Phase 1 of Layout
Recording the progress of building the Denver’s RailRoads N Scale layout
All genuine posts are welcomed and will be acknowledged. Please submit your first post by email to: dennis@denversrailroads.com
Change of Direction . . . Let’s get something finished!
Rather than continue “putting the layout back together” which really means lots more carpenter jobs I have decided to start to build the entire layout starting with Module 1, which already has 5 loops of track installed for the Joint Line return loop.
I have already started to lay new roadbed. I prefer cork but I found that I had a lot of Woodland Scenics foam trackbed left over and as it had already been used in this module I have used both foam and cork.
To be continued . . .
Action Plan 1 – Dilemma: Track or Scenery
I have spent some time updating the track plan for phase 1. My current dilemma, which i cannot resolve before reinstalling the bench work, is should I lay all of the track in phase 1 first and then add buildings and scenery or should I move a module at a time.
The following is the track plan for just Modules 1-1a:
There is a lot of action in just those two modules. A dozen kits, some mountains and hills, a power station, an ice platform, less than car load platform loading, and a significant loco servicing area. By the time just these two modules are complete a lot of issues will have been resolved. The next 3 modules are pretty much oh hum in comparison.
Web Site Updated
STOP PRESS: I have updated the main web site with the new 3 phase construction plan and updated the track plan to reflect the extra one meter all around to the layout once the new garage is built. The action plan has been simplified as progress will be posted on this blog site, rather than on the main web site.
Re-organisation of Construction Phases
The following are the Construction Phases for 2020:
- Phase 1: Modules 1-5a – Joint Line Loop and Denver Union Terminal; CB&Q/D&RGW Coach Yards; UP & CB&Q 23rd St Shops; C&S Rice Yard; UP Wynkoop Street Branch and D&RGW Burnham Shops
- Phase 2: Modules 5b-9 – Main Line from Salt Lake City Loop to Utah Jct. & East Denver Belt Line; D&RGW North Yard & Industries; UP 36th Yard
- Phase 3: Modules 10-12 – Coors Brewery Branch, Glenwood Springs Industrial District and D&RGW Moffat Line & Craig Branch
I will be updating the information on the main web site as time permits.
Phases 1 to 5 November 2018 update
I am not sure anyone reads this Blog except of course the Web Robots. If you do read the blog please register and make a comment, or send me an email. However the blog was started as a useful place to record the progress on my layout, so I will keep updating every so often.
Phase 1 – the Clear Creek RR continues to progress. All track is laid. All turnout motors are installed. By the end of today all of the BUS wiring will be complete. Golden Station building is complete and five other kits have been completed. In addition the scenery work and ballasting has been completed on the canyons west of Golden. The scene is ready for photographs to be taken for an upcoming magazine article, except for the addition of some model people. This will happen once they arrive by mail from the USA in about 3 weeks time. Two new control panels for Black Hawk (Power District 2c) and Idaho Springs (Power District 2b) are ready and awaiting artwork and connections. Golden is in Power District (PD) 2a, Glenwood Springs in PD2 and the Grand Jct Loop in PD1.
Work will shortly commence on adding the industries and rolling stock into the “Ship It” Prototypical Switch List Generator program.
Phase II – the Main Line from Grand Jct Loop to D&RGW North Yard. All track laying and BUS wiring is complete, and in the process of being tested. The point motors have been installed and are currently being connected to the Power District 2 & 3 control panel and to Relay switches which will change the lights on the control panel to indicate direction. 30 NCE BD-20 track detectors have been purchased for installation in the return loop and the main line. An NCE AIU01 Auxiliary Input Unit has been purchased to link the track detectors with the Railway & Co “Train Controller” computer system.
East Denver Belt Line – all track has been laid and most of the turnouts will be controlled by Caboose Industries ground throws.
Phase III – Denver Union Terminal (DUT). Rod has finished laying track in the main station complex. Installation of the point motors has commenced. This is expected to take some considerable time. When the track BUS and point motors have been tested we will carry on installing the C&S/CB&Q Rice Yard, the coach yards and industrial branches.
