Pine Woods Railroad - Brookfield, NH 2' gauge

[Ian MacMillan]

Recently I have started working on a friends outdoor railroad. I was asked to help as he is in the trackcar club with me, and he knew I was having a light summer of trackwork for NEGS... so I figured it was some 7 1/4" outdoor set after driving by it a few times over the years... boy was I wrong... its 2' gauge... not a model of a 2' railroad, but actually 24" track spacing.  It consists of 3 loops, totaling about 3.5 miles of track, 30 acres, and grades as steep as 4%. There is a really nice spot that I want to have the two GP9s hauling our gravel cars, and more that I am building to shoot video of for Ed..notch 8 and crawling!

Motive power is 2 GP9's, a SW1200, and a 2-4-0 steamer. 16 cars and some other MOW equipment round out the fleet. All the cars have airbrakes.  There are two "industries" on the railroad, a working sap house, and a series of sheds and material loadout for the local snowmobile club's trail maintenance crews.

Most of the track was laid using 25lb rail in the late 1960's on 4x4 ties. We are now replacing a majority of the ties and I am in charge of changing several track areas to broaden curves, fix junctions and other track issues. We after we finish the tie job in about 2 weeks ( we replace about 50 ties a day 2-3 days a week) we will be working on ballasting the line as it has never been done. Also there is a 2 man crew working along the line, cutting the ROW so that it is clear 6' from each side of the rail.  Lots of work to be done and I'll keep posting photos and updates here. I'm also working on a website for it.

For now, enjoy some videos of the main junction which connects the lower and middle loop. The junction is going to be rebuilt to eliminate a poor design which requires you to make a reversing move if you want to take the Mountain Line.

[packers#1]

oh man that is so awesome! I would love to be able to work on something like that; that geep is nice!

[Ian MacMillan]

Installed 40 ties today on the sap house siding, as well as rebuilt the switch. New cribbing is in order on the east side of the track as it was never installed. Tree clearing still continues along the line and we are preparing for tamping and lining. A dump trailer of 3/4 crushed stone and a dump trailer of 3/4 crushed gravel are being delivered this weekend.  We are also designing a ballast regulator based on the one used on the 15" gauge Arborway & TT railroad.

Running one of the ballast cars up the Mountain Line to drop stone.


Rebuilt switch to the sap house siding.

[Chris333]

So if there a guy in the cab driving?

[Ian MacMillan]

Yes, everything is 1/4 scale. Not 1/4", but 1/4.   The cabs in the locomotives are big enough for two people.

[Ian MacMillan]

Working on our "Frankenstein Trestle"....takes what used to be a 10% grade and makes it 2.5%. 100' long and 5' tall at its highest point.

[Sokramiketes]

Superintendent Kink-

Your curve has failed inspection. 

Sincerely,
Inspector Yuengling

[Ian MacMillan]

HAHA...dont worry it's been lined and gauged





Also a cab ride down the Mountain Line on Saturday. I moved all the work cars down to the field to protect them from damage.

[DKS]

Yes, everything is 1/4 scale. Not 1/4", but 1/4.   The cabs in the locomotives are big enough for two people.

So, the gauge was not taken into account, then. Because it would be about 14 inches, instead of 24.

[Ian MacMillan]

So, the gauge was not taken into account, then. Because it would be about 14 inches, instead of 24.

Must not be 1/4 scale then as everything looks pretty much to scale with the rails at 24".  Gauge was the starting factor as finding 24" gauge switches and trucks is pretty easy up here because of the Maine 2'ers and brickyards were the same gauge.

[DKS]

OK, then, so how long is a boxcar? Assuming it's a 40-footer, that will quickly tell us what the scale is.

[Ian MacMillan]

OK, then, so how long is a boxcar? Assuming it's a 40-footer, that will quickly tell us what the scale is.

Stand by to stand by

[Ian MacMillan]

Plowing some snow on Holloween week