Author: Anton Faulk

Click here to read the September 2020 issue of The Flimsy Board from the Bremerton Northern Model Railroad club.

By David Yadock

Dry Gulch & Western, A Photo Series Part 6

The Dry Gulch & Western has a varied list of motive power.  I currently use quite a variety of different brands and wheel arrangements.  There are Broadway Limited, Bachmann, Con-Cor, Proto 2000, modified Kato, Trix, and modified Athearn locomotives on the roster.  The vast majority of the locomotives are sound equipped.  I have begun (finally) lettering the locomotives for my railroad.  Yes, this took a while, but it is slowly progressing.  I have also begun the task of re-motoring some of my brass locomotives.  I plan to add quite a few of them to the layout since I have been collecting them for years.  They really should not be in cardboard boxes all of their life!  Unlike John Allen, I have several diesels on the layout.  Several Kato NW2’s usually “play” in the yards at Ellison and Newport.  They are painted in the early SP tiger stripe configuration.  I have two cow and calf sets for that purpose.  There is a rather large fleet of Santa Fe F7 diesels on the layout.  I originally started with a vintage Athearn F7 A and B powered set that I did a sound decoder installation.  Since then I have added some Proto 2000 F7s also in the Santa Fe Warbonnet paint scheme.  Did I also mention I have a couple of BLI Pennsy Sharknose diesels that run freights on the layout?  Yes, I am a Pennsy fan, so those locomotives are allowed to run on my layout.  So, let’s get back to the layout photos.

In photo 26 you are still looking back at Ellison, Taylor Junction, and all points beyond.  This gives you a good view of both large control panels.  These panels house most of the turnout controls for layout.  Since they are only a couple of feet apart from each other it makes one-person operation of the layout’s mainline fairly easy.  Continuous running of trains can be accomplished by changing direction of just two turnouts.

Photo 27 is a view of the very first bridge I built for the Dry Gulch & Western.  It is located directly behind the tall gray mountain spire in photos 22 and 23 of part 4 of this series.  It is a tall curved wooden trestle that carries the mainline.  If it looks familiar this is my attempt to create the Ryan Gulch scene from the famous Gorre & Daphetid.  This photo also shows the aisle in the floor to ceiling area of the layout.  The blue colored carpeting mimics the color of a river.

Photo 28 shows the view looking down the canyon.  At the center top of the photo is the town of Alpine.  Just around the bend from the wooden trestle is the hamlet of Raade Springs.  Further around from the wooden trestle is the town of Potter Flats.

Photo 29 gives you the first view of Potter Flats.  There is a mine and an oil drilling operation at that location.  The little building above the rock outcropping in the foreground is Raade Springs station.  (Please note that there is a lot of the scenery in this area that isn’t quite finished yet.  That has significantly changed since Covid-19 and those pesky “stay at home” orders.  At the end of this photo series I will try to post updated photos of this area.)  On the left of this photo is my version of French Gulch, another borrowed or should I say “liberated” scene from the Gorre & Daphetid.  Can you spot the large access hatch in this photo?  It is almost in the dead center of the photograph.

Photo 30 gives you a really good view of how things fit on the layout.  It also shows the advantage of correctly placed view blocks.  Let’s go across this photo from left to right.  On the extreme upper left is the town of Alpine.  As you go down into the valley you encounter Potter Flats.  The rail line running straight up the photo travels to Gornitzka Crossing and beyond.  The switch that sends the rail line off into the tunnel in the foreground is a sort of “backdoor entrance” to the town of Dry Gulch.   Notice how the view blocks hide Gornitzka Crossing!  In this photo to the right is Raade Springs with its small station.  Even further to the right is Dry Gulch.

That is it for this week.  Next time we will look at some more scenery under construction along with some of the bridges that hop from mountain to mountain.  Did you folks ever find that access hatch in photo 29?  Keep looking!

David

By David Yadock

Dry Gulch & Western, A Photo Series Part 5

I’ll explain a little more information about my layout.  As mentioned in the last installment I used a lot of plaster for the mountains.  I also used a lot of paint.  The mountains were painted almost all at once over a two-day period using cheap “rattle can” spray paint (about 40 cans).  I draped plastic over most areas of the layout that would not receive paint.  Track was taped over to protect the rails.  I made a plastic tunnel that vented out to the garage.  Air was driven out of the train room by two large fans and the garage was kept open till there was no longer any paint smell.  Yes, I have a very good chemical respirator mask!  This method of painting was effective to quickly eliminate the great white plaster mountain range.  Doing this also allowed me the ability to look at shading and the actual shapes of the mountains.  When they were white everything just blended in, once painted the mountains gained some contour that was hidden.  I used 4-6 different colors of paint.  This quick paint was just the start of scenery and was my initiation into learning how to “do” scenery.  Yes, I am still learning how to do scenery and I find it fun to use new techniques.  Now let’s see more of the layout.

