The Milwaukee Road in Avery Idaho

The Milwaukee Road electrification from Harlowton, MT to Avery, ID is, in my opinion, one the most interesting subjects in the history of railroading. I look forward to following the progress on your layout and especially want to see your modeling of the Avery turntable, engine house, depot and hotel. Your painted backdrop is stunning.

MELGAR 

MELGAR posted:

The Milwaukee Road electrification from Harlowton, MT to Avery, ID is, in my opinion, one the most interesting subjects in the history of railroading. I look forward to following the progress on your layout and especially want to see your modeling of the Avery turntable, engine house, depot and hotel. Your painted backdrop is stunning.

MELGAR 

Thank you very much! I am looking into multiple resources for the turntable. In the end I will more than likely scratch build the whole thing. I might look into the Mill house indexing system so I can operate it via a panel. 

Fortunately, the roundhouse has been sourced and is a close match although I will not be able to have every stall. I will include the electric shed, scratchbuilt on to the roundhouse.

The hotel will be painted into the backdrop.  I have gained some considerable skill at painting and have practiced many times so hopefully I will be able to recreate this iconic building. The station will be an undertaking as well but should beable to recreate the front and paint in the rest.

I will update under this thread as sections come along or you can follow my progress as well through my facebook page: 

https://m.facebook.com/MilwrdAveryID/

Thanks again!

Very, very impressive work; in one word: 

jpv in France

great progress, and stunning backdrop work!

how did you get the crown molding to affix to the concrete block, or did you fasten it to the ceiling?

PRR Man posted:

great progress, and stunning backdrop work!

how did you get the crown molding to affix to the concrete block, or did you fasten it to the ceiling?

Good morning and thank you. 

The molding is a combination of adhesive on the block and finishing nails into the ceiling. That room will be dedicated to mostly scenery so finished was a better look. 👍🏼

James

James,

Looking forward to more posts.

Simon

Wow can you paint !!!      

Clem k

Thanks for sharing! Love the MILW!

WOW... love the back drop! I am inspired.

You are a true Bob Ross!  Tap, Tap, Tap...

I agree!  I flew that route in a Cub two years after shutdown (and several times since in Super Cubs etc.). It felt sad.  It is getting tougher to see the right of way in some spots.  The scenery is spectacular! You are doing a worthy job of modeling it.

         It’s been a while since my last update on anything. Just been reading and watching all the conversations. Some great content out there!

          Much has happened in the last year on my p48 layout. New power coming together, added rail, new scenic items and even a couple of changes that will happen in the next couple of months. My first operating session happened back in November and I learned a lot from that experience and will be making changes in direct response to that session. Included are some photos from around the layout. 

          Just this past couple of months I have been working on getting box cabs E50AB up and running. They are finally in the last step of completion and will be on the layout starting this week.

           Scenery has also made an appearance. I will continue this over the winter months and hope to have the scene, pictured, finished by this time next year.

Have a good evening and enjoy.  😁

MELGAR posted:

The Milwaukee Road electrification from Harlowton, MT to Avery, ID is, in my opinion, one the most interesting subjects in the history of railroading. I look forward to following the progress on your layout and especially want to see your modeling of the Avery turntable, engine house, depot and hotel. Your painted backdrop is stunning.

MELGAR 

As I wrote in my post last January, I think the Milwaukee Road in Avery is one of the most interesting subjects in railroading. I am impressed by your layout and your willingness to select such a difficult modeling project. The backdrop, your artwork, mountain scenery, catenary poles and locomotives are outstanding and evoke the Milwaukee in the Bitterroots. I might like to visit your layout someday. Below is a photo of a corner on my 2004 model railroad which was inspired by the Avery yard and surrounding mountains.

MELGAR

Some day I shall 2-rail an MTH Bi-Polar, and buy a Skytop lounge.  I may have to use my imagination for scenery and cars, but soon I will have a decorated Erie-Built in Milwaukee colors.

Do keep us posted more often.

Beautiful scenery by the way. I really like the rock formations. Little details like that really bring out the scene.

James

 

 

bob2 posted:

Some day I shall 2-rail an MTH Bi-Polar, and buy a Skytop lounge.  I may have to use my imagination for scenery and cars, but soon I will have a decorated Erie-Built in Milwaukee colors.

Do keep us posted more often.

I’ve always wondered how difficult it would be to convert an MTH. I have included a photo of my Bipolar and Joe sitting in my future engine facility. That Custom Brass Bipolar has it’s own challenges. 

Do you have a set of Erie Builts? Those would be a lot of fun to have. I decided to go with the fast 15 set of E6As to represent my Twins Cities and Olympian Hi.   

I will certainly keep more up to date as I go.

James

E21 JAMES, you really are capturing the look of the Milwaukee Road electrified zone.  

Your personal record has been awarded ten merits for exceptional observation and re-creation of the Milwaukee Road  Pacific Extension.

As a side note, in the early 1970's, when I was a Santa Fe Engineer in San Bernardino, my next door neighbor was the daughter of a Milwaukee Road Engineer at Three Forks, with a 1945 seniority date, in the freight pool and running electric locomotives.  He survived the end of electrification and finished up his railroad career on BN after the Milwaukee Road ended operation in Montana.

