Too Much of a Good Thing?

[jeffers_mz]

That's an interesting take, Mr. B. You describe exactly what I was attempting to describe in the post that started this thread.

What's strange though, is that in reality, the mountains won, the railroads lost, and nature has now reclaimed most all that man built. You stumble across an old boiler now and then, and the old grade can still be seen from time to time, but the weather and avalanches and scrap hunters have taken all the rest.

Also strange is that in reality, my five track "yard" was dwarfed by the tangle-o-track the interchange really had. Of course, they had a bit more mountain to offset their civilization and technology than my square footage for the layout will allow.

This is extremely rugged country, my main interest is a valley that most likely no humans have ever fully penetrated. I was turned back in 2000 by an unexpected gate onto private property. I could have gone in on foot, and later did, but my buddy's ten year's older and was already feeling the altitude to the point where strapping a pack on him would have been unwise.

On 9/12/2001, I turned back again. I hauled 105 pounds of rope and food over a 12k pass, but had to stash a ten pound rope and some other gear the second day because I just couldn't handle the weight at that altitude for a second straight day. Down at 10k, there's a 200 to 400 foot rappel that has to be done going in and coming back out. I was two days into a six day food supply, a day for the rap in, a day to jug out, and two days back to my truck was cutting it too close for a solo adventure, and besides, would have made the rappel worthless, leaving no time to explore the valley floor. I have kids now, and can't pu***he edge as hard as I did when I was younger.

In 2003 I turned back a third time, not because of obstacles, but because the view from an adjacent ridgeline showed me that any climbing in the valley would be subject a hailstorm of loose and continually raining rock. On that same trip though, I gathered samples from all the creeks in the area, and only one showed color, a heck of a lot of it. Yup, the one that drains the valley in question. I didn't know that until I returned home though.

I'm currently planning a new recon with an old friend, if there's another trip after that, it will probably end in success or....well, best case is a successful rescue by SAR. They've told me they won't fly a chopper in there, somethiung about updrafts, and once you've met the crazy old Nam-era Huey vet and heard some of the crazy things he's actually done to haul the unlucky out of there, you respect the call. They'll hike in though, and they promise you won't have to wait more than eight days till first responder aid.

About twenty miles south of there, the Durango and Silverton tourist railroad still runs on the old Denver and Rio Grande right of way. Short of some very hardcore backpacking, the railroad is the only way into or out of the Needles and Grenadier ranges. Hikers get a special discount, and can flag the train at any location, and it will stop to pick you up.

Coming out of the backcountry after a long trip, the first signs of civilization are such a welcome sight it is hard to describe in words. Thought I haven't yet experienced it, it must be a powerful ru***o hear the whistle of a 100 year old locomotive as your first welcome back to modern life, and as the first uncontestable proof that you survived the latest adventure.

In this case, the innocence won and still rules, though I'm not sure innocence is the right word. When you seen an entire mountain ridge, valley to peak, light up with St. Elmo's fire, when a three AM blast of hurricane force wind flattens your tent out ofotherwise silent nowhere, whn your pinned down by weather at 12k and your buddy asks you if the waterfall sound has changed, and you know what he's hearing is really the sound of constant rockslides from every direction, when you read about 26 foot deep snows that made the miners dig tunnels to the outhouse instead of digging paths for months on end, somehow innocent isn't the word that first comes to mind, but it will have to serve as I can't think of a better one.

The towns that are left have a decided air of hanging on the very edge, the wilderness surrounding them is the more powerful force, and part of survival up there so close to it is a matter of luck. That humans were able to drive railroads into the heart of it, well at least a few parts of it, over a hundred years ago, still amazes me, this is country that wins all arguments hands down. You either play by the mountain's rules or else they grind you to insignificant dust.

If I can capture any of that, and keep it, the layout will be a success, in my mind anyway.

[MisterBeasley]

It sounds like the real world. There's a sense of lost innocence there. Once Upon a Time, there was the Little Train that Could, and then along came the big railroad companies, and it all changed...

There is a beauty to each phase of railroading in this world. I think you've found one of the seams between old and new. Savor the moment. For the real world, it's gone forever, but on your layout you can hold on as long as you'd like.

[jeffers_mz]

Thanks, Waltersrails. I have an individual approach to photography, shoot one bazillion pictures, and maybe one or two will come out ok.

I like the new track a lot better since the Atlas switch motors were replaced with Caboose Hobbies manual throws. In fact, a part of me wants to hurry up and ballast it just to see how it looks. Fortunately, that part of me is balanced by the part that wants to build all the pine trees right now, and the part that wants to build all the structures right now, and the dark horse contender, the part of me that wants to get the foam details finished and start laying plaster, which is what I really ought to be concentrating on now.

Then there's the part that wants to run trains, and seeing how my locos and rolling stock are still in the pictured arrangement, I think that's my next step. Fortunately the mind can envision quite a bit of scenery and detail even when it's months away in reality.

There's a hundred and twenty pine tree armatures stuck in foam in the shop, awaiting brown paint, but loco placement affects operations, which have to come first in a responsible businessman/railroad owner.

To the cab, gentlemen, fire 'em up!

;-)

[waltersrails]

yes to much of a good thing is a good thing. welcome

jeff the pic looks nice

[jeffers_mz]

Yes, I think a look into re-railing options is in order, even if I keep the new track. Funny how a non-problem morphs into a big problem slowly and because it happens gradually, obvious solutions don't even register.

