Will the Circle be Unbroken!

Today I finished the ring of roadbed around the big oak tree. There was nothing like this particular feature anywhere on the TFRR, however for us it will provide the ability to have a train running on "autopilot" in the deck/porch area, as well as provide service as a reversing loop once the line is complete.

The ring is an octagon made with 2x6s for the diagonals and 2x8s for the straight sections.






















In this photo you can see the ring of 1/2" plastic conduit that I used to get the circle right, a tip gleaned from the pages of Garden Railways magazine. The plank leading off to the lower left shows the approximate location of the return leg of the reversing loop. Finalizing and attaching this return leg is next on the list of things to do.





















The new work has already been approved by the cat department.

Onward toward Manifest Destiny!

I love this photo of folks out on a railbound expedition! It looks like they are rolling off over the mountain on a sled, but closer scrutiny reveals this to be a speeder - a motorized version of the classic lever-operated hand car with which everyone is familiar.










You can try one for yourself at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City!








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Last Fleet of GE 70 Tonners Retired

The June issue of Trains magazine reported that the last "substantial" fleet of General Electric 70-Ton locomotives has been retired from California's Modesto & Empire Traction Company, where the oldest of them - #600 - has seen 63 years of continuous service. The tenacious little 660 horsepower diesel switchers were no match for modern high-efficiency railroading, where the M&ET was having to use as many as seven of the tough little locomotives at a time to move 100-car unit trains of grain to transcontinental giants Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

They were replaced by R.J. Corman Railpower RP20BD genset locomotives, which can pull the same size trains with just three locos. Genset locomotives ingeniously replace the single huge engine typically found in a diesel-electric locomotive with two to four much smaller engines that are brought on and off line by a controlling computer as horsepower is needed. The result is a tremendous increase in efficiency and environmental performance.

The M&ET is offering all but one of their venerable 70 tonners for sale to good homes if any of you has $95,000 burning a hole in your pocket. Understandably, they are keeping #600 for nostalgic reasons.

And while this was the last fleet of GE 70 tonners, there are still many singletons and pairs switching industrial sites and shortline railyards around the western hemisphere. The TFRR's own 70 tonners - #501 and #502 - were purchased in 1948 and run until the demise of the line in 1961, but I have never heard any details of their movement and/or disposition from there. Wouldn't it be something if either of them was still in service today!

Roadbed Progress!

Just a couple of quick photos here that show the first run of "roadbed" along the fence. Now that this is complete we can build the loop around the big oak tree and the bridge that will come over the pathway to join the roadbed that currently extends from the portal into the screen porch.