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A Narrower View – Short Lines and Resources

Syd Schofield

Editors note: Welcome to the 14th article of a series on narrow gauge by Syd Schofield. The previous article is available by clicking here, or by filtering with the category “Narrow Gauge”. Syd welcomes discussions and feedback, which can be made by clicking on the comment link at the bottom of the post.

Narrow gauge short lines can be isolated from or linked to other narrow gauge roads. Those linked may eventually be taken over by the main road or become divested due to business interests. Then there are the lines connected by rail and business interests but chartered and named differently. These arrangements often changed frequently and were reflected in subtle name adjustments. Physical changes range from destruction by natural forces, re-gauging to standard, surrendering to automobile and truck roads (often taking over the roadway) or played-out markets of mines or lumber.

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An Intro to Free-mo Part 4 – Electrical

Alan Ashton, article by Frank Wilhelm with contributions by Al Cunningham

Editors note: Welcome to the 4th article on Free-mo by Alan Ashton and fellow Free-mo enthusiasts. The previous article is available by a clicking here, or by filtering with the category “Free-mo”. Alan welcomes discussions and feedback by comments at the bottom of the post or by e-mailing him at inwafreemo@gmail.com. If you’re interested in helping promote Free-mo in the 4th Division (e.g. event notification or writing articles) please contact me at gi_editor@4dpnr.com.

The 4th installment (in PDF format) of our series on Free-mo is available to read or download by clicking here. Our series of articles is designed to share experiences building Free-mo modules. As always, your comments are appreciated. Enjoy this well thought out document that describes the elements of Free-mo electrical components.

A Narrower View – Another Branch Line

Syd Schofield

Editors note: Welcome to the 13th article of a series on narrow gauge by Syd Schofield. The previous article is available by clicking here, or by filtering with the category “Narrow Gauge”. Syd welcomes discussions and feedback, which can be made by clicking on the comment link at the bottom of the post.

Another extension of the D&RG three foot gauge common carrier was the Lake City Branch. It extended south of the line along the Gunnison River from a point near Sapinero on now what is US 50 in central Colorado just west of Gunnison. The junction point is presently under Blue Mesa Reservoir as is the original town site and the road bed extending into the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River turning out at Cimarron. The branch line extended to the small town of Lake City where, as a regional center for the area mines, loggers and ranchers provided some income to the railroad.

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A Narrower View – Dealing with Water

Syd Schofield

Editors note: Welcome to the twelfth article of a series on narrow gauge by Syd Schofield. The previous article is available by clicking here, or by filtering with the category “Narrow Gauge”. Syd welcomes discussions and feedback, which can be made by clicking on the comment link at the bottom of the post.

Most of the narrow gauge railroad models are based on steam powered locomotives. Since most of these steam systems are total loss, sources of water for the steam systems need to be strategically located for ready access. In later years some larger locomotives and longer trains brought the facilities requirements up to par with the standard gauge railroads. For locomotives based on other power plants (for example internal combustion and electric), incidental need for water as a coolant was much less of a problem. So the need for adequate water supplies available to the locomotive and along the route of operation require special consideration.

The weight of water in the boiler and the tender add to the burden of carriage. This is partially offset by the adhesion gained by the driving wheels of the locomotive but is purely dead weight in the tender. Curiously, where the configuration has driving wheels supporting the supply water (e.g. a saddle tank locomotive) there is diminishing adhesion offsetting the additional load with full tanks.

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Model Railroading and Home Maintenance

Dale Kraus

Sometimes things that you use to build your pike come in handy in the oddest ways. I’ve just finished fixing a coat tree that was knocked over, breaking out one of the slots that hold the legs in place. I needed some small brads to secure the splits while the glue dried, and was about to go searching a hardware store. Then the solution was found on my workbench: Atlas track nails. These little round head brads were the perfect size. Long enough to hold firmly and thin enough to avoid splitting the thin splits. Six of them did the job perfectly.

Ya never know what you may find on the ole workbench.

