HOn3 Rio Grande Southern First District 1938-1945

[Dave V]

Then again, the cars were very interesting in their MOW configuration:



...which are correct for my era anyway.

So, in all honestly, if the RGS needed to run a passenger train in World War II they would have leased D&RGW coaches (much as they did in 1940 with the Civilian Conservation Corps special).  In 1938 the Miller/Barriger special used RGS equipment only (red coach 252 and green business car Edna...http://ngdiscussion.net/phorum/read.php?1,160662,160662#msg-160662) because Miller was very adamant about relying as little as possible on the D&RGW to save money.  By 1939, Cass Herrington replaced Victor Miller as receiver and the leasing of D&RGW equipment began to increase again.  Prior to 1939 a number of passenger cars remained in their original configuration (including RGS combine 259) in the deadline at West Durango.  By 1939, though, it looks like combine 259 was scrapped, combine 257 was sent to the Ridgway Yard to serve as a storage shed, and remaining coaches 252, 256, and 260 were in use in MOW service.

The picture of coach 260 (not yet renumbered to 0260) at Rico in July of 1939 (http://ngtrainpics.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/RD149-RGS-Passenger-Equipment/G0000ai0uKjEMmdA/I0000ly3fRFzH.hM/C0000Vd2qoA2MbNU) shows it still looking like a coach.  I'm guessing it was red with white lettering at this point.  What I don't know is when the windows were boarded up per the top photo.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Screw that man, do the MOW stuff! That car is great. The curtains make it.

[Dave V]

Screw that man, do the MOW stuff! That car is great. The curtains make it.

I'm leaning toward doing 0260 and 0256 as full-on MOW cars with the curtains and boarded windows.  I haven't discovered when between 1939 and 1950 those windows got boarded up...but it's more interesting that way.  There are old movies and photos showing that these "outfit cars" often moved around the system at the tail end of a regular train as opposed to a separate movement. 

To me that means another cool operating wild card...  You may be asked to move the B&B gang at the end of your freight.  Do you still have enough power to make the climb to Lizard Head?  Do you now need a helper?  If a helper's not available, you'll need to "double the hill" and make two trips to Lizard Head.  Then, do you have enough braking power down the other side?

This could be more interesting than just a passenger train.  I'll stick with Geese to move my passengers and mail.

[Dave V]

Trackplanning was giving me fits...and while I would love to have a large, complex layout, I feel like a simpler plan has a better chance of getting built.  So...if any of you remember an old HOn3 trackplan in Midel Railroader called the "Red Mountain Railway" I took inspiration:

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No, it doesn't use the whole space and it doesn't have a super-long run.  But...it's manageable, linear, and maintains all the right orientations for the towns, grades, and trackage.  And, I had @Ed Kapuscinski  pre-approve it before posting!   

[nuno81291]

Really like the plan Dave, what provision would be in place for reaching the track behind the backdrop?

Looks like some good opportunity/balance of ops material and scenery.

[Dave V]

...what provision would be in place for reaching the track behind the backdrop?

A stool.  Painted for the Colorado Midland, actually.  LOL.  Yeah, the backdrop's not going to be all that tall and I hope I don't have to go back there much.

In fact that trackage might be a good reason to use the Blackstone HOn3 version of Unitrack just to be safe.

[pdx1955]

I like it. It has a good mix of features - the stamp mill, bridges, canyons, open spaces, easy access staging - without seeming crowded or a being a forced/contrived trackplan. It looks it will convey that trains actually go somewhere. Looking forward to the construction of it .

[davefoxx]

I was going to say that I'm not a fan of the hidden track behind a backdrop, but, if your HO rolling stock tracks as well as mine, they ain't coming off the track!

DFF

[Dave V]

I was going to say that I'm not a fan of the hidden track behind a backdrop, but, if your HO rolling stock tracks as well as mine, they ain't coming off the track!

DFF

That Blackstone stuff weighs a ton and rolls like a dream.  But of course the onus is on me to lay good track.

[nuno81291]

As DFF said I am not worried about derailment back there so much as more routine track cleaning and assisting a unit that hit a dirty spot (admittedly this has been much less an issue in HO than N for me, but some of my engines are more prone to stall on dirty track than others) perhaps for you a simple tool of a handle/Masonite pad could work in a pinch for cleaning track and a similar item to give a nudge if needed. I don't have hidden track but some of the pitfalls of it in N I find still apply in HO. Really looking forward to seeing this progress!

[Dave V]

This is the first HO scale structure I've completed in 15 years.  This is the combination coal shed and section car shed at Rico, CO on the RGS.

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The prototype shed is seen below in an even more weathered state:

http://ngtrainpics.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/RD140-RGS-Burns-Canyon-to-Rico-2/G0000_JI2BlAWziA/I0000HH9wN8lQJPg/C0000Vd2qoA2MbNU

[OldEastRR]

Once you HO track you never go back ...

Maybe you can get that wide open flat nothingness you said was RGS, on the left hand turn back curve lobe. Nothing but track trees and almost flat terrain.

[davefoxx]

Damn, Dave, you did a nice job!  If I didn't know any better, I would never guess that was a resin kit.  Oh, and it's probably been twenty years since I built an HO structure.  I can't wait.

DFF

[Dave V]

Once you HO track you never go back ...

Maybe you can get that wide open flat nothingness you said was RGS, on the left hand turn back curve lobe. Nothing but track trees and almost flat terrain.

That's more the Second District, particularly between Mancos and Hesperus...which is at the other end of the line I'm modeling.  However, the north end had Dallas Divide, and that was kinda open too.  We'll see.  Dallas was one of the three major summits (the others being Lizard Head Pass and Cima Hill).

Damn, Dave, you did a nice job!  If I didn't know any better, I would never guess that was a resin kit.  Oh, and it's probably been twenty years since I built an HO structure.  I can't wait.

DFF

Thanks!  And yes, working in HO is much less stressful and fiddly!

[Dave V]

More progress is made on my modified IHC Rico depot.  Additions include proper RGS eve brackets from Grandt Line, Campbell shingles on the second story (and eventually on the whole roof), and paint and detail per the 1940s (including arranging the curtains per 1940s and the different colored shingles on the dormer and south end post-1936 fire).

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