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 Posted - January 12 2017 : 2:36:11 PM
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| That was a good story Don. I think about power transmission when we drive across Kansas and see the miles and miles of extension cords. Great photos. Your layout looks really fun to run trains on. Did you use real rocks in the construction? If not, they sure look it.
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Posted - January 12 2017 : 3:26:20 PM
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that red building with the coal bin next to it
I has seen a real one here
Used as storage now
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Posted - January 12 2017 : 10:55:09 PM
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Thanks, all, for the kind words.
Barry, the rocks are real and the biggest cliff has a 4x4 timber running under it to keep the layout from sagging. Clay dug from a creek bed blends the rocks together in places. Where it represents natural rock, I flamed it with a blow torch when it was still a little wet. A thin outer layer dries and then explodes off, leaving a limestone-like texture. Where it represents a stone wall, I let it dry and torched it. The blocks turned just a little reddish, while the grooves in between stayed gray, looking like mortar.
Ben, it's fun to prowl around looking at such trackside structures. My coal shed is based on one in Steward, IL. I pass through there fairly often and was intrigued by it.
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 Posted - February 19 2017 : 09:48:39 AM
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| This is truly a phenomenal layout! Thanks for sharing the photos. Any updates or thoughts as to how/why you chose to do certain things regarding track, scenery, controls, etc.?
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Posted - February 20 2017 : 09:44:46 AM
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quote:This is truly a phenomenal layout! Thanks for sharing the photos. Any updates or thoughts as to how/why you chose to do certain things regarding track, scenery, controls, etc.?
Originally posted by Dr. John - February 19 2017 : 09:48:39 AM
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Thanks for the kind words. I've had this layout for a long time, so my memories of why I did what are a bit dim, but the layout started as the usual oval on a 4x8, with some sidings and spurs. I later added a switching yard onto the end, and an industrial park in the crook of the "L" shape that made.
At some point, I got the idea to increase the drama a bit, by raising the yard, and putting a town on a raised area at the opposite end of the layout and connecting everything along a loop-to-loop mainline. One loop is in the raised town, and the other is mostly buried under the yard, being exposed in the canyon through the center. Part of the hill between the loops is also under the raised town, with the rest visible climbing out of the canyon.
I originally had ideas of a coal mine in the canyon and a coal yard in the raised town, with a sort of pneumatic hose blowing the coal back to the mine, but I couldn't make that work. Next, I had a bin at the mine and one under the dump at the coal yard, and moved the coal by hand between operating times. That sort of worked, but not well, and the coal mine was too small to be believable as coal mines go, so I ended up just implying the mine in a staging track and swapping empty cars for full ones between operating times.
Other industries just sort of evolved to match the kind of traffic and industries I wanted to model. I like grain elevators, hence the elevator, and I use boxcars for grain hauling, because I like a lot of boxcars in a train. Tank car traffic is nice, so there's a bulk oil plant affiliated with the coal yard, and I was given a really nice model of an oil well derrick, so crude oil is shipped out of the canyon. The raised town essentially tries to model a sort of Midwestern rural community, so its industries are consistent with that. LCL freight and team tracks create a lot of boxcar traffic, so both the raised town and the one in the canyon have either a team track or freight house serving that purpose.
Though the real steam age and the transition era were before my time, I still have a nostalgia for the scenes of steam railroading, created by train museums and illustrations in old books. Aesthetically, I just think steam is the archetypal image of a locomotive, anyway, and the caboose is the "amen" at the end of the train, so I model a postwar era in which steam, cabooses, small lineside industries, first generation diesels, and war-surplus trucks serving civilian purposes are all plausible.
For all that's going on, the layout is small. Curves are sharp, grades are steep and staging tracks are short. This means trains must be short and small rolling stock is better, too, since it works and looks better on sharp curves (vertical and horizontal). This works better as a branch line or short line than as a class 1 railroad, so I go with a highly freelance fictional short line.
Locomotives must be powerful for their size, since there's not always room on the staging tracks to double head all the trains or use bigger engines. That implies that most steam engines are die cast for better weight and traction. Motors need a lot of torque at low throttle settings when going downhill, because the weight of the train wanting to roll downhill presses the worm gear against the worm like a brake pad on a disk brake. You can either scream down the hill in a power dive or have high torque motors. Many of my motors have upgraded (rare earth) magnets to increase the torque.
