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D&RGW narrow gauge: Back to scenics.


JZ
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Not much done on the railway for a few weeks, so a picture of a freight train on the Tanglefoot Curve, a mile or so SE of Cumbres.

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Mostly made up of flatcars interspersed with a few gondolas, a few stockcars on the back and what appears to be tankcars on the left of picture. This would have had a helper at the rear of the train from Chama to Cumbres, but the loco is now on it's own to at least Antonito, about 40 miles away and 2000ft lower. The switch in the lower part of the picture has been removed and the loop/siding is now just an isolated section of track. Or so it appears on Google earth.

Managed to get away for a few days last week and caught up with friends in Manchester for a few/quite a lot of beers. The on to Whitby for a couple of nights. Nice to get away, the first time since early November 2019.

 Also, my interest in astronomy has been rekindled and I am now looking at buying a decent telescope.(see thread in Wheeltappers).

Edited by JZ
To correct name of location.
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32 minutes ago, JZ said:

Mostly made up of flatcars interspersed with a few gondolas, a few stockcars on the back and what appears to be tankcars on the left of picture.

Look to be the pipe gondolas as you can see the ends are open. 
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/markpaulson.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/pipe-gondolas-and-idler-flats/amp/

Edited by PaulRhB
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Another picture at Tanglefoot Curve. This from June 1994. A couple of pipe gondolas in the formation, with people travelling in the second. H&S would have a field day today.

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Steve Ellis photo.

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Somewhat off subject, but my new telescope has arrived, after much faffing* around with Amazon.

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Celestron Nexstar 8SE.

So far, I've just calibrated the sight tube. As to when I'll get to use it........... The forecast is cloudy for the next couple of weeks. I've also purchased additional lenses, filters, power supply, both mains and remote, plus a bespoke camera. It has also spurred me into buying a new laptop for the processing of photos, though I did need one anyway. So, overall, a fair investment, so I'll have to work a few rest days to recover the costs.

Astronomy has been an interest of mine since my Grandfather gave me an edition of the Larrousse Encylopædia of Astronomy for  Christmas in 1967, which I still have today, albeit rather dog eared. In the past, I've made do with a pair of Leitz 8x32 binoculars, of, more recently my 50-500mm zoom on my DSLR. Recent visits to Jodrell Bank, the Meteor Crater in Arizona and the Parkes Observatory have just cemented my interest. It's also handy having a neighbour with an interest just two door away and a colleague at another depot to compare notes with. Weather permitting, I will post any results here, as my thread in Wheeltappers only received a single response.

 

 

*ref faffing. Amazon originally delivered to my next-door neighbour on Saturday, but the package was mislabelled and I actually received a Kärcher K4 Power washer.

 

This picture also reminds me that it's time to scrub and re-treat the decking again. 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Permanent earlies this last few weeks, half 2 or half 3 alarm, meant not much done on the railway, but now on the second of 18 days off. Yesterday and today has been catching up with jobs around the house. As for the astronomy, well, just a single clear evening here and I was on minimum rest, 12 hours, between shifts. By the time I had driven home with all the Sunday shoppers, cooked, etc, it was time for bed.

 

On the plus side, San Juan car Company have received their HOn3 tank cars and mine have been ordered. Three of us in the Slim Gauge Circle clubbed together to save on shipping.

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The top one is 1935 livery, really a bit too early for me, but I can't believe that one didn't last to my period in this livery.

From what pictures I have seen, tank cars were either run in block trains, or a few in general freight consists. With these. I now have the option of both.

 

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Latest kit from the work bench. Banta Modelworks kit of the Bakery in Silver Plume, Colorado. Tried to give the paintwork a run down look as it might have looked around 1960, although the lighting makes it look worse. The building still stands and is now a café/bar. Bread in the windows is just downloaded pictures and resized in MS Paint. Complete with the stereotypical police officer buying donuts.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Went to the Slim Gauge Guild meeting in Rugby today and came away with some goodies.

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First up is a FOS Scale Models 'Kit of the Month'. Just liked the look of this, so snapped it up before anyone else took a shine to it.

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A 700 series and slightly larger 800 series drop bottom gondolas. Picked up for a tenner the pair. The trucks are almost worth that on their own.

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Rio Grande Southern K-27 455. I've been after one of these for a while. The real thing was wrecked in 1943 after a brake failure. It was returned to service in 1947 with a cab and tender from a standard gauge loco. Previous owner hasn't done a brilliant job on the weathering, but by the time I've finished with it, it won't show. Gave it a run on the FreeMo layout at the meeting.

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In between helping JZjr move house, taking the cat to the vet and other odd jobs, I put together the FOS Scale kit I picked up on Sunday. Still to fit the roof, waiting for some transfer tape to arrive.

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The paintwork has seen better days in the years since Bob Derito opened his shop and the sign looks as it is on the verge of falling off, but Elspeth does her best to keep the sidewalk swept.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • JZ changed the title to The West Colorado & Utah Division of the D&RGW

Water Service car from an old, about 2001, Alamosa Car Shops kit.

