information about the Salt Lake Route

[marctje]

I want to build a layout in my cellar and i'm thinking to do The Salt Lake Route because the most of my trains are Union Pacific and Amtrak. My cellar is about 5 meter on 3 meter and i'm trying to figure out a plan surrounding this walls.
Now i'm looking for some information about this trainline between LA and Salt Lake City. what are the most common industries in this region, what color and structure is the ground and the mountains, what's the nature look likes.
here under is the plan of the cellar

grondplan nieuwe baan kelder met duckunder voor forum by Marc De Groulard, on Flickr

this is modulair with 1 meter on 70 cm

 

uitneembaar stuk means removable piece

 

 

[dehusman]

You do realize that Los Angeles to Salt Lake covers 3 states, 2 divisions, 4 subdivsions, and covers over 780 miles of railroad?  That's roughly like saying I want to model a railroad from Brussels to Rome, what's the scenery like and what's the most common industries?

The only places that there is any appreciable industry is around a major town or city, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and the Los Angeles areas.  There is a coal fired power plant at Moapa, north of Las Vegas.  The vast majority of the line is track through the mountains and desert with very few towns or anything.

The best way to see the landscape is to do Google Street view along Interstate 15.  Its going to be a lot of mountains, desert, rocks and scrubby trees.

[RR_Mel]

A quickie.

Salt Lake is west of the Rocky Mountains, 50 miles south is the city of Provo.  Both are in valley at 4,497 ft / 1,370.7 m, the mountains are 9,000 ft / 2743 m to 10,000 ft / 3048 m.

There is a Geneva /US Steel plant in Provo then rolling hills for 375 miles / 603 KM to Las Vegas, Casino Ville.  The route crosses the Colorado River 210 miles / 340 km from Provo, far western end of The Grand Canyon.

Small mountains west of Las Vegas then high desert for 180 miles / 290 km, 1900 ft / 290 km then Cajon Pass.  The Cajon Pass is very steep 3% from the desert to 3770 ft / 1149 m then down to sea level at LA

Very little if any industry between Provo Utah and Los Angles.


Mel


 
My Model Railroad  
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
 

[York1]

Marc, years ago MR did an N Scale layout called the Salt Lake Route.  It has some ideas on scenery.  All six parts of the article and videos are worth viewing.

 

https://mrr.trains.com/tags?tag=salt+lake+route

[NittanyLion]

It really can't be stressed enough: there is nothing out there.  It is one of the least populated regions of the United States.

[RR_Mel]

NittanyLion

It really can't be stressed enough: there is nothing out there.  It is one of the least populated regions of the United States.

 

You got that right!!!  Between Provo and the west side of the Cajon Pass there is nothing but the big Casino signs at Las Vegas.  700 miles of bushes and desert.


Mel



 
My Model Railroad  
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
 

[PRR8259]

To me the scenery along the route NE of Las Vegas is beautiful, especially in the early morning or later afternoon sunlight, when the rocks will appear brighter in color than during mid-day.

BUT

This is beautiful if one likes the shear brutality of hot, barren, often times treeless desert, with interesting rock formations. 

I have driven I-15 out of Las Vegas, and up into Utah, to see Zion Canyon and Bryce Canyon.  It's a fascinating drive.

Again, as stated above, there is nothing out there.  This is rugged, rural desert terrain.  There are some model railroads out there that have modeled this route, or portions thereof.  Maybe check them out, in addition to using Google Maps or Google Earth.

West of Las Vegas, it's Mojave Desert: sand with small bushes (you can buy the small tufts of weeds that come 105 to a sheet and individually glue them on your layout by the thousands as I have).  You can also have areas of Joshua Trees, which some people make from pipe cleaners.

Cajon Pass by itself is more beautiful than most of the Los Angeles & Salt Lake (originally San Pedro, Las Angeles & Salt Lake---San Pedro is a suburban community of LA, and was dropped from the name by sometime around 1910).  Operationally, modeling Cajon Pass itself either in the past or now might be more interesting because you can vary the trains and have UP trains on Santa Fe rails.

John

[PRR8259]

There is a new book out, and I just now received my copy today.  The revised edition:  The Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad Company, by John Signor.  It has I think 65 new added pages and more color photographs.

It has at least one really nice color photo of a UP freight in Afton Canyon, which is one of the UP-only areas along the route that IS a railfan favorite.

John

[angelob6660]

I rode in a car for vacation to Reno, NV. That started in Tucson to Las Vegas than Reno and Silver City.

The trip out to Las Vegas is very desert. Sand, brushes, hills and a few telephone polls. The only things I saw was a prison, military facility in Henderson, a few abandoned towns.

[marctje]

now i'm thinking to build something else where i can run UP and Amtrak and have a lot of industries. I also have a lot of double stacks and coal hoppers.

can you al give me some ideas about what to build with this items

[angelob6660]

You could model Nebraska, maybe around Omaha. A perfect place for intermodal and coal unit trains. Let's not forget the Amtrak California Zephyr.