Locomotives must also be tough. Working the grades and curves pounds them. Old designs, such as those used by Bowser and Mantua, hold together. With the exception of Blue Box Athearn, and a couple of Stewart F-7's I've had poor luck with axles that are metal stubs pressed into the ends of a plastic tube. They tend to work loose and go out of quarter on steam engines. Bachmann dies young on the torture track.
Scenery does not reflect a specific place, so much as it just blends things together in a way that looks semiplausible to the eye, and recreates things I like, more or less. For example, that track on a ledge above the canyon is meant to evoke the Durango and Silverton's High line, though not necessarily look like it.
I've more or less chosen to freeze the state of my modeling art in the 1970's. In my particular circumstances, things like DCC and sound don't work out. I like to tinker with old rolling stock and would rather tear into cheap swap meet stuff than $30 cars and $500 engines that are already better than I could make them.
That's probably more than you bargained for, but it's the rationale behind much of what you see.
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - February 20 2017 : 8:57:40 PM
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I love your work and your modeling philosophy, you and I are certainly kindred spirits! I am looking forward to reading more of your posts!
Proudly keeping Tyco Pluggers out of landfills since 2016
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Posted - February 20 2017 : 10:28:55 PM
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| Thanks for sharing your philosophy, I appreciate your focus on a certain era of technology. Thanks for the insights on the durability and practicality of die cast Mantua and Bowser steamers v. modern (and expen$ive!) steam locos. You've obviously thought through what you like and what works best for your railroad's ruling grades and curves (just like prototype railroads must do). Like you, I favor a more old-school approach to the hobby. While I appreciate the newer technology such as DCC, sound, ultra detail, etc., I stick with simpler DC, mostly older equipment, and enjoy getting older motive power and rolling stock working.
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Posted - June 12 2017 : 6:44:32 PM
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Tabor and Waldo Passenger Service
The Tabor and Waldo is a small railroad, and can usually handle its passenger traffic in a small combine on a mixed train.
The mixed makes a passenger stop at the Tabor Depot:
Freight on the mixed is restricted to LCL and non-revenue freight. While the combine unloads passengers and baggage at the Canus Cave Lodge, a boxcar of LCL freight is swapped for another and a gondola of sand is dropped while a gon of cinders is hauled away.
When there's more passenger traffic, a larger train may be used. In its soul of steam, steel and smoke, this engine remembers clipping across the prairie at 80 MPH, pulling deluxe heavyweight cars. Now, in this era of postwar dieselization, she's relegated to second hand service, pulling creaking wood cars of milk, baggage and passengers on a shortline.
The ever versatile 44-tonner is a source of mixed feelings. Regular passengers like the cinder-free passenger service. Railfans seeking out the last holdouts of steam see one less venerable steam engine.
The passenger train stops at the humble log shelter that serves as a depot for the Canus Cave tourist lodge.
As a major source of passenger traffic (relatively speaking) Canus Cave deserves a closer look.
In the upper left, is the rustic Canus Cave Lodge. This is no 5-star hotel, but its kitchen serves wholesome fare and its bunks are under a roof and out of the weather. At the bottom of the picture, a tour group has descended the stairs and prepares to enter the cave under the watchful eyes of lantern-toting guides. On the right, the train has stopped to drop off and pick up passengers. To the right of the lodge is a red-roofed dog house with a dog in front of it. In Latin, canus cave has a less subterranean meaning: beware of dog.
Steam fans will be thrilled to know that the dreaded diesel does not hold exclusive domain over passenger service. Sometimes high-stepping mogul number 61 leads the way.
Mogul number 60 will sometimes sport her classic Baldwin lines in crack passenger service, as seen in this station stop in Batey Hollow:
Here, number 60's stack barks as she drags the train up the steep climb out of Batey Hollow toward higher ground:
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Posted - June 12 2017 : 7:09:11 PM
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| Primo!
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Posted - June 12 2017 : 7:25:07 PM
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| Pretty fine Don. What's the big derrick in the photo where we first see Mogul 60? Looks like a fun layout to run trains on.
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Posted - June 12 2017 : 10:26:13 PM
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quote:Pretty fine Don. What's the big derrick in the photo where we first see Mogul 60? Looks like a fun layout to run trains on.
Originally posted by Barry - June 12 2017 : 7:25:07 PM
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Thanks. It is a fun layout.
The derrick is an oil well that a friend who liked building the model kits but didn't have a layout gave me. After years of having the model, I visited the Drake's Well museum near Titusville, PA. It's the site of the first oil well. On the property were various kinds of oil drilling rigs, including a full-size one just like the model. It was fun running into the prototype of a model I already have.
