WestRail Group - Salt River Division in N Scale

[auburnrails]

I posted this link to my new blog in the Weekend Update thread but thought I'd post it here as well as an intro to my under-construction layout.  I'm doing a freelance industrial line in southwest Phoenix that is part of a small short line/industrial company called WestRail.  My story is that the line was built back near the turn of the century as the Glendale and Salt River Railroad, with a plan to build from a connection with the Santa Fe Railway in Glendale, AZ south to the Mexican border.  It didn't get any farther than the north "shore" of the Salt River in Phoenix before being acquired by the Santa Fe and operated as it's Salt River Subdivision. 

http://westrailinnscale.blogspot.com/

Flash ahead to the early 2000's when development forced the abandonment of the line between Glendale and I-10.  The orphaned southern few miles were acquired by WestRail and are now operated as their Salt River Division.  There's a longer historical and operating description in the blog, of course.

Right now I'm working on the first phase of the layout, which will see it occupy part of my train room which I share with my wife's crafts and so forth.  Eventually I plan to have it completely around the room on a combination of standard benchwork dating back about 10 years or more, a few modules recently constructed, and the remaining two walls on narrow (8" or so) shelf brackets.  We'll see how that goes. 

I just got back from Phoenix (my second time there so not completely familiar with the area) and even brought back about 13 pounds of dirt from three different areas (all of which ironically seem to be nearly the same shade of reddish-brown).  I'm now starting to lay track, mock up scenes, and get my juices flowing.  My hope is that by posting here I'll get myself moving forward in a more deliberate manner. 

Thanks for reading!

-Dave

[The Beer Baron]

Good looking start, Dave. I've added your blog to my "reading list".

[davefoxx]

Looking good!  I'll enjoy following along with your progress.

Oh, and expect a comment about the paint scheme of your motive power from Lee in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .   

DFF

[auburnrails]

Looking good!  I'll enjoy following along with your progress.

Oh, and expect a comment about the paint scheme of your motive power from Lee in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .   

DFF

Are you referring to the G&W stuff?  The good news (for Lee) is that it's just the stand-in power until my custom painted units arrive.  For now I'll imagine that GWI acquired the WestRail Group.   

I sent my units and caboose off about 15 months ago to a local guy who does custom painting work professionally.  Unfortunately a combination of lots of work and a slew of health issues has meant that I am still waiting for them to get done (I haven't paid anything yet).  I'm trying to be patient because, in reality, I haven't had anywhere to run them anyhow.  But I'm definitely anxious for them to get done.

-Dave

[Bsklarski]

Nice. I like seeing my employer in N scale

[auburnrails]

Good looking start, Dave. I've added your blog to my "reading list".

Thank you.  I enjoyed reading over your blog as well.  Enjoyed the Wiley Coyote's. 

-Dave

[auburnrails]

I need to build some warehouses for my Salt River Railroad but don't want to spend the money right now as I'm not sure of the final needs and layout of my line.  So I built a temporary stand-in shallow warehouse structure using some things from work.  It's just a very basic stand-in but it serves the purpose for now. 

I took a menu panel from work:



and used it to make the temporary structure:


Cheap and dirty.   

More on my blog:

http://westrailinnscale.blogspot.com/

-Dave

[packers#1]

Dang that came out well; I love your layout theme, it's something that's crossed my mind but I'll always have my shortlines stuck in South Carolina

[tappertrainman]

Looks good, I'll be making a few of those warehouses myself for my layout.  Was hoping to see some Santa Fe locos from the description, too bad!   

James

[auburnrails]

Looks good, I'll be making a few of those warehouses myself for my layout.  Was hoping to see some Santa Fe locos from the description, too bad!   

James

Well, I unfortunately don't have any Santa Fe power, though at some point I suppose I could get a few GP60's patched for BNSF and imagine it's the Ennis Sub power being used on that day's Salt River Sub local.  Oh, you don't want them patched?   

-Dave

[auburnrails]

Here's some recent "Santa Fe" power resting on the Ennis Sub near Surprise, AZ, about 15 miles north of where I'll be modeling. 



-Dave

[tappertrainman]

Well, I unfortunately don't have any Santa Fe power, though at some point I suppose I could get a few GP60's patched for BNSF and imagine it's the Ennis Sub power being used on that day's Salt River Sub local.  Oh, you don't want them patched?   

-Dave

I'll just imagine them without the BNSF lettering.    Nice photo!

James

[auburnrails]

Well, this didn't get very far.  lol  Following my start of this thread I got very busy with work all the way up to the present.  I'm still waiting for my now-paid-for custom painted units but he seems to have fallen out of communication.  Oh wellz...

Anyhow, a few months back my wife and I started discussing moving after living in this home for 20 years.  We put our house on the market on December 1st and it sold by December 4th - yowza.  We weren't expecting things to move that fast but we did sign on an almost-completed new construction home and are feverishly working towards a December 31st close. 

The irony is the new house will be larger (2800sf vs 1860sf) and have five bedrooms (and a bonus room) vs four bedrooms, yet I will likely be down to just a 10'-12' wall for my layout, depending on who wins the pick-a-bedroom argument.    I am going to be able to use my two existing 16"x48" layout sections but have not figured out the rest.  Once I know where I'm setting up shop I'll probably ask for feedback on how to proceed.  I'd still like to stick to the Phoenix-area theme but I'll have to shorten things down further.  One things for sure - after patching at least 20 holes in the wall and putting two coats of paint on them, I am deadset against putting anything into a wall again for the foreseeable future.  It'll be standalone only. 

Hopefully by February I'll have things moving forward again. 

-Dave

[bdennis]

Looking good.

As a side note. Were you aware of a real 1:1 scale WestRail. Western Australian Government Railways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westrail

[auburnrails]

Ya, I came across them after doing a Google search to see if "my" WestRail was already taken.  I briefly thought of plagiarizing their scheme but decided to go my own way.  What I ended up going with is somewhat similar to the HLCX units running around, though I kept my pretty simple.  I lacked a logo or the funds to create one so just went with the initials on the nose and called it good:







These pics were taken in August, and there was just a few minor things left to do.  I paid for the units but after one October communication, I've heard nothing and received no response.  He's a local custom painter and I know he's had health problems so hopefully he's ok.  Nonetheless, after almost two years of waiting I'm ready to get a shipment in the mail.  

-Dave