James,

Everything looks awesome!  Truth is, I expect no less from you.

Nice to see you younger folks doing these things.

Jay

Really nice layout!

James - I expect the Bi-Polar conversion to involve completely new truck blocks - I would want all axles powered.  My typical mechanism is a rigid setup using CLW plastic boxes and a horizontal motor swinging with the truck.

To see my Erie-Built project, see my thread here.  I don't do plastic bodies or trucks.

bob2 posted:

James - I expect the Bi-Polar conversion to involve completely new truck blocks - I would want all axles powered.  My typical mechanism is a rigid setup using CLW plastic boxes and a horizontal motor swinging with the truck.

To see my Erie-Built project, see my thread here.  I don't do plastic bodies or trucks.

I will certainly look into that thread. Thank you! 

I know getting new drives for these bipolars of either manufacturer will be a pain. But well worth it in the end. 

James

A very unusual sight in August 1973. Box cabs E50AB leads a pair of “Modern” SD40-2s out of the yard at Avery, with a local to Alberton, MT. As if to say, “I still rule this portion of the Mainline”, the 40s roar behind they’re silent counterparts. Scenes such as this will disappear in less than a year and Diesels will finally rule what’s left of this dying transcontinental.

This looks fantastic! I can't wait to see your progress! 

A lot of great work going on!  Looking forward to further updates.

Regards,

GNNPNUT

Number 90 posted:

E21 JAMES, you really are capturing the look of the Milwaukee Road electrified zone.  

Your personal record has been awarded ten merits for exceptional observation and re-creation of the Milwaukee Road  Pacific Extension.

As a side note, in the early 1970's, when I was a Santa Fe Engineer in San Bernardino, my next door neighbor was the daughter of a Milwaukee Road Engineer at Three Forks, with a 1945 seniority date, in the freight pool and running electric locomotives.  He survived the end of electrification and finished up his railroad career on BN after the Milwaukee Road ended operation in Montana.

Thank you sir! It really is a goal of mine. 

What a scene those electrics must have been. Amazing that he started in 45 and ended his career in the 80s. To see the railroad you spent your entire career disapear overnight must have been terrible. I couldn’t imagine switching jobs at the end. 

Thank you again!

james

This one great thread.  We're getting in at the best part....trains running and we will see bit by bit how tremendous the layout will be.  It's already making me think about dumping my 3-rail trains....just when I was really admiring them.     I love the random lengths of the ties in the pix.   That makes a beautiful scene even more realistic.   What a great choice for modeling.  Could not have picked a better one, imo.  Thanks for sharing this.

Phil McCaig posted:

This one great thread.... I love the random lengths of the ties in the pix.

Yes. Upon closer examination of James's photos, I had noticed the randomness in length and placement of the ties. And how were the catenary poles constructed?

MELGAR

Here's a cellphone photo of a picture I had developed from a 3x5 negative:

I had this printed up...gosh, I guess it must have been 40(!) years ago. Think I still have the neg someplace. It would appear that some of the locals are inspecting the latest and greatest...

Anyway, I think this is the same or similar loco type to what's been posted on this thread. 

Mark in Oregon 

thank you!

James

Strummer posted:

Here's a cellphone photo of a picture I had developed from a 3x5 negative:

I had this printed up...gosh, I guess it must have been 40(!) years ago. Think I still have the neg someplace. It would appear that some of the locals are inspecting the latest and greatest...

Anyway, I think this is the same or similar loco type to what's been posted on this thread. 

Mark in Oregon 

Yes sir those are the beasts. 

The Milwaukee first took Delivery of 10200A/B in 1915. This was the largest electric locomotive at the time. This was the first of 42 paired sets from GE/ Alco. These paired sets were classified EF-1 (Freight motors) and EP-1 (Passenger motors). Born out of necessity, EF-2, EF-3, and EF-5 motor sets were eventually developed for the needed Horse power and tractive effort for heavier and longer trains that would eventually make there way over the mountians. EF-4s were the Little Joes.  

James

Two beasts together - electric locomotive 10200 at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth, MN, next to DMIR #227. Definitely worth a visit .

http://www.rrpicturearchives.n...ture.aspx?id=2772183

When I was promoted to Locomotive Engineer, another Fireman from Winslow sat for the same oral examinations.  He had worked two years on the Washington end of the electrified zones as a Brakeman in the late 1960's.  By that time, the boxcars had a lot of miles on them, and many of the roofs leaked, making it scary to leave the cab when it was raining on the locomotive.

E21James, wonderful work, the more layouts under wire the better. Second shot is my E21 on the same bridge. Don

James, in all my many Milwaukee Road books I can't remember seeing a picture of a washer dryer under the line. LOL

There is nothing like running under wire. 

Don

WOW, just wow.

I live almost within sight of the MILW line to Aberdeen, WA (well, the roadbed of it anyway) but sadly didn't move out here until years after the line was ripped up. I have a soft spot for the line for that reason...

scale rail posted:

E21James, wonderful work, the more layouts under wire the better. Second shot is my E21 on the same bridge. Don

Among my favorite layout pics, Don; thank you!

Nice. I'm looking forward to seeing it as it progresses.