I'm starting to enjoy the new interchange now, even though it isn't wired up yet, just getting second hand power from the outer mainline. More space to work with, and easy options for connecting additional modules. I'm seriously considering adding ten feet to the pole barn I'm putting up this season (pole barn in appearance only, foundation issues forced me to abandon beam and post in favor of standard stick framing), making it 30 by 60 instead of 30 by 50. That would give me a twelve by fifteen foot train room and a few extra feet for other uses.

I'd have enough room to make seperate modules for Durango, Red Mountain and Animas Forks, allowing us to model the Silverton Northern, Silverton, Gladstone and Northerly, and the Silverton branch of the Denver and Rio Grande, maybe even with room for the branch into Cunningham Gulch. If the room is oriented with foresight, the leftover space could eventually even see the Rio Grande Southern, assuming that other space requirements don't eat up more floorspace than allocated so far.

Now that I think about it, why cry about lost wilderness when you can add additional modules with all the virgin San Juan forest you want?

[edkowal]

The Rix ReRailers take a lot of effort out of re-railing equipment. Just slide it down the ramp, and onto the rails. Instant result, and no frustration with fiddling with wheels. I've made two of my own for On2. Works great.

-Ed

[PennsyHoosier]

Holy Cow! Well, give it a try. This is one aggressive scenario.

[jeffers_mz]

Long Island Tom, use to be there wasn't room for any re-railers, but there is now.



Thanks for reminding me. That'll save some time, whether the new track stays or not.

Fergmeister, I'm thinking about scenicking a three inch by 1/2 inch by eight foot piece of plywood. When I need room to maneuver, off it comes, but when I want remote wilderness, look, disappearing track! Sometimes you get to have your cake and eat it too.

[Anonymous]

Jeffers_mz:

You might want to invest in a few sections of rerailer track. They look like railroad tracks with plankings at grade crossings, like this: http://www.internettrains.com/150-844.html

You roll your rolling stock over a piece of rerailer track, and it will seat the wheels properly on the tracks for you. You DON'T have to spend half the day just railing your rolling stock! [:D]

Hope this helps!

[Fergmiester]

And welcome to the world of Model Rail Roading!

Quaint and Big Time Ops is a hard mix sometimes but put in a few streams, trees and other rural addities and you may get your feeling back.

Fergie

[jeffers_mz]

Maybe.

Daddy screwed up figuring dimensions, leading to a 45 inch by eight foot layout, instead of the planned 4 by 8. Not a problem, everything fit, the track tweaking got most of my remaining hair but eventually all the gremlins got chased out, the foam put in place and rough carved, a few trees and building markers, everything was coming together very nicely.

The layout is a folded dogbone, one reversing loop on the second story above the other, with a two track main passing in front of the cab, upper loop partially visible to the operator's right with mining spurs in the center, a town with a few spurs to the left, inside the climbing two track mainline, but "isolated" from the mainline by the grade.

I prefer old time steam, but the kids like diesels, and I guess I do too, since I went out and bought some really nice ones. I' m not real big on re-railing, and pulling all the old time steam and replacing them with diesels before each visit takes most of a work day by the time you test every train for proper railing and coupling, etc. Then after the visit, there's a big part of another day swapping the diesels for the old time steamers again.

Add it all up and I got the bright idea to reclaim my lost three iches with a pair of 8 foot straightaways, tied to the mainline in both directions with about $120 worth of turnouts. The project went smoothly, and there is a lot to be said for the results. This particular railroad was really three small branchlines which all came together in one town, where another railroad connected them with the outside world. I now have available connections for each of the additional roads at some time in the future when I have more room.

I also have a credible interchange yard, which is the heart of operations for this road, and a heck of a lot of switching real eatate, right in front of the operator, for making up trains, moving cars around, parking trains temporarily etc.

Finally, I now have a place to put my two favorite diesel consists, out of sight, but railed and ready to run for the kids, buying me two days every two weeks in avoided un/re-railing effort.

All is well, right?

Well....maybe not. I gained a lot by the move, but lost something as well. Before the upgrade, the layout was growing into a certain "feel", a tiny town on the edge of a great and rugged wilderness, served by a major railroad, but from there, jumping off into the untamed and in some ways, unknown.

That feel is gone now, replaced by a different one. With four tracks and a lot of turnouts between the operator and the little town, it is starting to feel a lot more like a big city, the yard sort of overpowers the first impression when you sit down to run trains, and the town and the highline into the mountains seems a lot further away now, much more than three inches.

The good news is that the entire addition, two eight foot 2x4's, some luan roadbed, and the track are all screwed into place or nailed with the heads left up for easy removal. I could have the layout back in it's original shape inside two hours, as if the new interchange never existed. If I've learned anything from this layout, it's that I like building reversible options, screws instead of glue or nails, everything able to be removed if necessary, including big mountains and small buildings.

I'm not in any real hurry to rip out the new track yet, I'm going to get my switcher running back and forth on it, give it some time to settle in and see if my initial perceptions change, then probably pull it later on and go back to the little town on the edge of the wilderness.

Much later on, if I need to expand, I might consider a single new line to connect with the "outside world" instead of the double, we'll just have to see.

The point of this post though, is that more staging, more track, more operating possibilities, more anything might be a good thing, but there can be a downside to it too, and if you find yourself not enjoying a new addition or project, or adding more and more and more to get back to a feeling you got from the layout early on, you might be headed in the wrong direction.

Sometimes less is more.