Phase IV – D&RGW North Yard and industries and the UP 36th Yard. All work is on hold pending the completion of the work on Phase II as above.
Phase V – the D&RGW Main Line from Denver to Glenwood Springs and a branch line to Craig. Peter has laid all of the cork roadbed for this phase and I have finished the Gore Canyon scenery for the time being. Track laying for this phase will begin after phases 3 and 4 are complete.
Phases 1 to 5 July 2018 update
Phase 1 – the Clear Creek RR is progressing very well. All track is laid. All turnout motors are installed. Golden branch is completely wired. Scenery work has started on the canyons west of Golden. Ballasting of Golden yard is about to commence. Golden Station building is complete and two other kits have been painted and are ready for gluing. Two new control panels for Black Hawk and Idaho Springs are ready and awaiting artwork.
Phase II – the Main Line from Grand Jct Loop to D&RGW North Yard. All track laying and BUS wiring is complete, and ready for testing. Main line point motors are yet to be installed. East Denver Belt Line – all track has been laid and most of the turnouts will be controlled by Caboose Industries ground throws.
Phase III – Denver Union Terminal (DUT). Rod continues to lay track. Both of the scissors crossings are installed and most of the main tracks. It is beginning to look very impressive due to the length of station trackage.
The following sections are now part of Phase III:
(1) UP/CB&Q 23rd St Shops & D&RGW/CB&Q Coach Yards – connects with the Denver Union Terminal. Work will be started once the DUT trackage is complete.
(2) C&S Rice Yard – connects with the Denver Union Terminal. Work will be started once the DUT trackage is complete.
(3) UP Wynkoop St Branch – Gary has stated both the cork roadbed and the track laying at the North end of the Denver Union Terminal.
4) D&RGW Burnham Shops – this section will not be started until phase 4 and the rest of Phase 3 has been completed.
Major surgery to Phase 3 & 4 Benchwork modules:
Most of module 5 (the corner section with the passenger Y and loop trackage and industries within the loop) has been bolted onto module 6, which is now a little too heavy for one man to lift. The ends of the D&RGW and C&BQ coach yards, which commenced in module 4 and ends on module 5 have now been cut away and bolted onto modules 2, 3 & 4. This is a two man lift.
Phase IV – is now divided into the following sections:
(1) D&RGW North Yard – most of the North Yard track has been laid. As this module bridges the Phase II and East Denver Belt Line track with the Phase III Denver Union Terminal trackage, special trackwork for bridging the gaps will be required. Kato extended track pieces are currently favoured as the solution between:
- Modules 8 & 9 (Phases 1 & 2)
- Modules 6 & 7 (Phases 2 & 4)
- Modules 4 & 5 (Phases 3 & 4)
- Modules 1 & 2 (Phase 3)
(2) D&RGW North Yard Industries and trackside buildings.
(3) UP 36th Yard – adjacent to the D&RGW North Yard.
Phase V – the D&RGW Main Line from Denver to Glenwood Springs and a branch line to Craig. Peter has laid all of the cork roadbed for this phase and I have almost finished the Gore Canyon scenery (see an earlier blog). Track laying for this phase will begin after phases 1 and 4 are complete.
Phase One Reset !!!
Phase 1 of the layout started out life as the DC controlled Argentine Central Railway running Atlas Shays of the same roadname. Unfortunately it is too hard to install a DCC decoder in an Atlas Shay so I looked around for an alternative railroad to base phase 1 on. Having purchased two Model Power 2-6-0s and 4-4-0s with DCC and sound in CB&Q with “Burlington Route” logos on the tenders, modeling the Colorado & Southern (C&S) seemed a good idea. My first thought was to switch to the Golden and Ralston Railroad which ran out of Golden from 1877 to 1898. Go to http://denversrailroads.com/GRR.htm for more details of that line. However there was very little information available about that line or its track-age so I decided instead to model the Clear Creek Railroad, a C&S narrow gauge line that ran from Golden to Black Hawk and Idaho Springs until 1941. Thanks to the extensive writing of Harry Brunk in the Narrow Gauge and Short-Line Gazette and others there is a lot of information available about the Clear Creek Railroad, including the Black Hawk track arrangements.
