Yes they were scratch built. Windows and doors were purchased.
Looks good, John…
Your railroad is fantastic!
During the Summer of 2007 I had laid all the track for my two loops plus the alternate route over the trestle. Originally the alternate route came off the outer loop and reentered onto the inner loop. I found this to be a mistake and rerouted it so that it crossed the inner loop and returned to the outer. That way I could run trains continuously on the trestle if i wanted to. It does mean however that I have to be careful not to have a collision at the crossing with a train on the inner loop.
Prior to the LGB bankrupcy I had purchased several switch decoders (LGB 55024) These I installed on the switches which route trains from one loop to the other and also onto the alternate route. They were very simple to install and are controlled from the Easy DCC system that runs the locomotives. No extra wiring was necessary. I needed two more and could find them nowhere in the US. Dragon G Scale in England had some. Unfortunately the price in dollars was now double what I had paid.
My next project was to put some track on top of the mountain and run a small mine train from a mine shaft to the coal shuttle I had built from a kit. It is running analog power with an LGB reversing unit unit to send the mine train back and forth.
I’ll post some pictures a little later
Here are some pictures of the LGB Mikado:
Originally my mountain had a dry wash in front of it. I always intended to put in a water feature so I decided to go ahead. Needless to say it would have been much easier if it was done before the tracks were laid. I had to remove the bridge over the dry wash and totally reconfigure the mine traine tracks. Also I changed the direction the stream was going to run. The water feature is a waterfall about 30" high which flows into a pondless stream. When the pump is shut off the stream goes dry so there is no standing water.
In front of the Coal Shuttle I built a bunk house for the workers.
Some more shots of the mountain and stream:
The outer loop has a long straight run before entering the tunnel. About 20 feet before the tunnel the alternate route branches off up over the front of the mountain.
Good looking railroad…
Nice! Thanks for the pictures…
Great looking layout…thanx for the pix!!
Excellent looking RR you did a great job, all that research paid off.
For Andy Clarke and Ken Brunt:
Thank you both for your encouragement.
I have a long way to go to try and measure up to the Bluestone or Rio Grande Southern.
It is really great to have this forum where you can see what others have done.
With all that work do you feel good!!!
Half of the fun is building it!
Nice job!
Sean
Sean McGillicuddy said:I have spent many more hours building rather than running. Both are enjoyable but building is at least as much fun or more.
With all that work do you feel good!!! Half of the fun is building it! Nice job! Sean