My passion for narrow gauge railroads came to realization when
we passed through Colorado (the Mecca of narrow gauge railroads) on our summer
vacation in 1982. The discovery of the breath taking mountains and valleys coupled
with the evidence of how the vulnerable little railroads tried so desperately to open
up this rugged country and yet remain profitable sealed my interests in this corner
of model railroading. This love for Colorado railroading may be a bit slanted though
since all my visits have been during the pleasant summer months. The winters I
understand can make the Canadian North seem like a picnic. Yet the railroads still
ran under 10's of feet of snow, through blizzards and in temperatures in the -50's.
Not an easy existence!
There were numerous narrow gauge railroads in Colorado,
some of the more common ones being the Denver & Rio Grande Western (the largest),
the Rio Grande Southern (a.k.a. Bill Scobie) and the Colorado & Southern (my
favourite). The height of the railroading boom occurred in the latter half of the
century when the railroads were trying to beat each other to the rich ore bodies
hidden deep in the mountain valleys and peaks. Narrow gauge railroads were ideal for
this venture, allowing smaller right of ways, tighter curves and steeper grades, all
of which translated to lower start up costs and a faster infiltration into the region.
Standard gauge railroads could not successfully compete here.
All went well with
many remote areas in Colorado being opened up through some very resourceful
engineering feats; switch backs, reverse curves etc, and with mountain passes of
over 10,000 feet! In fact, the Colorado & Southern had a tunnel through the top of
a mountain at 11,000 feet! Then the bubble burst with the silver panic in 1893. The
railroads, whose sole existence was dependent on the mining of precious metals were
now loosing customers left, right and center. Many railroads went bust, others
reorganized (numerous times) and some managed to survive on secondary industries
such as lumber and agriculture. The C&S was created from the amalgamation of two
earlier railroads; the Denver, South Park & Pacific and the Colorado Central.
My
HOn3 model railroad depicts certain portions of this C&S empire around the 1935 time
frame. The railroad is surviving, meaning it is marginally in the black, on mining
and livestock movements with a smattering of miscellaneous loads.
As with all model
railroaders, the dream of our empires far exceed the space, time and resources with
which to realize the dream. Limited to a 10ft by 22ft room and other self imposed
restrictions (ie. Min 24 in curves) I have managed to integrate some of my favourite
scenes/places into the available space. Unfortunately, the towns and places no longer
mirror the sequence that they appeared on the real railroad, but that was a compromise
I was willing to make. The resulting layout not only functions well as a model but
operates like a railroad with a purpose.
The main yard is located at the mountain
town of Como where a stone roundhouse, car shops and a station will service the
railroad. From there the railroad heads west up the Clear Creek Canyon to Forks Creek
where a branch leads off to the future site of Idaho Springs. The main line continues
through Forks Creek, past the Argo Tunnel to the town of Black Hawk. Here a second
branch leads off up to the mining town of Central City, once known as the richest
square mile on earth. From Black Hawk the main line plunges into the Alpine Tunnel
and exits at a stop called Princeton. The line then continues to Jefferson, a
rancher's town and thence back to Como. This 'loop' track plan permits continuous
running for presentation purposes and through the use of schedules, treated as a
point to point operation.
The layout features many 'industry standard' modeling
techniques with special emphasis in recreating the actual real life scenes. This
has necessitated the scratch building of almost all buildings and bridges (oh god
not those again!). The track is all hand laid with code 55 rail with stub switches.
Como was laid first with point switches but after I figured out how easy it is to
lay stub switches, the balance went that route. The layout is conventional two cab
operation with snap banger and tortoise switch machines. Some scenery is in place,
most of the track and wiring are done. It has taken 6 years, one house move and two
new family members to get this far. I hope the next 6 years (if not sooner) will see
the completion of the scenery, addition of the human factors (buildings, tailings,
life), and regular operations. May be even a command system if the bank can find the
funds.
