Large Scale Central

The ultimate backyard railroad:)

I didn’t want to hijack the ongoing thread about Tom Miller’s railroad property, so I’m adding this thread. In the discussion about Tom’s railroad, a large 19 inch railroad here in California was brought up…the Swanton Pacific in Santa Cruz.

But there are numerous very large scale private railroads out there that are rarely seen. This one is/was a gem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E91Qvz2lbZQ

Started by John Woods and his mother in 2000 and built on 2000 acres of Missouri farmland. His mother was eighty at the time. This particular video was taken somewhere in the 2008 time period AFTER the untimely death of John in a motorcycle accident. The place was taken over by a foundation that continued to maintain and use the facility for a hunting and wildlife preserve. As of January 2018, the family has decided to put the farm and railroad up for sale, hoping someone would take it over to continue the foundation as a charity. Sad to see this go. One of a kind. There are many links to videos of this railroad including some great side by side running at full speed on the double track 15 inch gauge mainline.

Definitely not for the faint hearted with a small wallet :).

Nice side by side video…keep in mind this Northern weighs 10 tons :)!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ns1kpKygv4&list=PLF_f1jBy4gmvR0Eu2eVEww9EZVktQQwCe

Amazing…

Another 15" gauge,

More info on 15",

http://www.hillcrestreedley.com/5-scale-15-gauge-standards

Well; I was hoping to win Power Bazilions this weekend so I could buy it along with the EBT, but I got slapped again (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cry.gif)

I found that the layout I just posted that video on is associated with Cover’s Apple Ranch in Tuolumne CA. Gotta go there next time I visit my CA relatives! Here’s a FB spread on the RR, for those who do FB. Love that turntable…

https://www.facebook.com/pg/MasseePhoto/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1797894776919738

Cliff Jennings said:

I found that the layout I just posted that video on is associated with Cover’s Apple Ranch in Tuolumne CA. Gotta go there next time I visit my CA relatives! Here’s a FB spread on the RR, for those who do FB. Love that turntable…

https://www.facebook.com/pg/MasseePhoto/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1797894776919738

I’m familiar with the Hillcrest Tree Farm Railroad in Reedley. Apparently this is connected to that railroad, but goes into the foothills as another railroad. These Grand Scale (term used to describe railroads larger than 7+ inch gauge) layouts are all over California.

Thanks for posting this one. BTW, while you’re out here to visit your California relatives, you might want to consider another 15 inch gauge logging railroad in the foothills of Berkeley (Bay Area). 15 inch gauge Shays. Steep grades and sharp curves. Almost like Felton & Big Trees in Santa Cruz in “miniature”.