Colorado Midland Railway Engineering Report

[Dave V]

Very nice.   The detail on that boxcar is very impressive.  Do you think it could be used on Nn3 as well?

I'm not sure...  It may end up being too wide and tall.  The kit's also 36-ish N scale feet long (so it's longer than the prototype I'm modeling), and the majority of narrow gauge stock was 30'.

[Scottl]

I was thinking it was a bit long, but if it is too wide that is the deal breaker.

[Chris333]

I love the down and dirty pics with all the track bits laying around. Like a mad mans laboratory. 

[Dave V]

I'm building a second depot. This one will sit at the top of the branchline, representing the Midland's depot as Aspen, CO. Pardon the rough paint; I'm still working on cleaning up the trim. The kit comes with the windows molded on, so painting contrasting wall and trim paint is not as easy as if they were separate.  It's a Woodland Scenics Built-&-Ready Dansbury Depot, so it comes with a crap-load of details and lots of holes for mounting.  I haven't decided what to do about the mounting for the power meter on the side there because it also includes conduit that fits in a notch in all the gable trim and a hole in the roof.  I could consider it the telegraph conduit, but I'll still need to modify the power meter, or better yet, scratchbuild a coal box to cover the holes.



For reference, this is my Basalt (Aspen Junction) station (a Walthers Clarksville Depot)...both are painted in D&RG colors per discussion with a Midland historian.  The Woodland Scenics depot will have similar gable accents.



The prototype for Basalt:



I haven't yet purchased Mel McFerland's book, but Dan Abbot's The Colorado Midland: Daylight through the Divide doesn't contain any clear photographs of the CMRy's Aspen depot.

[Cajonpassfan]

Just drove through Basalt today, on the way to Aspen, over the glorious Independence Pass and on to Salida and Durango. The fall colors are simply stunning, beyond words. What a great area to attempt to model...
Otto K.

[Dave V]

This is a former Athearn D&RGW 2-8-0 painted and weathered as Colorado Midland class 136 #50, circa 1905.  The original:



I cheated a little on the lettering...  The sans-serif font was used on freight cars but not steam locos.  However, the post-1900 lettering was typically applied to the flare on the tender cistern, and the Athearn/MDC tender has a teeny-tiny flare that would have driven me crazy trying to letter with individual, more-appropriate Roman letters.  I have the custom freight decals available so I went that way.  I think it looks okay.

Part of why I chose 1905 is because of automatic knuckle couplers being universal by then, but the other reason was to avoid the beautiful--but complicated--gold Pikes Peak Route logo on the tenders (surrounded by the letters C. M. in gold with red drop shadow) that was typical up to the early 1900s.  The post-1900 (or so) lettering was much, much simpler!





Someday I may make custom steam loco decals for the Midland, but that is not this day!

[Dave V]

Slow progress on the Colorado Midland Railway's depot at Aspen...

[sizemore]

Slow progress on the Colorado Midland Railway's depot at Aspen...

That little depot has much potential to be a great model. Hopefully you do it some just with etched stuff!

The S.

[Dave V]

Hopefully you do it some just with etched stuff!

The S.

Thanks!  Like what?

[sizemore]

Thanks!  Like what?

Benches, carts, crated materials etc.

Benches:
http://thenarch.com/products/lattice-back-benches-n
http://thenarch.com/products/plank-benches-carts-n
http://aspenmodel.com/Nansen/Nansen-N-The-N-Scale-Architect/96610-N-Benches-Carts-Kit-Brass::1362.html?language=en

Carts:
http://www.micronart.com/Nbaggage2007.html
http://thenarch.com/products/hand-truck-baggage-carts-n

And depending on how late you want to go, some Model T's!
http://www.blwnscale.com/micron-art-vehicles.htm

The S.

[Dave V]

Whew, those aren't cheap!

[sizemore]

Whew, those aren't cheap!

With the exception of the Model T's there are some other cheaper equivalents for the benches and carts those are the ones that came to mind as examples. You can usually find the Shire Scenes stuff on bargain bin tables at trainshows.

The S.

[arbomambo]

Slow progress on the Colorado Midland Railway's depot at Aspen...

I am working on the kit version of this depot....it's actually quite nice  (I'm pleasantly surprised-I acquired it from MB Klein for $12.95!!!)...I opted for a simpler paint scheme, and had originally thought to paint it completely white in a 60's 'economy' scheme...

I think most of the details are quite useable!
Bruce

[Dave V]

I had a day at home today since my youngest is too sick to go to school (and I don't teach today).  So in between writing assignments and prepping lessons, I've snuck a few times down to the train room.  Rolling old school with a Campbell stamp mill:



Still needs lots of those pain-in-the-a$$ little rafter ends, the boiler house, and the corrugated roofing.

[Dave V]