Ever wonder why movie explosions are so popular?
In a previous post I ruminated upon the frustrations of operating model trains on steep grades with absurd degrees of curvature. I had concluded that there were four possible remedies. I stopped at four because I was running out of toes on my left foot, and once you get beyond five, well… then you have to start untying a second shoe. Why risk it?
Turns out, there’s a fifth remedy.
This little piggie cried “wee wee wee” all the way home.
Another option. One born of desperation. One stemming from the realization that, no matter how good the foundation, sometimes the superstructure is untenable.
Option Five? Demolish it and start from scratch.
What, you say? Throw away all that hard work, all that history, all that material?
Don’t be silly! Of course not. I’m going to recycle some of it. (And by that I don’t mean, put it in the dumpster so the city can pretend to recycle it, while actually hauling it to the dump.)
Turns out, only the middle third of the railroad is actually a problem. Both ends are fine. Denver yards are basically flat, and have only one troublesome curve– a project for another time. Winter Park is about the same. The issue is the steep, curvy grade between the two, including the helix. Solution? Lesser grades, wider curves.
Unfortunately I can’t do that with the current scene concept of the Big 10 curves. There just isn’t space for all that. And the Pinecliffe / Tunnel 29 module is just plain untenable. But– the benchwork that holds up Big 10 would be able to support a different concept of a track plan. So, I got out my pencil and my eraser and started sketching. What to do, what to do? Well, a wider helix would fit in the room. A teardrop-shaped track alignment would fit on the existing benchwork, even with a 30″ radius curve. Maybe there’s something here, I told myself.
The main issue, before calculating grade intervals, was deciding on scenes. So I proceeded to compare alignments with the real route between Denver and the Moffat Tunnel, and quickly settled on a section of the Tunnel District in South Draw. (See a map.) For the interior of the peninsula I could model the segment between the west portal of Tunnel 13 and the east portal of Tunnel 16. For the exterior side of the peninsula I could build a simplified version of Plain siding, basically between tunnels 1 and 2.
Above is a basic sketch of the revisions. Benefits are:
• 30″ radius minimum on curves
• consistent 1.84% grades
• no more reverse curves
• a siding of functional length
• a house track!
• two familiar tunnels, for which I can recycle existing scenery
Here’s a Mike Danneman photo of the real South Draw that I plan to replicate. Visible in the middle of the shot are tunnels 13 through 16. And for the opposite side of the peninsula, here are a few views. Here’s a Kevin Morgan shot of the north end of Plain siding, with the entrance to Tunnel 2. Another of Kevin’s shots shows the middle of the siding and the house track. And this shot of mine shows Tunnel 1, at the bottom (left) end of the scene.
So I commenced demolition. After twenty hours of destruction, the old part of the railroad is… destroyed. I haven’t really gotten to any of the new construction yet. But, I’ve salvaged all the track and most of the ballast. Once I remove the styrofoam sheet of the Big 10 section, I can start cutting new roadbed.
In the meantime, there’s just a lot of chaos. Mess. Clutter. Disorganization. And, no running trains. My wife thinks I’m crazy, and she may be right. On the other hand, that’s old news…
So, yeah. I blew up my railroad. Demolished it. Ruined it. Temporarily. Because, like those movie shots where they run the explosion footage backwards and it all comes back together, one day this will also be restored. Only, better than before.
I hope!
Action Road 
