Syd Schofield
Editors note: Please welcome Syd Schofield, who will be writing posts in the Grab Iron blog on narrow gauge topics. He welcomes discussions and feedback, which can be made by clicking on the comment link at the bottom of each post.
Model trains, usually smaller than the real life things, generally fit our interests, space, time and budgets. The generally accepted, for various physical, business and political reasons, “standard” gauge (acceptance occurring from the Reconstruction period to well into the 20th century) for most US and Canadian common carriers was four feet 8 and ½ inches between wrought iron and steel rails. Smaller gauges of three feet and two feet also survived among the many other industrial, light transit and amusement purposes as did larger distances for specialized industrial purposes, however common sizes provided for economies of scale in production, operations and exchanges between railroads.
The HOn3 model size designates the “HO” (roughly the half “O” scale) of 1 to 87 parts, the “n” for narrower distance between rails than the standard gauge and the “3” is the actual full size distance in feet (a “30” or similar means 30 inches, versus feet). The general purposes of the full size railroad in this gauge was for smaller, less expensive equipment as well as the lower cost and more agile route preparation. These features made the three foot gauge attractive to any or all of rough terrain, lower capacity, lower capitol investment and short term business situations.
Washington State had at least three three foot gauge common carriers as well as many privately owned and operated by logging and mining interests. There were many three foot railroads and some even had dual gauge operations throughout the Western US, Alaska and other parts of Canada. Some were absorbed by larger standard gauge railroads while others succumbed to the truck, bus and automobile business successes or became historical amusements.
It is this period, simultaneous to the acceptance of the “standard gauge,” that many modelers choose to reproduce from “real” railroads based on historical situation or the merely technically correct for the chosen period creation of what might have been – in HOn3 (or other modeling narrow gauge scales). We would like to explore the activities of modelers in the PNR 4th Division, or anyone else with constructive intent pertinent to the three foot gauge railroads in brief and regular Grab Iron expositions. That is heavy on the “we” as pertains to anyone who would like to offer appropriate comments.
Great Idea.
As an aside, there were eight 42-inch gauge RRs in the Pacific Northwest: two in Oregon, one in Idaho, and five in Washington. They were all, unsurprisingly, logging railroads. See http://www.raccooncrkrwy.com/42gauge for details.
Good luck with this endeavor.
Dale
Addenda to my first note: #1 gauge track is right for 42″ gauge in 1/24 scale
and S std gauge track is within a scale inch or two for On42.
Dale
Yes, and where does one find On42 rolling stock? For cars, one can just put an S gauge truck on O cars. Not so easy with locos.
Phil
Syd,
Congratulations for taking on this role! It should be an interesting and informative feature available on the Grab-Iron!
Ed Liesse
In 2013 I traveled to Colorado and got to ride the Durango and Silverton, so 3 foot gauge is now interesting to me. I’m looking forward to learning more about the three common carrier (and other) railroads in Washington State that used 3 foot gauge.
Good subject however only slight mention of the WA NG railroads of which there were very few compared to CA. and CO.
I personally model the Bay Lumber Co. out of Nemah WA which was a 3 foot gauge logging railroad in the 1920s with it’s foundation in the efforts of the Army’s Spruce Production Division. I am doing On30 however since that is what is popular for NG Modular railroading in the western states.
Surprised that nobody I have ever seen or heard of is seriously modeling the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Co. This was one of the most unique NG lines on the west coast and begs for a full on layout representation in any of the Xn3 scales.
We proto-fictionally model scenes and eras of the IR&N on our modular group (Pacific Northwest On30 Modular Group) but there is not really any good prototypical equipment in On30 to represent the IR&N accurately. Some of our other guys are emulating other NG railroads in the PNW also.
Here is some stuff for the WA locals, use Google for further research as you can’t post links in comments:(
Bay Lumber Co. 1922-1924 Raymond, WA
Operating out of the Middle Nemah River area on the westside of Willapa
Bay.
Roster was 23T Climax c/n 1219 and a bunch of log cars
Ref “Tall Timber Short Lines” Feb-Mar 1998
Olympia and Tenino (Olympia and Chehalis) (Port TownsendSouthern)
1869-1874, Olympia WA
Original NG railroad out of Olympia. Later absorbed by the NP.
Biles-Coleman Lumber Co. 1921-1948, Omak WA
36″ logging route feeding huge sawmill in Omak. Used a 42T Heisler
c/n 1519 and 20T Shay c/n 2190.
Dupont Powderworks 1909-1975, Dupont WA
36″ industrial line serving Puget Sound with dynamiteproducts. Well
documented and active historical preservation.
Consolidated Lumber Co. 1902-1916, Elk WA
36″ gauge logging eastern WA. Had 4 shays.
Walla Walla and Columbia
Mill Creek Flume and Manufacturing
Lumber hauler near Walla Walla later absorbed by the OregonRailway and
Navigation Co. and later the UP.
Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Co. 1888-1930
Isolated short line along the north shore of the ColumbiaBasin and north
to Nahcotta along Willapa bay. Lot of interesting history.
Short line coal hauler out of Seattle/Newcastle area.
Have Fun,
Rich Blake
Whidbey Island, WA
NG lines are, like the old folks used to say, “A totally different animal, all their own,” in that they rarely ever interchanged with any other RR, were usually owned by small companies (which were often nowhere near where the RR itself ran) and were a curiosity within the US as late as the WW2 era.
The sad thing is that most NG interest was focused almost entirely toward Colorado and New Mexico for many years. I guess this is because the D&RGW lasted as long as it did, well into a era of railfans with cameras, cars and disposeable income.
But let us not forget the almost countless NG lines well outside the ‘square states in the middle’. I’m not so much focused on NG lines in Pacific Northwest but I do find them interesting (though none survived into recent times). There are some serious gems in the East and South if you just know where to look. Palmetto Brick was a 3-footer running in the South as late as just recently. The East Broad Top is a sadly static collection of a RR that simply was left as-is and is a truly sad operation at the moment as it hasn’t run in a while with no solid plans for steaming up again soon.
The best hidden gem in the East is the Doe River gorge route on the long-abandoned East Tennessee & Western North Carolina, near Hampton, TN. This line is breathtaking, rivalling anything seen on the Rio Grande. The roadbed was bought for an amusement park long after the tracks were pulled up in 1951 after the abandonment of the 3-foot line the previous year. ‘New’ rail was laid in the gorge and a questionable operation existed there, off and on, until the early 70s. The tracks are still there, as the location was bought for a Christian Camp in the 80s. This is a must-experience line for any NG fan if you’re ever passing through the Northeast corner of the Volunteer State.
Tweetsie RR at Blowing rock, NC and Dollywood park at Pigeon Forge, TN both run former White Pass steam power. Tweetsie has the only existing ET&WNC 3-foot locomotive, # 12 which was saved from the torch in 1950.
I model a fictional branch line of the EWT&WNC (in On30 as Bachmann’s ten-wheeler is patterned from the road’s Baldwin locomotives) and have been a big fan of that RR ever since I was a kid…
Let’s not forget the Maine two-footers. Inspired by the Ffestiniog Railway in Wales, these little tea-pot railroads ran, off and on, between 1875 and 1943. If any common-carrier railroads could be described as “cute” it was these.
The main (pun intended) players were:
Billerica and Bedford (the first one)
Bridgton & Saco River
Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes (the most complex)
Monson (the last)
Kennebec Central (the shortest)
Wiscasset, Waterville, & Farmington (the longest)