The T&W does a fine business hauling away imaginary crude oil, loaded on a spur in that same picture.
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Posted - April 18 2018 : 12:30:19 AM
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Mussentuchit Transfer Job
The Fish Hook and Mussentuchit RR runs from the town of Mussentuchit to Fish Hook, at the end of the line. It crosses the Tabor and Waldo at Mussentuchit Junction. Interchange between the two railroads is accomplished by a transfer freight from the FH&M's main switching yard at Mussentuchit to the T&W's Croler W. Flahar Yard. The old hands at the T&W call it the Mussentuchit Transfer.
Transfer Freights are usually short distance trains, and while they may do some mainline running, they often are pulled by a switch engine. The caboose on a transfer is usually a small cabin on a flat car, in modern times, but back in the day, it might have been a little bobber.
Here, we see the Mussentuchit Transfer working its way over T&W trackage from Mussentuchit Junction toward Flahar yard:
The transfer passes through Tabor:
The transfer does minor switching in Flahar Yard while, in the foreground, a T&W Prairie simmers in the engine facility:
Previously, the T&W yard crew placed the outgoing cars on yard track 3. The transfer has dropped its incoming cars on track 4 and heads to track 3 for its outgoing cars:
The transfer heads back toward Mussentuchit Junction with a cut of cars bound for the FH&M:
A review of these cars gives some sense of the traffic. On the front of the train is FHM 82, an 0-4-0. While this is not crack mainline power, it's sufficient for a transfer. Taking up the rear is the little bobber caboose, number 4. It's small and it's old, but again, it's plenty good for transfer service. The little gondola is full of cinders from the T&W engine service area. Fish Hook Materials Company will make good use of them in the making cinder block. Ahead of that is a Swift refrigerator car, bound for the pork belly futures warehouse in Mussentuchit. In addition to pork belly futures, the plant deals in other pork by products, which takes us to the Northern Pacific boxcar. In the glory days of the silk trade, silk from the Far East was hustled across Northern Pacific rails to customers in the eastern USA. Those same customers now receive the new synthetic silk made from sows' ears.
That, anyway, is the back story of the action being modeled. In reality, the FH&M is a hidden staging track under Flahar Yard:
Operationally, it allows me to handle cars to industries I didn't have room to model on the layout by implying them off stage. It provides a fair amount of operational interest in a very small space.
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Posted - April 18 2018 : 07:48:09 AM
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Wow!! Excellent story and photos - your layout is really well constructed!
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven." - Matthew 5:16
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Posted - April 19 2018 : 08:12:08 AM
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Thanks for the kind words, RP.
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Posted - April 23 2021 : 11:03:45 PM
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Certain cars and trains match the lineside industries of the layout. On the other hand, it can be fun just to throw together a train that's not particularly relevant to the railroad and watch it roll. Today, I was tinkering around with a train made up of all the iced refrigerated cars I have.
https://youtu.be/-WxMvcxIuvk
Also, I made up a train with my two log cars, a caboose, and a variety of engines taking turns.
https://youtu.be/a4qTYTmY4Ng
Lighting wasn't ideal for the camera used, so things kind of resemble a grainy old home movie, but there are many grainy old home movies of past railroading.
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Posted - April 23 2021 : 11:55:50 PM
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| Exquisite.
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Posted - April 24 2021 : 9:05:36 PM
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Wow! Great train action, and what a beautiful layout! I love the rocks and how realistic they look!
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven." - Matthew 5:16
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Posted - April 24 2021 : 10:05:53 PM
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Thanks, all, for the kind words.
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Posted - December 11 2021 : 12:35:59 PM
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Infernal Combustion on the Tabor and Waldo:
While I still envision the T&W as a steam railroad, there are a few things I like among doodlebugs and diesels, and they make their appearance on the T&W at times. Here are some company publicity photos highlighting the modernity of the company:
Streamliners:
These beasts are modern, modern as neon lights on the eves of a motel!
Of course, the two on the left are not really Tabor and Waldo units, but the T&W isn't above claiming credit for them, so since they were in the neighbor hood, they're in the picture. I have the CNW unit because I grew up in CNW territory, and it's nostalgic to me to occasionally run some CNW power. The Rio Grande units are from a friend of mine who once had a DRGW layout and grew up in DRGW country.
The shark is lettered for the T&W. As a kid I never had a shark, because my emphasis was on steam, but I always thought they were cool looking. Some time in the past few years, I got a good deal on one at a swap meet. The ALCO FA1s are also engines I just think look cool and found good deals on at swap meets, as well.