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Still a bit of touching up required. Wood kit with a few plastic parts. While most MoW stock was grey in the period I am modelling, there are no photo's of this to suggest it was anything other than boxcar red. It was used in the maintenance of water tanks, though it was mostly a bunk car, with stove, table and bunks at each end.

 

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After undergoing restoration.

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Whiling away some time during yesterday's awful weather, I decided to have a rummage through my spares boxes. The only one with enough parts to cobble something together was the carriage box. While there weren't enough parts to build a coach, there was enough to build another combine, albeit freelance. And this is what I came up with.

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It's a sort of combine post office van, or perhaps a narrow gauge version of the TGS that is my office on Class 255s when at work. It is being painted up to match the two RGS Blackstone coaches that I restored a few months back.

 

In other news. My tank cars arrived in Oxfordshire yesterday and should be despatched to me today.

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They're here.

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Blackstone car at the rear as a comparison. haven't find any evidence that they ever ran together, so rule 1 applies.

Almost a shame to weather them.

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The Conoco cars will be given the very lightest of weathering. Conoco kept their cars fairly clean, helped somewhat by them carrying lighter, finished oil products, such as kerosene, petroleum and diesel. After much googling, I have yet to find a picture of a grubby one, whereas the UTLX cars, Blackstone, were used for carrying crude and the only clean ones I can find are the preserved ones at Chama and Antonito.

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Picked up this very nice Howe Truss bridge on eBay. Took the train over to Llandaf to collect it rather than have a courier mishandle it. The seller, from whom I have purchased before, met me at the station with it.

267280692_10161738206649012_5774518070607842277_n.jpg.5b2459fe3bd0c636aace6210f826d39d.jpgIt is of all wood construction. While It won't have a home on the present layout, I have plans for a couple of FreeMo modules for stand alone exhibition or connexion to the Slim Gauge Circle FreeMo layout at future meets and maybe for the 2023 members day in Taunton.

Not sure of the make of this, but Campbell Scale Models do a couple of kits, but not a 68' one.

Edited by JZ
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Combine fresh out of the works. That's my excuse for the difference in shade.

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The 'BAGGAGE' writing looks awful, but is nowhere near that bad in real life.

Edited by JZ
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Doing some measurements last night and discovered that the truss bridge is too narrow, only my C-19 will fit through it and then with barely 1mm each side. Though this is narrow gauge, the loco's are large and the K-37, which was rebuilt from a standard gauge loco, measures out at a maximum width of 39.91mm, almost 11½ft. K-27 455 also had a standard gauge cab fitted after it's wreck. So the plan is:

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Cut the bridge along the centreline(red). Replace the crossmembers at each end(yellow). Raise the baulk timbers along the sides, probably an additional one on top(green). And new supporting baulks(blue), though once widened, they will go where the existing ones are, under each rail. Overall, I need a minimum of 5mm, but will go for 10.5, which will allow clearance of the rotary plow (how I hate spelling it that way) and flangers.

  Once the bridge ties are in place. most of this will be invisible, unless you go under the bridge and the plan is to only have a clearance of about 6-10 ft. Additional strength will be added with a supporting baulk at each end and gluing a thin strip of wood under each cross member.

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Couple of hours work later.

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Width increased by a scale 3ft. I've added walkways to fill in the additional width.

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Still not a lot of clearance, but it fits. Fortunately, all the wood needed I had in stock.

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Must get around to putting a 9 on the smokebox numberplate.

Now to get some abutments made.

Edited by JZ
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Waiting for my next box of kits. This time from Fos Scale Models. Ordered on the 24th November, but aware it's a busy time of year, it's a one-man-band and not all kits are always in stock, so there maybe some waiting. Posted USPS Priority Express, supposedly a 3-5 day service, on the 16th. So far it's managed just 84 miles.

 

Anyhow, the kits ordered.

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Picked as they all had a bit of character. Big Lou's was free on orders over a certain value. One of their earliest kits and now only made for special order. However, it more than made up for the cost of postage. In addition, I also bought some accessories.

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On 23/12/2021 at 10:27, rockershovel said:

Seeing this thread and with the experience of 3-rail O Gauge plus 20/20 hindsight, I would have done better to have passed on On30 and gone to HOn3 Freemo. 

Before this, I had dabbled in OO9, then 20+ years in OO. I had had an itch for a while to do something different and with the Heljan L&B loco's announced, I was sorely tempted to go back to OO9. But a visit to New South Wales in 2018, saw me at a show in Liverpool, NSW and the standard of layouts and RTR was impressive, but then, so were the prices. I had for a while a liking for Lambing Flats. So I pondered over it during the following winter and researched availability of rolling stock and buildings. Come February, I was looking at where to go on holiday (remember them?) and BA sent me an offer on flights to Denver. Took the plunge and decided to visit the surviving D&RGW branches. When booking tickets for these, I saw a link to Blackstone Models and the rest, as they say, is history.

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