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DICK'S ROOT RIVER & SOUTHERN

OWNER: Dick Kloes
LAYOUT TYPE: Scale around the wall - two level
RAIL CODE: 148
POWERED BY: DC Dual Cab

Dicks first layout was a very impressive walk around Classic American Flyer which came with a lot of compliments. As most modelers find, his desire to improve his layout went beyond what he had. His flyer layout was dismantled and a new "round the wall" pike was developed in terms that would allow his operations to be both Hirail and Scale. 

The Root River and Southern is an fictional branch line from the Milwaukee Road somewhere west in the Rockies. The RR&S hauls general goods along with the primary export function of coal and lumber. Passengers arrive and depart at River Junction depot while dry goods are stored at the River Junction Warehouse. The service is a single mainline with passing sidings. Consists from the Milwaukee road come from the lower level and have to go over the mountain to reach River Junction.

To run either version of wheel-sets on the same rail takes a lot of consideration up front when dealing with switches and crossovers due to flange height and inner wheel spacing. Some of Dick's switches were custom built to allow either type of wheel set to pass over without it considering derailing. Locomotives are from American models with exceptions of 1 diesel switcher from S-Helper Service. Dick also has converted some flyers over to can motor as well to deal with the DC current efficiently. The saw mill was scratch built as well as some of the other accessories. One of the coaling towers is a Lehigh Valley Models kit while the other is modified from Plasticville. The terrain was constructed using plaster over cardboard.

Photos by Don Goeke