Switchers:
Even some of my steam experiences as a kid involved 44-ton center cab diesels, and I have a soft spot in my heart for them. I also like old fashioned box cabs. I started out with one, bought a second on sale to keep as parts, but ended up with that in running order, as well. The SW1200, I got cheaply and had ideas of fixing it up as a track cleaner, but ended up cleaning track a different way. It's in the fleet, but not heavily used.
Doodlebugs:
Sometimes, you just want a complete and compact passenger train and a doodlebug is made to order. For a long time, I wanted to kitbash one, and the little green one is the result. The other one is not really a doodlebug, but I use it as one. It's a box cab diesel that I long wanted to build, permanently coupled to a passenger car with the car being used for extra electrical pickup on an engine with just 4 points of electrical contact with the rail.
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Posted - December 11 2021 : 9:23:42 PM
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Nice locomotives, Shaggy!
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven." - Matthew 5:16
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 Posted - December 11 2021 : 11:01:48 PM
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Nice views.
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Posted - December 12 2021 : 02:05:32 AM
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T&W is nothing if not ingenious. Like all layouts, it is an alternate universe, and done
with extraordinary detail. The wending routes are a fascination as they cling to the
sides of mountains and span chasms.
The "F" like units remind me of the "Black Maria" above. It
was a demonstrator put out by Baldwin right after the war. In the rush to get a piece of the
diesel-electric pie, Baldwin rushed this unit into production. Besides having a lot of untested
design aspects, it used a surplus 16 cylinder marine diesel engine that had been made for
submarines. While the motor may have worked well enough in a submarine, it had horrendous
problems, such as a crankshaft failure. Apparently, it also did not like the sub-zero temperatures
in Maine, and failed spectacularly while on a demonstrator run for the MEC.
Edited by - Chops124 on December 12 2021 02:13:45 AM
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Posted - December 12 2021 : 07:23:58 AM
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Thanks, guys, for the kind words.
That Black Maria engine being rushed to production and failing dismally is an object lesson. Sometimes, a rush job with problems will make a reputation that can't be lived down, even if the problems are later corrected. Aim before you fire.
It's interesting to note that the War Production Board would not let anyone build an unproven design during WWII, so only those with serious prior experience in Diesels were allowed to build them during the war. Afterwards, there was a huge pent-up demand for them as the railroads let go of worn out locomotives that they had to keep running through the war rush. The companies that had Diesels before and during the war had a real head start.
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Posted - December 12 2021 : 3:41:07 PM
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Tabor and Waldo is my favourite railroad on this forum. I would love to see alot more, including the track plan. And a performance somparison of steam vs diesel on those heavy grades.
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Posted - December 18 2021 : 4:36:56 PM
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Steam on the Tabor and Waldo
Big Mainline Power.
Manifest freights bring trains from off the visible part of the layout to Crowler W. Flahar Memorial Yard. It's unusual for high-drivered Pacifics and Hudsons to move the freight, but they do a good job of it on this railroad. The both were originally Pacifics, but 4073 was converted to a Hudson by swapping in a 2-axle trailing truck that backs into the side tracks at Batey Hollow better than the 1-axle trailing truck. The Consolidation is a modified Bowser H-10.
Light Passenger Power:
The biggest passenger train on the line is only a box car for lcl freight, a baggage car and a coach. The job of pulling it is shared by a Mantua Prairie, an MDC Mogul, an IHC Mogul, and a pieced together mongrel of a Mogul whose drive I can't even identify. The IHC and the mongrel are pretty short on traction and seldom used. The Prairie and the MDC Mogul both do a credible job, but the Prairie is used harder because it has more miles built into the design.
The Prairie Fleet:
Besides the Prairie shown above, there are 5 more. At one time, I was hoping to double head them and use them for most assignments, but it didn't work out well. It's good to have a hoard of them, though, because they're getting rarer at the swap meets, and they do serve well on the layout in some assignments. All of them have added electrical pickups and diecast boilers. With the heavier boilers, they don't need traction tires, and regular drivers have been used in in place of them.
Switchers with Tenders:
There are two Mantua 0-6-0s, two Mantua 0-4-0s with diecast boilers, and one Mantua 0-4-0 with a plastic boiler. All have added electrical pickups. One or two are usually assigned in the yard at a time with a few spares in the fleet for the same reason I have spare Prairies.
