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Our home landscape before any railroading construction
started. The railroad was operating only in the mind of the
COE (Chief Operating Engineer).
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Trees and scrubs were added to enhance the layout.
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Right: THE VERY BEGINNING
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October 24, 2000.
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A simple circle of track was laid to
"get the feel" of running trains.
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Left: An additional loop was added to run a second train
during the holidays. Major construction continued as the
weather warmed. It was nice to have 2 trains running at the
same time.
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The original loop was upgraded, lengthed and ballast added
to stabilize the rails. All trains ran very well with little or no
derailing. The tips from other railroads were a big help.
(see Bachmann Tech Tips at the GIRR)
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Left: A great place for more track, easily visible for visitors
but it's on the other side of the driveway.
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To solve that challenge, a double track of 20 feet was laid across the driveway for use by trains and cars.
This connected the temporary loops shown below on each end so trains could be run cntinuously.
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Construction continues in December, 2000.
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On December 27th, the
first 5 tons of 10 tons of
rock were delivered to
extend the track with new
grades, bridges, trestles,
the mine loop, and
turnouts.
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Images on the left and above show the layout as it is
today with the updated track laid on the new grades,
the mine loop, native Arizona rock faces and trestles.
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Three new scratch-built bridges were added to the
layout on 4/5/01. Finished images of the bridges are
on the Trestles and Bridges Page
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Below: Aerial of the
southern loop with trestle,
village, station and rodeo.
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Above: Overall of the north side with a view of
the covered bridge, Ward's Ranch, trestles, new
mine loop and general landscaping.
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Left: The mine loop from the air with the
mine, mountain, tunnel and bridges.
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