Hi all
Well I must say that's pleasingly different an iron ore road but some things puzzle me and perhaps one of the MRR staff can shed some light on it.
For me iron ore HO and 6x4 don't seem the most comfortable of bed fellows
Why the drop from 8x4 this seems strange given real ore trains are so massive
The other thing that strikes me as odd is the forigne road cars
Yes the company ore roads do have more than just ore cars but its all company owned as far as I am aware.
Will MRR be telling us how to bash the weekly shopper train for example or perhaps a caboose generator car yes ore roads do or did run passanger trains etc for their employees.
Its just freight is king and predominatly ore every thing else is secondary to shiffting all that iron ore the railroad is more or less a different style of conveyer belt for the iron ore.
regards John
What i am.surprised they didnt do is the loads in loads out that i think Dick Elwell figured out years ago. Lets look at it. You have a loading point and an unloading point. They are set back to back with a scenery divide in between as the loads pass into the unloading shed, they come out the other side under the mine. Looking like the cars were justloaded. Same works.for empties in reverse. shove them.under the mine to be loaded and the emerge out of the unloadin shed ljke they were just emptied. Would have made the layout a little more interesting with almost no extra space. There are probably other tricks i am.missin here as well. I understand it is a very basic first layout on a very tight space. It is also a good training layout to show improvements like that.
Shane
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
I too was puzzled by the 4 x 6 foot size. Keep in mind, this is a model of a prototype operation, not a freelance design. The DMIR had long ore trains, according to the article, that wasn't the case on this road. As far as the load in-empty out concept, the usual application was a coal mine on one side of the divider with a power plant on the other side. The end user on the project layout is off the layout.
I am sorry I can´t follow the whining about MR´s project layout. It is a nice little layout with a strong touch of the prototype, not more, but no less!
I agree with Ulrich. It was intended to be what it is. I nice small layout that could be built on a budget, in a small amount of space, with operation possibilities. I also read that MRR's project layouts were made to sit on their side in a regular size van, for transporting to shows and event's.
Mike.
My You Tube
I like that they chose to model the desert instead of another eastern coal layout. The highlight of this layout is the conveyor and rock crusher structure on the mine side. They did a pretty good job and I like it a lot however the layout has no trees but believe it or not there are trees in the desert. The town side could have some as seen in some pictures.
I’m not sure if Kaiser owned any of its own cars. It was not a railroad, it was a steel mill which had it’s own iron and limestone mines close by. The same locomotives were used at the mill. Southern Pacific and Santa Fe served the mill. The mill was shut down because it was the worst polluting factory in California and at the end was being fined $1 million a day by the AQMD.
While we are on the subject, the first article says that Eagle Mountain is near Joshua Tree National Park. Joshua Tree National Monument is not a national park, or a national forest. It is a national monument. There is a difference. I’m not sure what but there is a difference and the correct name is Joshua Tree National Monument. It’s a great place for hiking and rock climbing. The article and video make it sound like Eagle Mountain is near Riverside which is in the San Bernardino valley but in reality it would be better described as being near Palm Springs which is in the lower desert. Actually Eagle Mountain is in the mountain range which seperates the upper and lower desert.
j.............
You know, they've only done a couple of coal roads over the years. The Virginian four years ago and the Clinchfield back in the 70s. On that scale, they have done more desert southwest. But I like the fact they have also done some midwest, southern small port, city (Beer Line), and would love to see Maine 2 footer or northwest logger.
jim
Wish they would set the clock; must have been unplugged when they went home.
Lone Wolf and Santa FeWhile we are on the subject, the first article says that Eagle Mountain is near Joshua Tree National Park. Joshua Tree National Monument is not a national park, or a national forest. It is a national monument. There is a difference. I’m not sure what but there is a difference and the correct name is Joshua Tree National Monument.
It used to be a National Monument, but it is currently a National Park. It was brought into the NP system after the so-called California desert "protection" act was passed in 1994.
Hi NVSRR
I think a rotery dumper might be a bit much to ask of a beginner given the complexity of the model and its expence.
But if we assume its in a shed to comply with modern EPA regulations
Then sure the oldest trick in the book could work very well with a conveyer to the ships.
I think though from memory of the plan the unloading could be concidered to be
off world to the left somewhere.
This layout would work very well for the Bachmann made for the Australian market BHP iron ore train sets one of each set.
Hmm wonder if one of MRR staff has one of those sets and isnt telling
Hi Sir Madog
My orriginal post certainly should not be taken as whinging and whining.
It is just certain points on the choices they made when designing the layout seem strange.
And I would like to know the thought process behind those choices.
It is a nice layout and with a far stronger than you think dose of protypical look and feel for an iron ore road.
When something feels strange about something or looks odd I tend to ask why and feel it is wrong to judge that as whining.
For the very simple straight forward reason that sooner or later the right answer or at least a sensible and helpfull answer will come up aiding the understanding of a layout and how the designer of it thought.
Because that might help me or someone else in choices that are made.
I would like to see a maine/new haven area layout next.