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Santa Fe Scout or Grand Canyon testing and sorting out equipment

Erik C LindgrenErik C LindgrenOGR Forum Member
Further continued testing- I've been busy busy these recent weeks. Last night I dropped in at Tim's layout "The Rusty Spike" in Louisville Colorado.

The Scout and Grand Canyon are always cool looking trains with the juxtaposition of cars in the consist making it an artistic challenge to bring together. A rewarding project for sure. I love running early E's in A/A lash-ups. Trouble with gatherung two A/B sets to make the A/A need is a big hurdle.

I am learning that gargraves track is rather slippery stuff. My Key Model Imports E3's and E6's really don't like it. They must be snobs- only running right on code 148. ;-)  These 2 are from the 2nd run last year and for whatever reason can't pull themselves out of any trouble! Bullfrog Snot to the rescue I guess! At least on this rail-- I wil give them a test on regular nickle silver rail before slathering green boogers on the wheels of $8000 worth of locomotives.

Still sorting out equipment.. The cars are basically out of the brass box. Finding these cars is a monumental task- these things are rare; I mean I want to tell you. Heavyweight coaches of any flavor in O scale are rare as hens teeth.

Just sorting out equipment at this phase. The diner will be project I've dreamed about since I was a child. Similar to my Harriman UP diner I will incorporate a full interior with place settings on the tables. Now I just need the time. I've got too many projects to get done before any of this can occur. Paint jobs for buddies locos, coach cabbage cars for buddies. The list goes on. Did I mention a 4 month old?


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Last edited by Erik C Lindgren
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markermarkerOGR Forum Member

Always enjoy your posts.

Heavyweight coaches of any flavor in O scale are rare as hens teeth.

Tell that to Scott.  I've been trying to get him to do something (anything) like a 3 car set of Santa Fe coaches.  He's produced a lot of Santa Fe passenger steam.  I think he would be successful producing a few brass coaches.  I doubt if he could do plastic since Santa Fe cars were so unique.  

Erik C LindgrenErik C LindgrenOGR Forum Member
Yes- that would work Howard

Thanks for the support

Originally Posted by marker:

       

Always enjoy your posts.

Heavyweight coaches of any flavor in O scale are rare as hens teeth.

Tell that to Scott.  I've been trying to get him to do something (anything) like a 3 car set of Santa Fe coaches.  He's produced a lot of Santa Fe passenger steam.  I think he would be successful producing a few brass coaches.  I doubt if he could do plastic since Santa Fe cars were so unique.  

PO Pat O'DonnellOGR Forum Member
John,



Thanks for this lead. Louisville, CO isn’t too far from here; I’d definitely like to see this layout in progress. (Did you notice the dual gauge tracks? Not sure what that’s all about!)



Last night I attended my second meeting of the Northern Colorado Model Railroad Club (NCMRC). While most of club runs HO or N, there a few O-Scale and O-Gauge hobbyists. I’ll probably officially join the club next month. And, maybe one of the members knows about this SF layout in Louisville. Apparently, most of these guys have some pretty good layouts, and even though they’re in a different scale, I’ll bet there’s lots I can learn from these guys regarding construction, scenery, operations, and so forth.



I’ve been doodling on paper for the last few weeks for what I’d like in my new layout. To give you a rough idea, the area for the layout in the basement is an L-shaped area approximately 32 x 28 feet. I’m contemplating a point-to-point (actually loop-to-loop) single-track mainline that rises up three levels from 4 to 5 and then up to 6 feet above the floor. Half of the “L” will be a huge mountain, going all the way up to the ceiling to hide a support post. The other half will be mostly an engine/car yard. I envision including two hidden staging/fiddle yards, each more than 20 feet long with 4 or 5 tracks. (Remember your suggestion from several years ago to be able to have lots of trains already set to run?)



John, I’ve always liked how well your train room accommodates a goodly number of visitors for your open houses. I know you may have already told me this, but could you give me the overall dimensions of your train room, and just as importantly, how wide are your aisles going around both sides of your table(s)? Any other suggestions for making the ergonomics better would be most appreciated. Thanks.



