SAN MIGUEL
on the Rio Grande Southern
This layout was featured in the April 2009 issue of 'NARROW GAUGE DOWNUNDER'
On
the prototype “Rio Grande Southern”, a three foot narrow gauge
railroad, located in the rugged San Juan mountains of southwestern
Colorado, “SAN
MIGUEL”
was located at milepost 43.7 and at an altitude of approximately 8500
feet, and was on the branch to Telluride. Located only a mile and a half
before Telluride, it was only a passing siding with a 25 car capacity.
The mining town of San Miguel City was established near here in 1878,
but disappeared early in the railroads history*.
Now
to my version of the “Rio Grande Southern” or how to re-write
history. When I was researching stations along the ‘Southern’ with
the aim of designing my new switching layout, none were suitable as most
R.G.S. stations were through stations with a small amount of switching.
In reality, the R.G.S. was a feeder line that carried ore and precious
metals, mining equipment, livestock to and from the “Denver & Rio
Grande Western” railroad.
And I was looking for a station design that had very intensive switching, as my layout was to be displayed at model railroad exhibitions where myself and other operators would switch the layout for up to eight hours each day for two or three days in a row. As none of the prototype was suitable I decided to design a generic Rio Grande Southern station, probably at the end of a branch where switching would have been more active.
DESIGN
CRITERIA
Before putting pen to paper, or in these days of computerization, fingers to keyboard and ‘Computer Aided Design’ programs, I needed to list my design criteria for the layout. This enables me to know the restrictions that I face and what requirements of must haves and would like to haves. Some of these I have listed opposite:
Name:
“San
Miguel on
the RIO
GRANDE SOUTHERN”
Scale:
On3 (¼”
to the foot with a 3’ gauge track)
Track;
Hand laid code 70 on wooden ties
Control
system: Lenz DDC with DC back up
Min.
Radius:
48 inches (1220 mm)
Turnout
Size: No. 7
stub
Layout
Size: Must
fit in my transporting trailer whose dimensions are 82” long (2080mm) by 44” wide (1120mm) by
30” high (750mm)
Height
to Track: 45”
(1150 mm)
WHAT I MUST HAVE IN
THE LAYOUT
RGS
style depot, tank and out buildings.
Excellent
running qualities
Minimum
of one passing siding
Minimum
of x switching locations
At
least two sidings in each direction
Switching
card system to simulate prototype switching.
An
efficient off scene but in view storage area for full trains.
SOME
OF THE THINGS I WOULD LIKE
TO HAVE
A
second passing loop
An
area that represents the town of San Miguel (in 3D & 2D)
The
ability to incorporate the layout into a future home layout.
HOW
MUCH SPACE DO I HAVE?
We
never have enough space for our layouts, but with an exhibition style
layout we are severely restricted by the transporting capabilities. In
my case I have a trailer with a box on it that measures 82” x 44” x
30” high. And it is desirable that all the layout bits including the
back scene boards lights and brackets, curtain, power leads etc. fit
into this space. I expect to carry my locomotives and rolling stock in
the car where it is safer and less prone to damage.
The
length of the layout is probably the most critical dimension as it
determines what we can fit in to our design. As a starting point, I
decided to have two levels in the trailer and divide each level in half
long ways. That meant I could have three baseboards 82 inches long by
22” wide. A total length of 20 feet 9 inches, as well as an area 82”
x 22” for the back scene boards, lights, brackets, curtain and other
odds and sods.
The
length seemed enough but the width seemed a bit narrow, especially in
the middle of the layout where the passing loops would be. This is where
an old trick is useful. Divide the space slightly angled so the left end
of one baseboard and right hand end of the other is say 18” which
makes the other ends 26” wide. This forms a very shallow pointed arrow
type shape, that can be curved to make the shape more pleasing. The
track plan on the following page illustrates this shape.
THE
BASEBOARDS
I’m
not going to describe a screw by screw description of how the baseboards
were built, but just touch on some of the important details that go with
building an exhibition layout, and especially the baseboard joins where
75% of all problems occur. This is doubly complicated when you are also
using code 70 hand laid track. With this rail size and fine scale wheels
and flanges there is absolutely no room for error.
The
two major problems with track and baseboard joins is the alignment in
both the vertical and horizontal planes and keeping the baseboard tops
from warping.
To
eliminate these problems, and make the baseboards strong enough to
withstand the rigour of exhibition work, the frame work is a vertical
piece of 3”x 1” pine with
a 3” x 1” pine placed horizontally and glued and screwed together to
form an upside down L.
On
top of this is glued and screwed 10mm thick high grade 5 ply, which had
been sealed with 2 coats of paint. The vertical piece of the frame on
the right hand end of each baseboard has two short lengths of ¾”
dowel, protruding ¾”.
These align with ¾” holes in the left end of the baseboards. Pump
action clamps are used to pull and hold the baseboards together. Cross
struts are positioned every 12”, depending on the location of the slow
motion turnout motors and are made with a vertical 2” x !” and a
horizontal 2”x 1” pine. See the diagram
below.
The
curved front of the two main baseboards are each made with four pieces
of 3mm MDF (Medium Density Fibre) board, 82 inches long and 4 inches
high. Each piece is painted with wood glue and placed in a curved jig to
form a 4 ply. They are then clamped and allowed to dry overnight
A final layer of 3mm MDF is added on all 4 sides of each baseboard, and protrudes 3 mm above the baseboard top. This lip helps contain the scenery material.
