John will probably know best. AFAIK some of the outer part was there, like a few feet of straight track. I thought he had the beginnings of a smaller loop.
Greg
I don’t think he got very much actual track later down before he passed. I know he was working on the “narrow gauge” loop (yellow loop) and the Dragon Summitt area a fee months before he died. He did a lot of prep work before he even got a single piece of track down.
I remember he sending us his sagas about getting water every day. He had to go something like 10 miles with his truck and water trailer.
We never ran there and other than a full tour the first time (Chuck C and Alan and myself) Chuck and I returned for updates and foundation work for viewing places around unique interchanges that caught his fancy.
I had assumed the Narrow Ga. Loop was done as there was a Wye and section of scenery on the tail track the ran to the drive way.
Besides hauling water, he was hauling dirt for building 5-6’ berms along the right of way to bury the pipes and maintain low grades and smooth transitions. Totally modern Right of way was the vision…
The property is on a low hill side with the Narrow Ga. Loop on the low side. It is elevated about 6 feet.
Does anyone live there now? Wouldn’t it be a trip to complete the layout?
Greg
I like some never knew Dirk but enjoyed his pics of building a grand RR. He will be missed. Later RJD
Greg Elmassian said:
Does anyone live there now? Wouldn’t it be a trip to complete the layout?
Greg
Or at least take a photo record of what he accomplished, before it’s too late.
Sorry, I’m in treatment now and it’s too far for me to drive for a pic, a very very very wide angle pic at that!
Let me look at my archived emails from Dirk and see if I can’t find some of his last progress photos. As John said, a lot of his effort at this time was hauling dirt to cover the piping. I think he did it all by hand, no tractor.
Craig Townsend said:
Let me look at my archived emails from Dirk and see if I can’t find some of his last progress photos. As John said, a lot of his effort at this time was hauling dirt to cover the piping. I think he did it all by hand, no tractor.
I know the dirt came in 5 gal buckets, I think he had a small quad and trailer to do 3 or 4 buckets at a time. Been a while and me brain is fuzzy.
I’ve got a page on my site for Dirk, any pictures would be appreciated, as well as any text people would like to contribute:
https://elmassian.com/index.php/large-scale-train-main-page/others-layouts/dirk-carmichael
I’ve been thinking of adding some text and talking about his vision, as well I would love to have some pictures of that huge loco he was working on.
Greg
Yes, I remember Dirk talking about the water runs. Seemed like that was something he did a few times a week.
I think it was in the last year he bought a blue ford compact utility tractor. I remember him talking about using it to move dirt around with.
Greg, love the web page. I have lots of emails saved from him of his progress on his layout and his custom built projects. You want me to put a word document together with pictures and captions and send it to you?
I think that would be great, but be sure to give me the pictures separately…
I don’t need super high resolution, my whole site has pictures at 800 pixels horizontal to make it easily viewable, although I could probably start going up in size.
Thanks!
Greg
YOWZA! That is one amazing layout! Surely this had to have been the largest layout ever planned? I’ve heard about a massive one in Arizona (near Tucson?) surely this was to be even larger? Sad to hear of this man’s passing.
Good morning everyone-
So quick piece of info on railroading in my area. I live along BNSF’s Staples Sub which runs from Minneapolis, MN to Dilworth, MN (which is close to Fargo, ND). The Staples Sub basically runs right through the heart of Minnesota. Most of the line is double track and is a major artery for intermodal trains running between Chicago and Seattle/Portland. Amtrak’s Empire Builder travels this line.
Dirk and I sent a lot of pictures to each other of trains and railroad equipment in our area. Made for lots of conversations about engines and car styles we wanted to model. Along with sharing railroad photos we also enjoyed talking about music we enjoy. I chuckle as I’m writing this thinking about the text videos he’d send of him driving and listening to music. He’d send the video and ask if I could guess the song. Sometimes it was easy to guess, other times not so much with the bouncing around on gravel roads.
This morning I was able to see two mixed consist trains stopped on the mainline. There were several car styles on the trains that Dirk and I talked about modeling. Call it divine intervention, coincidence, luck, or whatever you say, but as I was going past the trains one of Dirk’s favorite songs came on. The song title is “What a Beautiful Name” by Hillsong Worship. Needless to say, with seeing the trains and hearing one of his favorite songs I had a tough moment this morning. I miss my friend, but I find comfort that we will one day meet in the big gathering in the sky.