with D&RGW - NG to Grand Junction/Gunnison & Ouray Branch - or - SG to Grand Junction)

Scenically, the LDEs might include:

• many of the bridges enroute
• the Highline by Ophir
• Trout Lake
• Dolores Canyon
• and so many more...

There is honestly a lot of potential scenery here; much more than I can think of on the top of my head. There is obviously a fascinating railroad here. I am more than a little tempted to imagine narrow gauge diesels in a black and orange scheme for the RGS... In Nn3, there are now some very nice steam engines, or at least chassis options, based on Z-scale Japanese steam and from offerings from AZL. But more exciting, the diesels have dramatically improved with GP-7s, GP-9s, new F-7s, GP35s, and SD40s all becoming available. At the very least, these new chassis become the basis for a lot of interesting models, or free-lanced models that could be deployed. Even DCC and sound are becoming practical in Z and Nn3. This could be a very interesting railroad indeed. And in fact, I am aware of at least one massive Nn3 project to build a model of the RGS. Having played with Nn3 myself, I am convinced that it could be operable as a layout. And, both this and Marshall Pass offer the ability to operate with a much smaller crew, and yet not be unrealistic, as these lines often had a much lower traffic density than the standard gauge routes discussed thus far. Since I am not sure how much of a crew I can draw, this is a consideration.

The Fabled Marshall Pass

The Marshall Pass roue was the original narrow gauge rout between Denver and Salt Lake City. The 3rd Division as it was called ran from Salida to Gunnison over Marshall Pass. From Gunnison, the line continued west through the Black Canyon of the Gunnison over Cerro Summit, and ran into Montrose. The line closed in the early 1950s, and was torn up by 1955, with the exception of the Monarch Branch which was standard gauged and continued operating that way into the 1980s.  The Marshall Pass crossing crested the continental divide at 10,842 feet, well above Tennessee Pass and the Moffat Tunnel.

As the primary narrow gauge line of the D&RGW, the line saw impressive narrow gauge traffic into the 1940s, but after WWII that traffic began to drop dramatically. The largest D&RGW narrow gauge engines, the K-36s and K-37s plied the line.

K-36 DRGW#489

K-37 DRGW#494

The line was severe, with 4% grades, and multiple turnback curves. Much of the line over Marshall Pass is still there, and can be driven in the summer months. 

From Salida, the line headed west to Poncha Junction, where the line swung south and the Monarch Branch continued west towards Monarc Pass. Shortly thereafter, the line reached Mears Junction, a unique junction where the D&RGW crossed over itself, with one line continuing to Marshall Pass and another climbing over Poncha Pass to descend into the San Luis Valley and Alamosa.

The main continues up the pass, winding through Shirley and Gray's, ultimately cresting the pass and encountering a major snowshed to protect the crossing. The snowshed covered the station, a passing track and even a turntable. 

Marshall Pass Snowshed.

Western Side of Marshall Pass.

The western descent is also significant. The line descends through multiple curves through Shawano, at times allowing the train to pass through the same scene at least 4 times! This stretch o the line is remote, We work through Chester and Buxton and Sargent. From there, the line opens up, and runs across the valley to Gunnison. Gunnison was a division point, and the connection to additional branch lines. The main continued west out of Gunnison, and plunged into the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. This canyon was followed through the canyon until Crystal Creek enters the canyon. At this point, the canyon became so rugged that the line had to climb out of the confines of the canyon, and crest a ridge known as Cerro Summit, near the town of Cimarron. This pass was unspectacular, especially against such passes as Cumbres, Tennessee, Palmer, and Marshall.

Much of this route between Gunnison and Montrose now lies underwater. But along te route lies places such as Sapinero, and Curecanti, places that inspired the original D&RGW logos and advertizing. Now, Blue Mesa reservoir hides much of this region.

The railroad grade is somewhere below the surface.

I have built numerous Nn3 modules using Z-scale track, mechanisms and trucks, to represent N-scale Narrow Gauge. Modeling this line would be a significant shift of focus from the D&RGW standard Gauge to its narrow gauge operations. 

Salida - if modeled as more than staging would still allow for the standard gauge to make an appearance. But the yard in Salida would be dual gauge, possible, but much more complex to model. However, operations including the Monarch Branch would be fascinating. The modeling of the route over the pass would be feasible, and Gunnison, as a Narrow Gauge division point supported several branch line operations. A little modelers license would allow for sufficient traffic on the line to be interesting. In particular, helper operations on both the East and West side of Marshall Pass.

A chief question becomes how far west to model. Gunnison makes a lot of sense as the end of the line, but modeling the Black Canyon is more than a little tempting. Recapturing something long gone has its appeal. However, one of the challenges, is that there is a lot less published material on this line than on lines that existed into the modern era. Not living in the region anymore, makes it a bit more difficult to reconstruct the line in sufficient detail to produce a solid model. These are all challenges, plus the fact that while we are seeing some solid steam engines in Z that could be rebuilt into Nn3 K-class locomotives, that would be a fair bit of work to build a prototype roster. It certainly is tempting to instead look at building this route, had it made it into a diesel era due to some source of new traffic discovered after WWII.

So, what would the operational LDEs be:

• Salida;
• Poncha Junction;
• Monarch Branch;
• Mears Junction (connection to San Luis Valley Line);
• Shirley and Gray's both had sidings and Water tanks;
• Marshall Pass;
• Shawano;
• Sargent;
• Parlin (Pitkin Branch Connection); and
• Gunnison (Crested Butte Branch, Balwin Branch, Kuebler Branch).

If extended to Montrose:

1. Sapinero;
2. Lake Junction (and the Lake City Branch);
3. Cimarron;
4. Cerro Summit;
5. Cedar Creek; and 
6. Montrose.

The Scenic LDEs would be:

• Marshall Pass Snowsheds;
• Hilden (Snowsheds and Siding);
• Shawano Curves;
• Some of the other siding locations (i.e. Otto, Keene*, Pocono*, Chester, Tank 7, Buxton, Elko, Crookton, Doyle, Bonita, and Steele) Note: * - Single Ended Sidings;
• Black Canyon;
• Curecanti Needle;
• Crystal Creek Climb to Cerro Summit; and
• the Crystal Creek Bridge.

I know a lot less about this line than I really should. But that too is part of the fun. Considering this route in some fashion is a chance to learn more about the line and perhaps decide that it should b the focus.