Tank Engines:
A Mantua Little Six made of a Side Tanker shell and a drive from a Big Six, A Booster made from a Booster frame and a pieced-together-from-the-junk-box shell, and two Rivarossi docksides make up the fleet of tank engines. Sometimes one is used in the yard at a time. Around Christmas, the Rivarossis run in a small circle around a miniature Christmas tree.
Photo Special Celebrities:
The PFM/United Shay looks nice and will run occasionally for pictures, but it has a lot of wear on its gears and it dirties its wheels unusually fast, so I don't use it heavily in routine running. The MDC Old Time Consolidation was pieced together from parts, some of them old and worn, so it also has limited mileage left in it. Also, it has a hard time getting from the yard to the mainline, so it's a shelf queen with the occasional photo trip.
The Diggin Hill and Batey Hollow Fleet:
The DH&BH is a coal branch hauling coal from unmodeled territory to an interchange spur in the town of Batey Hollow. Sometimes the train is pulled by Big Mike, a Mikado with power to spare. Sometimes a pair of Heislers does the honors. Heislers were popular in mining and quarry work because their enclosed gear cases kept the rocks out of the gears.
Fish Hook and Mussentuchit:
The FH&M runs a transfer freight from its interchange at Mussentuchit to the Flahar yard using this little switcher equipped with a somewhat bigger tender for the longer run. If you're wondering where Fish Hook is, in the grand scheme of things, it's out at the end of the line.
The Big 0-8-0s:
I have a pair of Rivarossi 0-8-0s that I once doubleheaded on a manifest freight, but when I got another Pacific, it stepped into that job and handles it more gracefully. They're well-made engines, though, so I hang onto them in case another use for them arises.
Big But Wimpy Consolidations:
I like Consolidations and got these two having big dreams for them, but on the steep grades, they don't pull much. The IHC engine has too little weight, The MDC one seems heavy enough, but still doesn't move many cars up the hill.
The Cannibal Fleet:
These are pretty much just plain Mantua Plastic Shifters. They have no extra electrical pickup. One has a traction tire and the other is pretty slippery. They're pieced together from parts left over from other projects and mostly sit in a box waiting for their parts to be cannibalized.
Carpe Manana!
Edited by - scsshaggy on December 18 2021 4:37:54 PM
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Posted - December 18 2021 : 7:06:37 PM
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Crowler W. Flahar Memorial Yard? LMAO, I hope that's not a real name...sorry if it is.
T&W firmly on my list of Top Ten favorite layouts. The array of motive power is
stunning both in its content and consistency. My apologies to Mr. Flahar.
You know, I gotta ask, but if you find the time, we'd all love to see some more video
of this exceptional layout. Maybe not every single locomotive, but maybe one from
each class? Even that might require more than one vid. This stuff is great and it
would be so awesome to see it in action. 
Edited by - Chops124 on December 18 2021 7:56:02 PM
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Posted - December 18 2021 : 8:05:48 PM
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Thanks for the kind words. A word about Croler W. Flahar:
In 1980, my family stopped at Carter Caves State Park in Kentucky on a family vacation. There were several cave tours available and a trail around the perimeter of the park that they called the Carter Caves 8800 (8800 steps long). In the campground at night, they gave out the coveted Croler W. Flahar award for intestinal fortitude to people who either hiked the 8800 or went on one of the more physically demanding cave tours. In my mind, the name has become emblematic of something; I just never figured out what. 
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Posted - December 18 2021 : 9:22:21 PM
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| Very nice photos. The realism of the scenery is amazing. Please show more!!!
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Posted - December 18 2021 : 9:28:12 PM
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Awesome steam locomotive roster!! And like everyone else has said, please take more photos and videos of your layout!
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven." - Matthew 5:16
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Posted - December 19 2021 : 10:20:57 AM
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| Many moons ago, in the age before digital, I was reading "B.C." in the funny papers and a reference was made to a fictitious "Cranston Snord." Crowler W. Flahar will forever stick in my head, too.
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Posted - December 19 2021 : 10:44:09 AM
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quote:Many moons ago, in the age before digital, I was reading "B.C." in the funny papers and a reference was made to a fictitious "Cranston Snord." Crowler W. Flahar will forever stick in my head, too.
Originally posted by Chops124 - December 19 2021 : 10:20:57 AM
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that comic strip is still being made but by his kids now
As is Wizard of Id
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Posted - December 24 2021 : 11:08:05 AM
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Tonnage Ratings:
When I showed the “publicity photos” of the Tabor and Waldo RR, Jward asked about the capacity of the locomotives. I thought that might be interesting so I did some tests.
