Colorado Midland Railway Engineering Report

[Ed Kapuscinski]

So how does that work? Dudes just hump bags of stuff out the door and into box cars?

Also, beats my between work break activity of painting a DPM kit. I hate those damned things...

[Dave V]

So how does that work? Dudes just hump bags of stuff out the door and into box cars?

Exactly!  What comes from the stamp mills are ore "concentrates" that are loaded in sacks and tossed into boxcars.  Those concentrates then roll to the smelter.

Colorado ore was rarely carried in open cars for two reasons.  The first was weather...ore would become frozen in open-top cars at almost any time of year in the high country.  The other was security!  These were primarily gold and silver concentrates that could be worth thousands of dollars even in those days.  Those boxcar doors would be padlocked and mine officials would often ride in the caboose with a shotgun.

[Dave V]

Finished my stamp mill (save for an errant drop of red paint on the top of the loading door frame).  This was an old Campbell kit and was actually a lot of fun to build...it was kind of a window back in time to my father's model railroading era.  The only part I didn't enjoy was attaching the stubby little rafter ends (45 of them), but they do add to the hastily constructed ambience of a Colorado mining structure.







On the negative side, I broke into an RSLaserKits 55' wood truss rod bridge but one of the sheets that had the truss layers hadn't been scored all the way through by the laser.  I tried as carefully as possible to trim the truss sides out with a brand new blade, but the truss members disintegrated.  I couldn't ACC it all back together.  I just sent an e-mail to the company and am hoping to obtain another truss side somehow.  Oh, well.  I still have trestles to build.

UPDATE:  I got a reply from Rich at RSLaser within an hour, and he'll be sending me a new sheet.  That's fantastic service.  He said sometimes if there's too much glue in the micro plywood the laser can't quite penetrate all the way.

[Scottl]

Really nice mill Dave. 

For those interested in stamp mills and how they operate, "Stamp Milling of Gold Ores" by T.A. Rickard is a great read from the era and he explains the differences in mills between different mining camps, including Colorado.  It and many of his books are free for download on Google.  "Across the San Juans" is another great Colorado read of his.

[Dave V]

Thanks!  We actually have an operating stamp mill right here in Colorado Springs at the Western Museum of Mining & Industry at the exit I take to work every day.

[wcfn100]

Thanks!  We actually have an operating stamp mill right here in Colorado Springs at the Western Museum of Mining & Industry at the exit I take to work every day.

So will yours be haunted too?   

Jason

[Dave V]

So will yours be haunted too?   

Jason

LOL, yes, by the ghost of the half bottle of gap-filling CA I used to build it...   

[Dave V]

One last project for the weekend.  This is a Monroe Models Branchline Trestle kit I shortened a little and modified to fit a 10" radius curve and a 2% grade.



It's a great little kit.  Easy to build with parts that fit together nicely.  My only critique is that the white metal girder beams are a bit crude, but they could easily be replaced.  I chose to use mine anyway.  I recommend this kit.

[davefoxx]

Well done, Dave!  You did a really nice job on both the stamp mill and the trestle.

DFF

[Chris333]

Love the bridge.

Karin at Rouge River Models may have some laser cut mine trackage you can use. They used to make mine kits.

[Dave V]

Thanks!  I have ME mine trackage, but it's all straight.

[Dave V]

When completed, this viewing angle should be interesting if not "model railroady" with the three levels of track. That said the real Colorado Midland encountered vertically stacked track at Leadville, Trout Creek, and (by way of the Midland Terminal Railway) the Cripple Creek and Victor district.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Is that clump foliage?

If you want to combat the model-railroadyness of it, banish that stuff!!!

[Dave V]

Is that clump foliage?

If you want to combat the model-railroadyness of it, banish that stuff!!!

It is, but just to stage the shot.  The real deal will (hopefully) have brownish autumn alpine grass with juniper bushes.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Good man.