Colorado & RioGrande Central Railroad (HO)

[David]

A proto-freelanced model railroad in HO scale based on the idea of "What If" the DRGW had reached El Paso Texas.

[David]

Photos of the branchline town of Yrbi.

[AllenM]

David, I'm very excited to see a DRGW project in the works! Although I work at building the UP and model the UP and CNW at home, the DRGW is my favorite Class 1. I spent a lot of time chasing tunnel motors in your era and those memories will stay with me forever.
I read through a good deal of your blog posts. I could not find a date stamp for the individual posts so I have no idea how far along you have come with your design concepts. One thing that stood out to me was that you mentioned a couple times about not having certain industries nailed down yet. So, if I may add my two cents. Nothing screams DRGW to me more than mineral extraction. I think of the load out at Alamosa, Marysvale Branch, Garfield branch, Potash, Utah and all the cool old truck dump ramps along sidings that were occasionally used. Knowing a bit about the Rio Grande valley, I would think that the best fitting industries along your line would be Perlite, Pumice, Gypsum and Limestone for example. Gives you a good chance to bump up that 100 ton hopper fleet!
Good luck, your off to a heck of a start and I can't wait for new posts!
AllenM

[David]

Allen, the two cents and inspiration are gratefully welcome, after all I think the forum is what this is all about. Adding a time stamp to the blog posts are a good idea, I'll have to update the blogs posts next time I add a post. The industry side of model railroading and getting spurs and such designed to work with the space I have is a weakness of mine. I think some model railroaders don't take the time to do a little research and READ about what particular railroad was created for and for what purpose. Most are just excited about getting something built and going off half cocked instead of stepping back and taking a look at the whole picture. (I have to say, I fall into that category, unfortunately) Planning takes some time, and some are just ready to dive in, like me, HaHa! The commodities you mentioned I will bare in mind and I will most definitely use them as revenue generators for the C&RGCRR. The RioGrande has been a favorite of mine since I was able to look out the windows of the car while traveling to my grandparent's home in Salt Lake City from Denver when I was a kid. I remember staring at RioGrande trains crossing the desert plains of Utah, watching from the car as we traversed Glenwood Canyon, Helper Utah, Soldier Summit and Castle Gate. As a teenager after I got my drivers license I spent many hours at the west Portal of the Moffat Tunnel. My Father had a construction business in Grand Lake Colorado building mountain homes and I used to ride with him all the time from Denver to Grande Lake and always hoped I would see a train between Winter Park and Grandby Colorado. When I did, I would watch it until I couldn't see it anymore. I did have the opportunity to ride the ski train from Denver to Winter Park when I was about 17 or 18 years of age. All in all great memories of seeing and watching the RioGrande!

[David]

Photos Of Santa Fe NM Yard.


The far left track is a continuous track coming from the arrival/departure yard for the point to point bypass for continuous running. The spur off of it is the lead to the locomotive faciltiy. The track to the right is the mainline form points south with a passing siding. The north end leads into the arrival /departure yard for Santa Fe yard.




Opposite view.

[AllenM]

Sounds like we're roughly the same age. My grandparents lived in Idaho and when we drove up there dad always took us by the Provo yard and Geneva Steel to watch the action. I remember Thistle, Utah before the flood and cried when they took up the tracks through Richfield on the Marysvale branch. By the time I was driving I would fish along the Arkansas river and watch the fast SP/RG trains of the Anshcutz years.
As for your planning, luckily these industries don't require a ton of room. I've included a few that used to be rail served and a few that scream a lone GP30 bouncing down a spur with one car to drop off in the middle of nowhere. They would be interesting for operations because they would be random facing point or trailing point spurs that would make you think ahead.

[David]

Just what I needed! Inspiration! The turkey farm is an interesting one and something different too. I'll bet I've driven by that stone quarry in Delta in the past couple of years. The salt mine and the aggregate load out are promising too. I think RioGrande serviced a gypsum drywall plant at Gypsum Colorado. Matter of fact I just drove by Gypsum a couple weeks ago while on vacation and looks like the plant there is still serviced by UP.

[David]

Santa Fe arrival/departure tracks, caboose track, and locomotive facility.

[AllenM]

Oh yeah, the plant by Eagle is going strong.You gotta send me those orange gondolas you have so I can mess them up for you. They are way too clean for general service And to prove my love of the Grande, here's a pic of some helpers waiting their next turn. I love a good weathering challenge!

[David]

Probably should have posted these first. These may not be an exact representation but they're close enough. The Spurs and industry tracks in the drawing are not set in stone in the towns of Duran and Carrizozo, just me playing around and seeing what may be possible.


Top Level. (The helix got a little distorted in the drawing when I tried to modify the picture.)

Bottom Level.

[David]

The weathering on those Grande units are very well done! Another area I'm not very proficient at, but I've never taken or had the time to try. I do have a big roster that needs some weathering.

[AllenM]

Depending on where you live, I could certainly help you get started.
Thanks for the track plan. Looks like a decent main line run. Have you decided on your maximum train length?

[David]

Have you decided on your maximum train length?

At the moment I have not come to terms with maximum train length as this will be dictated by siding length. My efforts have been to get the mainline completed so trains can run without coming to end of track and backing up. This is not to say I have not installed the turnouts, they are and will be installed where required. I just hadn’t been too concerned with it.

[AllenM]

It's a tough one. No train is ever long enough, especially with tunnel motors on point. My dream layout room is 300' x 14'.

[Paul S.]

I hear you on that! If only for several scale miles between towns and cities.

[David]

Various stages of helix construction.

[Paul S.]

Fortress Helixa! Looks solid and sturdy.