Photo 21 shows a view of Dry Gulch.  The station is above the control panel, another Campbell kit.  At Dry Gulch there will be a scratch-built two stall engine house.  A small Diamond Scale Models turntable is already in place.  Dry Gulch is the interchange area for the narrow gauge and standard gauge.  It is also the beginning of the layouts mining district.  There will be several mines located on the layout.  One mine, just barely visible in the photo is on the gray mountainside to the left.  The town of Alpine is to the right of the stone arch bridge that is against the wall.  Close to the stone arch is one of my other large bridges.

Photo 22 shows more of the bridge in the previous picture.  That bridge is over 5 actual feet long.  It is based on the Santa Fe’s Canyon Diablo Bridge.  Can you spot the mirror in the photo?  It should be easy since it is 2 feet by 6 feet in size.

Photo 23 gives a view of my other large arch bridge.  That one is based on the Vance Creek Bridge located in Shelton WA.  This photo also shows how my aisle becomes a deep canyon.  In this area scenery stretches from the floor to the ceiling.  I admit this area of the layout is my favorite, walking down this aisle you literally become part of the layout.  This photo also shows how much the trains need to climb in elevation.  Hayes River is the town at the center left of the photo, it is at 29 inches above the floor.  The track on the arch bridge that leaps over that town is at 61 inches above the floor.

Photo 24 shows a view if you started walking down the aisle and looked back at Ellison.  This photo gives you an idea of how my view blocks work and why they are needed.  In the distance, against the wall, you can see a waterfall cascading down the mountainside.  Yes, groups of those tall timber trees really make a nice view block.  The tunnel that is by the Borden’s reefer is part of the branch line from Dry Gulch.  That branch line services the small hamlet of Raade Springs.

Photo 25 shows the turntable and the small interchange yard at Dry Gulch.  This area still needs a lot of work, but it will eventually get done.  At the extreme upper left of this photo is town of Alpine.  Raade Springs is just out of the picture on the left.  There is another mine perched by the small stand of conifer trees at the middle left.  The open area in the photo will be an access hatch. It will be a vertical lift type.  The town buildings of Dry Gulch will cover the hatch, hopefully making it invisible to the layout visitor.

That is all for this week, next week we will see even more bridges and perhaps the town of Potter Flats.  Actually, Potter Flats has been in most of this week’s photos, but carefully placed view blocks have prevented the town from being seen!

David

Click here to read the August 2020 issue of The Flimsy Board from the Bremerton Northern Model Railroad club.

By David Yadock

DRY GULCH & WESTERN, A PHOTO SERIES PART 3

A little more about the Dry Gulch & Western.  As you can see in previous photos the layout is illuminated with 37 recessed can light fixtures.  They are really nice to have unlike surface lighting, that type of lighting usually detracts from the layout scenery.  All the bulbs are LED large spotlights and were swapped out a few years ago.  Each light is between 800 and 1100 lumens.  Originally there were quartz lights that lit the layout but they produced a tremendous amount of heat in the train room.  The cabinets in the room are constructed out of birch veneer plywood and I custom made them to fit the layout.  They provide a large amount of shelf storage space. 

Now on to the layout.  Turning to the left from the previous photo series and moving down the main aisle of the train room we finally see a hint of Allentown on the left in photo 11.  We can also see more of the actual layout and the mountainous scenery.  About dead center in the photo is the Dry Gulch control panel.  All control panels are back lit to allow for night operations.

Photo 12 shows the turntable and that SP cab forward.  Yes, amazing how flat surfaces collect “stuff”, a lot of my paints and supplies have taken residence near the turntable!  This photo shows the staging yard, the high line (mainline) passes directly in front of that yard, goes over a bridge, and then enters a tunnel.  The mainline continues around the room corner.  Those mountains help hide the room corner.  Please note the two tracks that make a sweeping curve at the bottom of the photo.  This is one of the junction areas that join the high line to the river line.  The closest track at the bottom of the photo goes to Taylor Junction and on to the river line.  The next track up goes to South Ellison Yard and on to the high line.

Photo 13 gives a great view of some of my paints and paint brushes!  In the dead center of the photo is Taylor Junction.  Directly above all my paints is South Ellison Yard.  It is a 3 track thru yard.  It functions as a ready track and small sorting yard.  Tucked into the corner between the mountains is the city of Ellison and its 7 track stub yard.  I did install one thru track in the yard to allow for easier passenger train entrances and exits.  The yard somewhat follows John Alllen’s design and includes on the right of the yard his famous “cut-off” track.  Yes, that is another junction track to allow trains to go from the high line to the river line.  It enters a tunnel, dives down and then tucks around Ellison yard.  The track comes out of a tunnel at Gornitzka Crossing, that town is located to the left of that stand of tall timber trees.  Yes, it features a scratch-built rendition the famous two-level station that was on the Gorre & Daphetid.