My best guess is that I won’t start any train construction till next Spring, at the earliest. Yeah, I’m in major withdrawal!



Pat
TimDudeTimDudeOGR Forum Member

Pat,

The Rusty Spike is a new venture by Tim's Toy Train in Louisville. It is a 1400 square foot "Train Bar". Right now there are 3 loops of Gargraves track. One loop of combination O/S, one loop of dedicated O (center) and one loop of combination O/Standard. These three tracks are also wired for 2 rail operation via separate Banana Jacks, one for each rail. The center O gauge track is base lined at 12 foot diameter all the way around. There is a calculated 1.8% grade in one direction and a calculated grade of .8% the other direction. There are NO switches or crossovers so no possibility of collisions with another operator. Each of these lines is on a dedicated 20 amp breaker. In the near future I am moving the center track over a bit and installing a dedicated Nickel Silver O Scale track with a hand laid third rail to run On3. In addition there is a shelf system being built to run HO/HOn3 and N scale above the main lines.

Swing by sometime and I will give you the grand tour.

Erik C LindgrenErik C LindgrenOGR Forum Member
Pat- click here!

http://coloradooscale.org

Colorado O Scale Modelers is a true 1/48 2 rail group that is building a large module layout and we have a smaller Branch Line layout. Feel free to look us up and Tim will tell you about it also. I strongly encourage you to get on board!

Look for us at the TCA's Rockymountain Train Show Thanksgiving weekend.

On the website is a contact tab and fill it out. The group can add you to thier emailing list for upcoming meeting times and places.

The groups email address is: coloradooscale@gmail.com




Originally Posted by Pat O'Donnell:

       
John,



Thanks for this lead. Louisville, CO isn’t too far from here; I’d definitely like to see this layout in progress. (Did you notice the dual gauge tracks? Not sure what that’s all about!)



Last night I attended my second meeting of the Northern Colorado Model Railroad Club (NCMRC). While most of club runs HO or N, there a few O-Scale and O-Gauge hobbyists. I’ll probably officially join the club next month. And, maybe one of the members knows about this SF layout in Louisville. Apparently, most of these guys have some pretty good layouts, and even though they’re in a different scale, I’ll bet there’s lots I can learn from these guys regarding construction, scenery, operations, and so forth.



I’ve been doodling on paper for the last few weeks for what I’d like in my new layout. To give you a rough idea, the area for the layout in the basement is an L-shaped area approximately 32 x 28 feet. I’m contemplating a point-to-point (actually loop-to-loop) single-track mainline that rises up three levels from 4 to 5 and then up to 6 feet above the floor. Half of the “L” will be a huge mountain, going all the way up to the ceiling to hide a support post. The other half will be mostly an engine/car yard. I envision including two hidden staging/fiddle yards, each more than 20 feet long with 4 or 5 tracks. (Remember your suggestion from several years ago to be able to have lots of trains already set to run?)



John, I’ve always liked how well your train room accommodates a goodly number of visitors for your open houses. I know you may have already told me this, but could you give me the overall dimensions of your train room, and just as importantly, how wide are your aisles going around both sides of your table(s)? Any other suggestions for making the ergonomics better would be most appreciated. Thanks.



My best guess is that I won’t start any train construction till next Spring, at the earliest. Yeah, I’m in major withdrawal!



Pat
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Last edited by Erik C Lindgren
TimDudeTimDudeOGR Forum Member
Yes it is, Erik is my official 2 rail tester. My 2 rail 3rd Rail products run without a hitch, the more expensive stuff like what Erik is running is definitely more touchy but works with a minimal amount of massaging. Once the new dedicated 2 rail track is installed the finer scale items can run on that loop.
 
Originally Posted by Pat O'Donnell:
Eric,



Again, thanks for the photo. Is this on the Rusty Spike?



Pat O'Donnell
847-533-7642

<mailto:irondale@comcast.net> irondale@comcast.net

 

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