The Tabor and Waldo RR has a ruling grade of about 5 or 6 percent with 18-inch radius curves along the way. Curves and grades reduce what a locomotive can pull, dramatically. An engine can generally pull about half as many cars on a 2 percent grade as on a 1 percent grade. A 3 percent grade allows about a third the cars, and so on. A five percent grade is, theoretically, down to about a fifth of the engine’s capacity.
There are three manifest freights staged on staging tracks. Two are six cars long. The third has those six plus a couple of coal hoppers that are empty coming out of staging and full coming back. That’s about the biggest job on the line.
Three engines can pull the eight-car train and caboose singlehandedly:
1) The Mantua Hudson
2) The Walthers Train Line Alco FA-1
3) The Stewart F7-A
Also useful for pulling the big train are these multi-unit consists:
1) The Stewart F7-A and B
2) The Athearn blue box F7-A and B
3) The Train Miniatures Alco FA-1 and the Athearn blue box F7-B
Ordinary six car manifest freights may be pulled by:
1) The Mantua Pacific
So, why does the Hudson so outpull this engine? This one is newer and still has the slippery nickel plating on the wheel treads.
2) The Bowser H9 Consolidation (modified with lighter tender and cosmetic changes)
3) The ROCO Baldwin Shark
4) The Athearn F7-A
5) Any engine that can pull the 8-car train alone
(The Train Miniatures FA-1 is powerful enough, but not well behaved pulling alone.)
Also on the main line, and just about as hard to pull as the 6-car manifest freight is the 5-car coal drag from the Diggin Hill and Batey Hollow. It’s one less car, but the cars are heavy with real coal. It’s usually pulled by:
1) The Mantua Mikado
2) A pair of AHM/Rivarossi Heislers.
(An AHM/Rivarossi 0-8-0 can also handle it, though it’s not what I usually do.)
This engine has extra weight that was not in the original.
Way freights may be 1-4 cars plus a caboose. The following can handle those:
1) Diecast Mantua Prairies
2) Diecast Mantua 0-6-0s
3) Diecast Mantua 0-4-0s
4) That little saddle tanker I cobbled together from a Booster mechanism and odd shell parts
5) The diecast Mantua 0-6-0 side tank engine
(This can also move the 6-car freights but looks funny doing it.)
6) MDC box cab diesels
7) Athearn SW1200
8) A single Rivarossi Heisler
My other switchers will handle a whopping 2 cars and a caboose up the hill. They’re mainly good for switching, or may pull more as double headers:
1) Bachmann 44 tonners
2) Rivarossi Dockside switchers
3) PFM/United 25-ton Shay
The largest passenger train is 1 box car of LCL freight, a 50-foot baggage car and a 50-foot coach.
The following handle it comfortably:
1) The diecast Mantua Prairie
2) A mongrel engine I have with mechanism of unknown brand and cobbled up shell
These can handle it but struggle a bit:
1) MDC Mogul
2) IHC Mogul with some added lead
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - December 24 2021 : 11:49:17 AM
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Good summary of your roster's capabilities. I can't help but wonder if yours are performing better than the real ones would in those conditions.
An example is the Western Maryland's linrs out of Elkins, WV. There were a couple of lines with 3% grades there, and the one that ran up Blackwater Canyon on its way to Cumberland, MD even had a short stretch of 4%. All of these lines had sharp curves more suited to trolley lines than actual railroads that precluded the use of any 6 axle diesels. WM rated its diesels (F7, GP9, RS3 and FA2) at 5 cars each on those grades.
My best pulling steamed is a Roundhouse old time 2-8-0 that is a dead ringer for one of the ones WM predecessor WVC&P owned (#39) and it will pull 12 cars up a 4% grades with 18r curves. I am currently rebuilding an old Tyco 4-6-2 with a new can motor and gears, and am interested to see how it does. My Bachmann 0-6-0s and related engines (the 2-6-0 and 2-6-2 use the same mechanism) are only good for 3 or 4 cars on those grades though they look good doing it.
Your train sizes are similar to what I run under normal circumstances. Any longer and I find getting them down the mountain is harder than getting them to the top.
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Posted - December 24 2021 : 12:16:03 PM
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It may be that the models are outperforming the real thing. I strive mightily for that, because I want the trains to be able to haul something on that torture track.
You're doing well with the MDC consolidation. I have one of the bigger ones and one of the little old timers, and didn't review either because mine are too slippery to even be practical on the line.
I think you'll be pleased with the pulling power of your Tyco Pacific. Mine's a work horse.
