Oregon Joint Line N Scale

[coldriver]

I hope this means there is another operations video coming up. You do as great job with them, they are very entertaining.

thanks, but it'll be a while before I do another one of those.  They're very time consuming to make and I'm focused on making some layout progress at the moment. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

thanks, but it'll be a while before I do another one of those.  They're very time consuming to make and I'm focused on making some layout progress at the moment. 

Damn. I love them too!

[Bob]

Great job with the staging track - what you did makes so much sense!

[coldriver]

 
Here's another (more or less) completed scene to check off the list - the summit cut at Snowline.  I originally thought about a summit tunnel but is there anything less prototypical than a two track tunnel on a single track line (unless the line started as two tracks and was later single tracked - e.g. Donner Pass).  I've also maintained my discipline in adding culverts rather than bridges.  I participate in engineering inspections of shortlines as part of my profession and that's one thing you definitely notice when you look at a line in depth - there are far more culverts than bridges (I'd guess a minimum ratio of 10 to 1).   I still need to select and hang a backdrop photo for this scene. 

[GaryHinshaw]

Nice.  As a line inspector, you must also have a good eye for cut & fill, as nicely illustrated here.

[Santa Fe Guy]

I like it a lot.
Rod.

[LIRR]

Nice work

[coldriver]

No doubt I'll be adding further details to this scene for as long as the Oregon Joint Line exists, but Snowline is basically complete.  I thought about building a tunnel at the summit but since it's a siding location I decided to make it a summit cut which is located to the far right in the top photo (is there anything less prototypical than a double track tunnel on a single track line?).   Snowline is at the end of a turnback curve so the aisle is a deadend.  Because of that I decided to go ahead and make the scene quite a bit deeper than I typically have on the layout since it really wouldn't hurt functionality and operator comfort and would reinforce the idea of a sprawling cattle ranch, rather than a barn on a lawn (take that you HO Scalers...).  The inspiration for having the ranch on both sides of the track came from a Google Earth search which found the Sutton Creek Cattle Company ranch on Union Pacific's mainline east of Baker City, Oregon at 39172 Old US Highway 30 (I believe the Oregon Trail went right through this rancher's property!).  Here the double track UP crosses over a small stream and cattle/road underpass on a simple concrete structure which allows the rancher access to fields on both sides.

[jagged ben]

Incredible as usual.

[Rivet Miscounter]

False advertising....where's the snow!?!?   

Looks magnificent as always.

[Jbub]

You capture the look of the area very well! I might have to watch your videos again.

[nkalanaga]

Rivet Miscounter:  Eastern Oregon can be hot and dry in the summer, but very cold in the winter, and has a fair amount of snow, especially at higher elevations.  A summit cut could be a major headache for plow crews, as the wind blows almost constantly in that area, and drifts could pack hard enough to make clearing them difficult.

Railroads through ranches aren't rare.  In many cases the ranch was there first, and the railroad had to provide access not only for people, but for herds of livestock.  Many grade crossings had cattle guards, and most places where a road crossed a fence line did.  They were easier to use than gates on public roads, as there was no need to stop to open/close them.

Since this is all one ranch, gates, guards, or nothing is up to the owner.  If he doesn't mind cattle in his garden that's his choice, but here the house area is well fenced.  I never lived on a ranch, but it looks good to me.

[coldriver]

False advertising....where's the snow!?!?   

I thought about a snow scene, but the problem is if you're modeling winter up in the mountains then you need to have winter on the entire layout.  So you may not have snow at the lower elevations, but the deciduous trees would certainly not have leaves and grass would be brown, etc. 

Rivet Miscounter:  Eastern Oregon can be hot and dry in the summer, but very cold in the winter, and has a fair amount of snow, especially at higher elevations.  A summit cut could be a major headache for plow crews, as the wind blows almost constantly in that area, and drifts could pack hard enough to make clearing them difficult.

Don't think drifting snow in my summit cut would be much of an issue since it's surrounded by heavy forest.  It's certainly not a major issue for UP with those big cuts in the forests below Meacham on the Blue Mt grade.  Since you mentioned it though I thought about the possibility of installing snow fences above the cut, but I can't recall ever seeing snow fences in use in heavily forested areas.  Seems like they're always in the wide open wind blown high elevation areas of Wyoming, Idaho, and Eastern Oregon.  I did install some further down the grade below the tree line.     

[nkalanaga]

No, the forest will provide better drift protection than any snow fence.  You might get deep snow in the cuts, when the wind is calm during a snow event, but it won't be wind-packed like in the plains.

I was thinking of eastern Oregon in general, inspired by the ranch pictures.  As you said, the UP in the Blue Mountains doesn't seem to have much trouble with drifting, and that area can get quite a bit of snow in good years.  We used to camp at Emigrant Spring SP, back in the 60s and early 70s, and have been through Meacham numerous times, but never in the winter.

[superchief]

Damn Dean!!!!! That is AWESOME!!!!!!! Great looking scene as always!!! Gordon