Photo 14 gives a view of the Ellison control panel and my collection of paints.  You can see that I use car cards for my train operations.  Taylor Junction station is right above the control panel.  The first track at the bottom right of the photo takes you directly to Newport yard.  The second track up takes you to Newport station while the third track comes from Newport station.

Photo 15 gives a front view of the control panel and car card boxes.  Again, Taylor Junction station is right above the control panel.  It is a Campbell kit.  Directly above the station is South Ellison Yard.  To the extreme right you can see how Newport station serves both lower level tracks and upper level tracks.

That’s it for this portion of the tour.  Next time we will travel further down the mainline and see more close-up photos of the scenic Gornitzka Crossing area.

David

Click here to read the fifth article on Chuck Ricketts Fantasy Island Railroad.

Click here to read the July 2020 issue of The Flimsy Board from the Bremerton Northern Model Railroad club.

By David Yadock

DRY GULCH & WESTERN, A PHOTO SERIES PART 2

This is the continuation of the photo series of my layout.  First, a little more about my layout.  The Dry Gulch & Western’s mainline is comprised of two large ovals.  These ovals are folded over themselves creating four loops of mainline track circumnavigating the room.  There is a “high line” that winds its way up to the mountains and a “river line” that goes down to the Hayes River area.  The Hayes River area is 29 inches above the floor while the high line climbs to over 60 inches above the floor.  There are several junction points where the loops of track are connected to get you from the high line to the river line.  In this part we will travel further down the mainline and go past Newport, another one of my larger towns.  There are three major towns on the layout.  Allentown/South Allentown (partially shown in the first series), Newport, and Ellison.  These comprise the three big cities but there are several smaller towns along the mainline.  Allentown is virtually complete, but Newport and Ellison remain to have scenery finished.  The track is all in and functional for operations.  Only the structures need to be built, lots of them!  Let’s get started.

Photo 6 gives you one last look at South Allentown with its busy industrial area.  You can see the tunnel entrance at the extreme left of the photo.  That portion of the mainline spirals underneath the layout and goes across the doorway to the Newport area as seen in photo 5 of the last series.  You can get a good view of the row of “company houses” and the tilt can coaling tower at the engine facilities.

Photo 7 gives you a view of the tail end of Newport yard.  The blue foam in the bottom left of the photo is part of the shipping channel.  There will be a bascule bridge and side dump ore loader for dumping ore into small barges.  Newport is a very active part of the layout and the Newport yard operator is kept very busy.  Also, about dead center in photo 7 there is a siding.  This is a small town that will be called Scopa.  During operating sessions, a locomotive is parked on that siding.  It is maintained there for pusher service on the spiral up to South Allentown.

Photo 8 shows better view of the Newport yard and control panel.  Directly behind the yard is the car ferry slip.  The large brick building on the left is Newport station (it is partially finished).  Attached to the station is a large Railway Express Agency terminal.  As we travel further back on the photo (where the city building flats are located against the wall) is a 3-track staging yard.  It is 16 feet in length.  This staging yard is a thru yard to allow for both east and west trains to stage.  It is also electrically divided in half to allow for a total of 6 trains to be stored while they are not in use.  Each of the 6 sections can be electrically shut off while trains are not in use.  This yard was added much later in the construction of the layout.  I found that if I was to allow for operations, I would need a handy place to store full trains and this yard provides such space.

Photo 9 gives a better view of the Newport yard and car ferry slip.  The Newport station serves both the “high line” and the “river line” mainlines.  The river line is located at the base of the station and goes directly behind the station.  The high line is on the elevated track that you can see about halfway up to the right of the building.  The big pink foam section in the middle of the photo can be completely raised up to allow for maintenance of track.  This lift out section is about 2 feet by 5 feet in size. Now what is sitting atop that Sunray tank car?

Photo 10 gives a view of the yard throat lead along with the track leads to the car ferry slip.  Newport yard is a tricky yard to operate.  First it is a stub yard.  Second, you enter two of the tracks from one direction while you have to enter the third track from the opposite direction.  Operating this yard requires lots of planning of car movements.  To the extreme left is Allentown (again, we will see that later in the series) directly in the center of this photo is the Ellison turntable (where the SP cab forward is parked, yes in this photo it is rather small in size!).  I will be constructing a roundhouse and engine service facility at that location.  Further back in the far corner of the room will be the city of Ellison.  In this photo Ellison is about 30 feet away from you.  To the left of Ellison begin some of the mountains that the Dry Gulch & Western trains have to traverse to get freight to their customers.

In the next series of photos, we’ll travel even further down the mainline and maybe even see part of that illusive city of Allentown!

David