Article & Photos By David Yadock
Dry Gulch & Western, A Photo Series Part 7
I’m sure many of you have been wondering about my freight car fleet. In the early years I had just about every siding and all the yards full of cars, but I learned! Now I keep around 100 or so cars on the layout. Since I have become involved with operations I try keep the yards about 1/3 full of cars. This helps or sometimes hinders car sorting for yard operators. I do have around 250-300 cars in total with most being stored on specially constructed shelves. All my cars have had metal Walthers Proto wheelsets installed on them along with standard Kadee #5 couplers. I did test Kadee “scale” couplers on some of my cars but found they did not couple well with the standard #5 couplers in certain situations, they have since been removed from those cars. My fleet of cars come from many various manufacturers and most are older non-superdetailed cars. I still can’t believe that some of my early cars that I have on the layout were purchased for 50 cents each! On my layout you can find a mix of AHM, Roco, Atlas, Athearn, MDC, Tichy, Varney, Ertl, Life-Like Proto, Ulrich, Tangent, and Accurail models all working on the layout. I still have the three original AHM freight cars from my very first train set, yes are on the layout! Regarding freight cars, I have found the key is to have them all run and perform well. If they do not, then they get pulled from the layout, tagged to identify the problem, and replaced with another car. There are plenty of replacement cars waiting in the wings to go onto the layout. Also, if you have been noticing, there are a lot of east coast railroads represented in my freight car fleet. Originally, I was thinking of creating a layout that would be based on the prototype Pennsylvania RR. That didn’t happen. I still kept the cars for the Dry Gulch & Western and used whatever road name that I liked. I admit, if the car has eye-catching graphics that is a plus. Another issue, the cars do not fit any specific era. Yes, I have billboard reefers that ride on arch bar trucks. I even have some ancient wooden passenger cars. I do try to have freight cars that are generally from the steam era. One thing I still do not have are some home road freight cars. I have a few but there are still a lot of freight cars in boxes that need to be built and lettered specifically for my railroad. Like with all model railroads there is always something that needs to be done.
Photo 31 shows a closer view of the tunnels and the right abutment of my version of the Canyon Diablo Bridge. This view shows how I attach some rock plaster castings. I use expanding spray foam. The surrounding areas behind the casing will be filled with joint compound. The joint compound will be carved and then painted. Ground cover will be added later.
Photo 32 shows a full view of the bridge. In the bottom corner of the photo you will see a silver SP gondola, one of my original “trainset” cars! Note how the mirror in the corner allows the room to expand. The mountain to the left is completely hollow along the backside. That gives me plenty of access to the track in that area.
Photo 33 shows a closer view of the bridge. The bottom steel work does not support the bridge. There is a one-inch aluminum channel that runs the length of the bridge, it carries all of the weight. The channel is supported in both ends by solid wood abutments attached to the benchwork.
Photo 34 shows the central mountain. The mainline curves around to a second large bridge. Just like John Allen’s Gorre & Daphetid layout I have a spiral at the base of this mountain.
Photo 35 shows the second arch bridge. This is a close replica of the Vance Creek bridge located just out of Shelton WA. It is made from styrene with brass inserts for structural support. This bridge was constructed on a saddle shaped jig. Construction of this bridge was several months long. My model bridge towers over the town of Hayes River. To the extreme left you can see some of the snow-covered mountains and even more bridges. My freight trains are constantly gliding over bridges, blasting through tunnels or snow sheds, and battling tough grades with tight curves to move freight over the mainline through the mountains. Next time we will check out more of the bridges on the layout and give you a peek at the valley that is on the left.
That is it for this week.
David
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