An Intro to Free-mo Part 3 – Legs and Leg Pockets

by Alan Ashton, article by Mike Tietz and Jerry Barsness with technical assistance from Frank Wilhelm

Editors note: Welcome to the third article on Free-mo by Alan Ashton and fellow Free-mo enthusiasts. The previous article is available by a clicking here, or by filtering with the category “Free-mo”. Alan welcomes discussions and feedback by comments at the bottom of the post or by e-mailing him at inwafreemo@gmail.com. If you’re interested in helping promote Free-mo in the 4th Division (e.g. event notification or writing articles) please contact me at gi_editor@4dpnr.com.

The third installment (in PDF format) of our series on Free-mo is available to read or download by clicking here. In this article we discuss some of the details related to building the legs and leg pockets for a platform. The purpose of these articles is to share our experiences and maybe help others avoid mistakes. Your feedback is always appreciated. Next up: Electrical Connections.

A Narrower View – The Branch Line

Syd Schofield

Editors note: Welcome to the eleventh article of a series on narrow gauge by Syd Schofield. The previous article is available by clicking here, or by filtering with the category “Narrow Gauge”. Syd welcomes discussions and feedback, which can be made by clicking on the comment link at the bottom of the post.

As the common carrier railroads grew to service larger and wider areas than the linear path from A (departure) to B (destination), the construction of a branch line followed, at least when the market supported and the terrain allowed. Railroads often pursued interesting routes to get to the destination in the shortest distance, frequently in a path unsuitable to the standard gauge requirements. In the case of access to the mines near Westcliffe and Silver Cliff in the Wet Mountain Valley, the surveyors chose the Grape Creek Canyon. This area is in south central Colorado from the Royal Gorge route of the Denver & Rio Grande, then a dual gauge line. In the challenging accomplishments building the line along the Arkansas River through the Gorge (running gun battles with rival railroad construction crews notwithstanding), it probably didn’t seem too difficult a task for the veteran builders.

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An Intro to Free-mo Part 2 – Building a Platform for Track and Scenery

by Alan Ashton and Frank Wilhelm with contributions by Jerry Barsness and Mike Tietz

Editors note: Welcome to the second article on Free-mo by Alan Ashton. The previous article is available by clicking here, or by filtering with the category “Free-mo”. Alan welcomes discussions and feedback by comments at the bottom of the post or by e-mailing him at inwafreemo@gmail.com. If you’re interested in helping promote Free-mo in the 4th Division (e.g. event notification or writing articles) please contact me at gi_editor@4dpnr.com.

The second installment (in PDF format) of our series on Free-mo is available to read or download by clicking here. In this article we discuss some of the details related to construction of a module. Later, we will cover leg options, electrical connections, command and control, and track planning.

I’ve also created a “module cost estimator” spreadsheet (Microsoft Excel) to help you determine what components you will need to build a module. In order to get some data into the worksheet, we are “building” a four foot, two main line module (26″ endplates). The model doesn’t take track or scenery into account but you can add items if you wish.

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A Narrower View – Helper

Syd Schofield

Editors note: Welcome to the tenth article of a series on narrow gauge by Syd Schofield. The previous article is available by clicking here, or by filtering with the category “Narrow Gauge”. Syd welcomes discussions and feedback, which can be made by clicking on the comment link at the bottom of the post.

Some of the terrain crossed by the narrow gauge railroads had easy grades for long distances. Small locomotives (the miniatures previously mentioned) were adequate. However, when push came to shove (or push and shove) was required for a steeper grade, a helper locomotive station was often built. This localized the operation of the enhanced motive power and kept the costs to a minimum as the added fuel and operation was only used briefly. Such was the standard practice that a town in central Utah (Helper, Utah) is actually named for this activity. The grade to the west of town to Soldier Summit is the price (also a nearby town, Price) that the latecomer Denver and Rio Grande Western (D&RGW) paid for the otherwise easy route between Grand Junction and Salt Lake City.

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