Thursday, December 15, 2011

Track Plan Part 2

So far we have laid out the overall plan and the housing structure for the layout and the Deck 1 Track Plan.  Now for Deck 2.

Deck 2 is the largest and contains the most recognizable portions of the C&S Clear Creek Division. 
  • Here traffic from Denver and Golden proceeds up the scenic leg which will include Beaver Creek and 2-3 major land marks: Mother Grundy, Inspiration Point and possibly hanging rock.  Whether We can fit in Elk Creek is an open question.  The upgrade climb begins with the 5 turn helix (estimated), crosses a 3 ft lift out section for the doorway and then enters the scenic section.  This section is about 15' and leads to Forks Creek. 
  • Once at Forks Creek we split left for Idaho Springs, and right for Blackhawk.  
 Blackhawk
  • Proceeding to Blackhawk we see a rough track plan with an option for a 3' switchback to Central City.  The 50 Gold Mines Mill will both recieve and generate alot of traffic with the Tram coming down from Central City with ore and Gondola's or Box Cars taking the concentrated ore to the smelter.  
  • To the left of the 50 Gold Mine Mill will be Gilpin Tram Tracks.  Keevan is helping me sort out Hon30 Shay's and cars to use.  Railway Recollections makes some nice cars but they are hard to find a dealer for.  I found one in Canada and also talked directly to Railway Recollections and they will sell direct, though they prefer to use dealers.
  • The Gilpin Tram will use a switchback with 5-6% grades to reach Central City on Deck 3.  This is the only part I am sure will be on the third deck.  Central city will consist of a portion of the city and 3-4 notable mines.  Right now I have the Quartz Hill from Wild West, and am looking at 2-3 more from them.  Classic Miniatures makes the Gold Mine and occasionally you can find Coeur D'Alene on e-bay.  They go for about $100 bucks so pricy.  More on this in Deck 3.
  • The Deck 2 will also have a New York Mill and a Gilpin Tram house for the Shays.  Probably will have 1-2 working Shays and maybe a couple static.
Idaho Springs
  • The other fork at Forks Creek proceeds to Idaho Springs.  Along the way we pass the Argo Mine & Mill.  Looking a Harry's plans I think at least for several years I will use the Banta Pro Patria kit in its place.  I will need a long time to build Argo and my scratch building skills are not up to that level yet.
  • The line then doubles back using a 19" radius on a trestle to approach Idaho Springs.  This splitting of the middle leg really adds space and running distance and lets me include more points of interest.  There will be a wall down the middle of  the leg so you will never see both sides.
  • The loop is the only portion of the old layout I intend to use at this time.  The Trestle is one of my first kits and the cliff looks nice.  Is it prototype?  Nope, but neither is a blob.
  • Idaho Springs still needs lots of work on the city, right now it is just a sign.
  • From there we will go past the Hukill & Stanley Mines.
  • At this point I can either go up to a third deck, or stop here.
  • With Stanley, Hukill and a few other mines I can generate alot of ore, and the Argo Mill can process to concentrated ore for shipment to the Smelter.
 Deck 3 next

No comments:

Post a Comment