Since Wyoming is home of the Powder River Basin coal trains. I don't know if trains travel down to Salt Lake City or just cross the state line into Nebraska.

[RR_Mel]

There isn’t much industry in the west on the UP lines.  Not really that much in Salt Lake, the Kennecott Copper mines, Morton Salt and the US Steel plant in Provo.  ASARCO closed down the Utah refining plants in the late 40s early 50s, my dad took a transfer from the Salt Lake ASARCO (Murray UT) plant to El Paso in the fall of 1949.

You could do business with Kennecott Copper, the largest open pit copper mine in the World.


Mel


 
My Model Railroad  
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
 

[Colorado Ray]

You could model the UP ex SP Alhambra Subdivision in Los Angeles.   The west end at Yuma Junction has the large LATC intermodal terminal.  Double track east to the City of Industry with its many industries.   Single track with numerous sidings east to West Colton.  Hosts Amtrak's Sunset Limited.  The only thing you might not see is unit coal trains.

You can find a pretty accurate rendition of the area at the Run 8 Depot site.

 https://www.thedepotserver.com/maps/alhambra/Alhambra.pdf

Ray

[marctje]

Can any one of you tell me ( other than the Salt Lake Route) what area is interesting to build nowing following items 

- UP freight trains, coal, doubble stack, grain, wood and boxcars

- Amtrak passengers trains

- buildings, grain elevator, cornfield, wood store, rotary, conveyer with pit, ethanol plant, gaspower plant small city with depot

[RR_Mel]

Are you modeling before or after the UP SP Merger, July 1996.

This is after the Merger.


Click to enlarge

Mel



 
My Model Railroad  
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
 

[NittanyLion]

marctje

- Amtrak passengers trains

There's only a few Amtrak routes that run through UP territory and would have the other things that interest you:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Zephyr

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Service

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_River_Runner_(Amtrak)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset_Limited

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Eagle

 

[dehusman]

marctje

now i'm thinking to build something else where i can run UP and Amtrak and have a lot of industries. I also have a lot of double stacks and coal hoppers.

Kansas City towards St Louis on the Sedalia Sub would be one option.  Amtrak ran 4 trains daily on that route and they were smaller trains, perfect for a layout.  That route was heavy in coal trains, having the West Labadie plant on line and allthe coal trains going to the east through St Louis, probably  2 WL loads and a half dozen other loaded trains a day and the same number of empties.  Double stacks not as heavy but there were auto parts and some intermodal.  

Another significant benefit is that the Sedalia Sub was "paired track" with the parallel River Sub They split at KC and joined back together at Jefferson City.  All the eastward trains (except Amtrak) went on the River Sub and all the westward trains went on the Sedalia Sub.  So you could prototypical operate all your trains in a loop.  All the coal trains would be empties.  Amtrak operates in both directions.  There isn't that much industry on line but if you model the KC end, you can get industries that are one the east end of Kansas City.

[BEAUSABRE]

I  think it depends on what you want to do. If you want to showcase complete trains, running trough scenary between terminals, this could be a viable location. If you want locals doing road switching at towns between terminals, you may want something else. If the first, then long distance passenger trains like the City of Los Angeles or Amtrak, and solid freights, reefer blocks in the steam and transition era, stack and unit trains today would be your base. That would imply concentrating on your scenary and on your rolling stock (which, when you look at the details, can be pretty varied). As Frank Ellison said, view your layout as a stage and the trains as the actors. They emerge from staging, run across the area you have chosen to model and disappear into staging. 

Let me add, IIRC, that this run was a stomping ground for some of the loudest maotive power every built, the Union Pacific turbnes...sent to a place where the only things that would bothered by the decibel overload (picture being under the take off end of runway when a heaviy loaded 747 takes off) were the Gila Monsters.

[Memma]

I travelled the closest Amtrak route and actually wrote an article on it (I'll share the link). Agree with all the comments - it'll be hard to replicate. From SLC to the Bay Area Amtrak crosses the desert, the Sierra Nevadas, over Donner Pass, through the California fruit bowl, and into the Bay Area. South to LA you'd need replicate the Salinas Valley, the hilly Paso Robles area and of course the long stretch along the coast. There's no Amtrak direct Salt Lake - LA train anymore unfortunately! https://trainreview.com/article/riding-the-california-zephyr-from-san-francisco-to-chicago https://trainreview.com/article/exploring-the-west-coast-a-ride-on-the-coast-starlight

[Memma]

Sorry, the link I had inserted didn't seem to work.

Here it is: https://trainreview.com/article/riding-the-california-zephyr-from-san-francisco-to-chicago https://trainreview.com/article/exploring-the-west-coast-a-ride-on-the-coast-starlight