I also find downhill to be as challenging as uphill. As you run a locomotive downhill, especially with a heavy train pushing against it, the teeth on the worm gear press on the threads of the worm like the calipers on a disk brake. Since you're trying to hold down the speed, the motor is throttled down and does not overcome that friction as gracefully as one would like unless it has a lot of low end torque. One saving grace for my layout has been rare earth magnets. If you replace motor magnets with those, it does help the low end torque.
In the Hudson and the Pacific, I have not upgraded the magnets, but the motors are what Mantua used to call "Power Drive." Not to be mistaken with "Power Torque," this was a big motor connected by a flexible shaft to a worm mounted on its own bearings over the worm gear. That big motor had loads of low end torque, somewhat at the expense of top speed. I have no desire for blazing top speed on the torture track, and I love the smooth performance of all that low end torque.
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - December 24 2021 : 7:58:23 PM
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Wonderful engines you have Don. They seem to be fit in with your layout's theme.
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Posted - December 24 2021 : 10:06:31 PM
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| Great motive power Don! Those IHC/Mehano steam locomotives are my personal favorites, they're cheap, run well, and are very customizable.
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Posted - December 28 2021 : 5:08:00 PM
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Tabor Grain Elevator
Railroads transport freight and passengers. The story of railroading is the story of people and materials being moved. In large part, then, the story of the Tabor and Waldo is told in its customers, such as the Tabor Grain Elevator.
Of course, there’s more to it than the grain elevator, itself. Across the street is a feed mill, mostly grinding the grain of customers into feed, but additives such as bagged peanuts may be shipped in by rail to the storehouse next to the elevator and hauled to the feed mill in the back of a trusty pickup. That storehouse also contains bagged fertilizers and whatever other products the local farmers need. The side toward the tracks has doors for spotting boxcars.
Grain comes to the elevator in grain trucks like the one on the scale or wagons pulled by the local farmers’ tractors. The grain is dumped inside the shed next to the tall structure holding the main bins. In the middle of that structure is the elevator, itself taking grains from the dump shed or the bins and routing it to a bin or to the chute used to load boxcars. The boxcars haul the grain in bulk. The bottom half of the door is enclosed using boards or special grain doors of wood and heavy cardboard, and the grain is dumped through the top half. In a decade or two, covered hoppers will replace most of these boxcars for grain hauling.
Two full boxcars of grain are ready to go, and more empty ones are needed at the elevator.
Back in the yard, a manifest freight has dropped off a cut of cars to be switched. The switcher pulls two of them from the arrival track. The CB&Q car contains a load of grain doors for future shipments from the elevator. The MKT car has barrels of lubricating oil for the bulk fuel dealer on the same spur as the elevator.
The engine runs around the cars on the passing track in the yard to reach what will be the front of the peddler freight when it departs the yard.
The crew has tacked a caboose on the back of the freight and is taking water before leaving the yard.
Our peddler freight departs the yard on the mainline.
The peddler approaches Tabor.
The crew has left the caboose on the main and reaches into the spur to pull the loaded cars out onto the main.
The loads are coupled to the caboose and the switcher is dropping the boxcar of grain doors at the elevator’s warehouse dock door.
The crew has returned with a box car loaded with barrels and cans of lubricating oil for unloading at the bulk oil plant’s warehouse.
The peddler freight departs Tabor with two loads of grain.
The peddler freight arrives back at the yard. Eventually a cut of cars will be assembled to go out on the next manifest freight, including these cars.
A couple of days later, the grain doors and the oil products have been unloaded. The CB&Q car has been cleaned out and grain doors have been installed in it. A passing peddler freight’s locomotive stops in this spur to spot the empty CB&Q box car to receive a load of grain. Given time for loading, this will bring us right back to where we started with a load of grain waiting to depart.
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - December 28 2021 : 5:25:28 PM
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Great scenes. Thanks for sharing them with us.
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Posted - December 30 2021 : 6:12:38 PM
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| Brilliant scenes, each one telling the story. Grain elevator towers over all.
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Posted - December 30 2021 : 7:30:03 PM
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| That grain elevator looks great!
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Posted - December 31 2021 : 10:28:33 PM
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quote:That grain elevator looks great!
Originally posted by RealBnsfIA - December 30 2021 : 7:30:03 PM
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Thanks. It's a Walthers kit. I modified it some to put the part of the building where the trucks dump grain at the usual floor level for an elevator. As it's designed, it has the trucks coming in at ground level, but most elevators I've seen had the whole floor, including the dump area, level with the floor of a boxcar spotted on the track in front of the building.
