I don’t know if this has been shared before but kinda cool and a real world challenge as it is in modeling. How do you make grade, you get innovative.
Interesting, thanks for sharing.
Ever hear of the Tehachapi loop?
Old news
I know its old news. Just fun to see in action. The one on the Canadian Pacific line at kicking Horse Pass between Golden and Banff is cool also. It has the upper and lower spiral tunnels. It loops over itself twice. I have seriously wanted to model this. But just don’t have a place to do it.
…And in Wales in the UK they built a spiral to allow them to bypass a Reservoir which was built during the time the railway was disused. its a fairly long video but shows some fun steamers in 2 foot(ish) gauge. I took a trip there last spring and it is well worth the visit!
Cool. I’m familiar with the Tehachapi Loop but never heard of the Williams Loop before. Here it is on Google Maps:
Interesting. If my rough estimates are right the Williams loop is about 1200 feet in diameter, which at 1:24 scale is about 50 feet. That’s a big loop to model without serious, serious compression. My entire layout is about 60 feet long by maybe 15 feet wide. And my end loops are 12’ diameter, so 1/4 of this size. Mine do cross over, but the grade is just a bit extreme in comparison… Is my math right? The prototype circumference is pi * d so the length of track is 1200 * 3.14 or about 3800 feet, divided by 24 that’s 157 feet. My 12’ diameter circles result in about 38 feet. So the grade is a bit more than 4x in my model than on the prototype (assuming a similar height difference at crossover). Whew! No wonder my model looks a bit steep. Good thing I run geared locos and short trains…
I looked it up [link] and it appears the Williams Loop is a 1% grade. My pike rises about 1 foot over a 38 foot run which is a 2.6% grade so I’m off somewhere in my math. Oh well…
[edited to add the grade comparison]
Other than the Tehachapi and Williams Loops, the site in California that would be neat to model is the Keddie Wye up in Plumas County, through the Feather River Canyon between Oroville and Portola, California. This section of the main line runs along the river along sharp and rocky cliffs that were not only difficult to survey, navigate, and build, but also equally as hard to maintain. Over the years I’ve seen it modeled in HO, but not “O” or “G” scale.
I’m surprised nobody mentioned The Georgetown Loop
The Keddie Wye is only about 15-20 miles from the Williamson Loop, both very doable in the same day trip.
And it’s not too far from the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola. Start out early and kill three birds with one stone!
Dredging up an old thread(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)
But I and others discussed the Keddie Wye in this thread and I just ran across some video of the Wye and thought I woukd share.
I have stood on the hillside above the tunnel, where most of this video was shot from, and watched trains as well as fished the river below(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
Anyway enjoy some good train footage.
That’s really neat. I can visualize a WP Zephyr passenger train coming through there in the 60’s.
I’ve been to Keddie. It’s a nice scenic drive down the Feather River.
I have hauled many loads of lumber out of nearby Quincy, had no idea the loop was there. I want to visit the museum in Portola
Pete,
That museum is well worth a visit, check out there run days so you can ride some of the equipment and you can rent a locomotive and drive it around the grounds. Well I guess they are still doing that it has been a few years since I have been there.
Wait. OK look here.
Found this 1970’s footage of the Western Pacific through the Feather River Canyon, some good shots of the Keddie Wye near the end.
Once they get into the canyon the 1 to 1 scenery begins to look like model railroad scenery, pretty cool.
Enjoy
This whole thread is making me rethink my On30 layout to see if I can squeeze in a loop.