Before I made the change I gave a lot of thought to the Denver’s RailRoads layout and discovered that the D&RGW Aspen Branch continued as a standard gauge line until 1991. However after a lot of track planning I came to the conclusion that the track arrangement did not fit the track that was already planned as part of the original Argentine Central layout. Furthermore I had the four Model Power steam locomotives in the “Burlington Route” roadname and a lot of 1930 era reefers, boxcars, tank cars and stock cars that I really wanted to run.
Consequently I have gone back to the Clear Creek RailRoad (CCRR) layout, running to Black Hawk and Idaho Springs. I have now laid all of the track, including the short branch line from Golden to Idaho Springs and the much longer branch line with a 3-4% grade to Black Hawk. This arrangement will allow me to either run the CCRR as a stand alone C&S 1930s steam only layout or as a branch of the “modern” 1950-60s C&S, ignoring the little fact that the line was removed in 1941. In both cases the Coors Brewery will be a center piece of the railroad, either with billboard Reefers and boxcars or with 40′ piggyback trailers and covered hoppers.
Work in progress update — all phases
Phase 1 – the Aspen Branch is being extended to a foam sub-roadbed up above the 7 track return loop. Peter has laid 50% of the cork roadbed. Turnout wiring for the 7 track return loop is being tested and upgraded and connected to a new control panel. Some tracks on the Coors branch may be removed to simplify operations. It is hoped that this phase will soon be operational – again – and work can begin on painting and ballasting the tracks. Note that when the wiring testing is completed this phase can operate as a stand alone railroad.
Phase II – the Main Line from Grand Jct Loop to Denver Yard. All track laying and wiring is complete, but requires testing, which cannot be done until the wiring upgrade for Phase I is complete.
Phase III – Denver Union Terminal. Rod continues to lay track. Both of the scissors crossings are installed and three of the very long main tracks. It is beginning to look very impressive due to the length of station trackage.
Phase IV –is divided into the following sections:
(1) East Denver Belt Line – John & Bruce have almost completed laying the cork roadbed. Track laying should start soon.
(2) D&RGW North Yard & Industries – all of the North Yard track has been laid except for the industries. As this module bridges the Phase II and East Denver Belt Line track with the Phase III Denver Union Terminal track work on this section will not recommence until Phase III track laying is complete.
(3) UP 36th Yard – adjacent to the D&RGW North Yard. This will probably be the last section to be started.
(4) UP & CB&Q 23rd St Shops – connects with the Denver Union Terminal. Work will be started once phase III is complete.
(5) C&S Rice Yard – connects with the Denver Union Terminal. Work will be started once phase III is complete.
(6) UP Wynkoop St Branch – Gary has stated both the cork roadbed and the track laying at the North end of the Denver Union Terminal.
(7) D&RGW Burnham Shops – this section will not be started until sections 4 & 5 have been completed.
Phase V – the D&RGW Main Line from Denver to Glenwood Springs and a branch line to Craig. Peter has laid all of the cork roadbed for this phase and I have almost finished the Gore Canyon scenery (see previous blog). Track laying for this phase will begin after phase I is operational.
Wiring for Phase II almost complete
The wiring for Phase I was completed sometime ago but now the wiring for Phase II is almost complete. Here is John hard at work soldering feeder wires to module 5, the Denver Yard Wye and return loop for the Phase I/II trackage.
Phase 1 and Phase 2 of Denver’ RailRoads is almost connected!
Rod and John came over on Saturday and we got a lot done. Rod is half way through laying the cork for phase 3 and John got a fair way through wiring the BUS on module 7 of phase 2.
I finished laying the cork for the connection from phases 1 & 2 to the Moffat Tunnel in phase 5. This means that I can now lay the track which connects phases 1 & 2.
Once that is done – and the BUS wiring for modules 6 & 7 is complete – we will be able to run LONG trains all the way from the Grand Junction return loop to the wye/loop at Denver yard.