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - January 01 2022 : 5:42:01 PM
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quote: quote:That grain elevator looks great!
Originally posted by RealBnsfIA - December 30 2021 : 7:30:03 PM
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Thanks. It's a Walthers kit. I modified it some to put the part of the building where the trucks dump grain at the usual floor level for an elevator. As it's designed, it has the trucks coming in at ground level, but most elevators I've seen had the whole floor, including the dump area, level with the floor of a boxcar spotted on the track in front of the building.
Originally posted by scsshaggy - December 31 2021 : 10:28:33 PM
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I have the same kit on my layout. I have also noticed the elevator loading area for the trucks is often level with the boxcar floor. Nice work making it more realistic, I will definitely have to try this on mine.
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Posted - January 01 2022 : 10:00:44 PM
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Great scenes and layout!
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven." - Matthew 5:16
Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/rpmodelrailroads
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Posted - January 04 2022 : 7:20:30 PM
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Batey Hollow Oil Shipping
Batey Hollow has entered the Petroleum Age. Right in the canyon is an oil well, but other wells not in your field of vision pipe oil to some storage tanks and oil is loaded into tank cars and shipped out.
Here, a manifest freight rolls toward Flahar Yard with two empty tank cars:
Cars are dropped and cars are picked up in the yard by the manifest freight:
The switcher sorts the cars dropped by the manifest freight into way freights:
One of the way freights is the pair of tank cars destined for Batey Hollow:
The way freight has dropped the two empties at the loading docks and pulled a couple of loaded tank cars. Soon it will depart Batey Hollow:
The way freight arrives back at the yard:
Two loaded tank cars are switched into the departure track for the next manifest freight:
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - January 04 2022 : 9:50:18 PM
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Your attention to detail on your layout, even to actual industry operation, is awesome. Keep it up!
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven." - Matthew 5:16
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Posted - January 05 2022 : 7:06:08 PM
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Thanks, RP
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Posted - January 07 2022 : 06:02:51 AM
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| Great back story and convincing layout. Never gets old.
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Posted - January 07 2022 : 7:34:22 PM
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Has that rugged natural scenery. Always look forward to seeing photos of your layout Don.
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Posted - January 07 2022 : 10:07:43 PM
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Thanks, all, for the kind words.
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - June 25 2022 : 11:44:28 AM
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Overview:
From time to time someone mentions that I ought to show the layout plan or an overall view. I finally got around to it, but it's not so easy. There's a lot of concealed trackage deep under the ground that looks cluttered on the same drawing as the exposed track. This first view shows mainly the visible, exposed tracks (red) with only the concealed mainline track (blue) shown for context:
There are staging tracks that are spurs off of the concealed, underground mainline track. This shows them and the concealed mainline in blue. Visible trackage, shown in red is for context and only includes mainline track.
The staging tracks are labeled as follows:
M1 - M3: Manifest freights
DHBH: Diggin Hill and Batey Hollow coal train staging
FHM: Fish Hook and Mussentuchit staging - holds the Mussentuchit transfer train.
P: Passenger train
Neither diagram is very much to scale, nor is it particularly neat, given the fun of drawing an accurate line with a mouse in MS Paint.
A single overview of the whole layout is hard to get, but a few general shots should have enough in them to allow one to piece together the big picture.
Here is a view looking across the layout with Croler W. Flahar yard in the foreground. The valley just beyond is Batey Hollow. Then there's a high-line track across a cliff, a rocky ridge and the town of Tabor.
Another shot shows Flahar Yard on the left, Batey Hollow in the middle and the high line on the right.
This shot highlights the town of Tabor, though you can see part of Batey Hollow on the right and two manifest freights staged below:
Here's a view of the two manifest freight staging tracks below Tabor. Lots of stuff is also stored in every spare nook and cranny, including some track cleaning cars. There's no turnout to those so they're set on the track by hand when needed.
Under Flahar Yard, more trains are staged. On the left is the coal train from the Diggin Hill and Batey Hollow RR. Next to it is another manifest freight. Next over is the Mussentuchit Transfer. Hiding in the shadows behind all that is the passenger train staging track.
This is an old layout that's been slowly evolving for decades into a "mostest track in the leastest space" sort of effort. Things were not always built on the soundest foundation, so there has been much adjustment and troubleshooting, but I do now have a fun layout to operate with as many possibilities as I could cram in.
Carpe Manana!
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