I was looking at my mountains, thinking of ways to put my new MOW train to work during an upcoming operations session. Then it occurred to me, since these are the San Juans and the Silverton rail lines were infamous for snow blockades, what if an avalanche blocked one of the lines?
I built the mass of snow and ice by my usual methods, layering pieces of pink foam, then mostly covering it with Sculptamold. I sprayed the exposed foam with Zinser 1-2-3 primer/sealer, then sprayed it with flat white. I then brushed it with acrylic satin varnish with pearlizing medium.
As it turned out, the form-factor of the avalanche was just about right to set it at any of about half a dozen places around the layout, so it will be useful to throw a monkey wrench into an ops session in many different places.
On the prototype Silverton Northern RR, they tried to operate year around, even building a huge snowshed, which was promptly wiped out in the first big avalanche. They then went to seasonal operation only before the line was eventually cut back from Animas Forks to Eureka. I’m presuming things work better now, even aspiring to year-round service on my layout. So the giant snow-and-ice drift could be considered either fresh slide or crusty frozen leftovers. I’m also thinking about making small add-on piles to place around the main slide to make it more photogenic. I decided against using any of the powdered snow products or trying to make an entire section of the layout as a winter scene. This is enough to make it feel chilly[:)]
Ya that is a cool idea. But I agree with Rich. You need some snow around the area. It looks weird with a chunk of snow and ice in the middel of summer.
Just sprinkle on the WS snow. And just clear the rails up so your trains don’t pick up the snow. And if you want to remove it, just vacum it up.
I live in Colorado and I’ve never seen an avalanche in the summer. The way avalanches occur, is new heavy fallen snow falling onto a hardpacked layer of snow. This creates an unstable layer and the top level gives way.
Yeah, all those loose stuff flying around would make things look better…but not too good to throw down in the middle of an ops session and even worse to have to clear it up with a very unprototypical vacuum. That’s why I was thinking about doing some add-on slide parts, maybe even a snow cornice for the ridge above.
Also, I’d have to have a blizzard over all of Animas Forks as it lies above the slide zone. Does that snow stuff come in a 5 gallon size?[;)] Imaginary snow will also work better above the slide, as it does all along the line when the flanger is run now. Of course, this is one advanatge of thinking of a model RR as a work of art. I don’t need actual “snow” on the landscape in order to imagine it being there. Saves a heck of a lot of shoveling and cleanup.[:)]
A rotary plow would be unprotypical, as they gave up on them on the Silverton line due to all the logs and debris slides along the line typically brought down along with the snow. Logs and rotaries just do not play well together. However, I’ve also been thinking I do need some debris protruding here and there.
Yeah, no summer avalanches, that’s true. It does look a heck of a lot like the snow dams you see still melting away, but far dirtier by then, in mid-summer. That’s why I mentioned it might make sense to think of it as the opening of the line in the spring, when you could see large blockages like this still in place with green all around.
I just think that there’s more snow, as one the easiest, cheapest modeling thrills you can get is the imagination.
My wife recently went up from Farmington here to Denver a couple months ago. There was a major rock slide during heavy rain closing off Poncha Pass (near Salida CO). She got there only a couple hours after it happened and had to turn around for a long long detour. Colsed it off for a couple days. So, perhaps a rock / mud slide would fit the season? Mud slides took out a few towns in the past. I think Marble CO suffered a major one during the day.
I concur with the rock slide idea. The Durango and Silverton had to shut down Silverton trips for a few days a couple years ago, becuase there was a slide in the canyon, and they had to dig it out.
Actually, I thought of the rock slide idea before the avalanche, but the avalanche was easier to do quickly. But now I know it’s a good idea because you guys had it, too.
Keep in mind that the concept here is to add gaming value to operations sessions, not so much an exact model of whatever the impediment chosen will be. As it happens, people can be making up their train for Animas Forks in Silverton and I can sneak into the layout room door and plop that baby down when they’re not looking…[;)]
Then they better be paying attention when they round the curve.
Right now I think I’m going to add a nice snow cornice along the ridge there and to the right down over the snow sheds. It’ll be removable, though, because I’ve been working on getting mountains flowers, etc in along there . Since it’ll be up above the current avalanche site, it should help with those who don’t find it quite convincing enough…although I can assure you no train is getting through there until the ditcher – and maybe the dynamite are done.
Oh, another thing that may help people think about it. The tracks/road up to Animas Forks is in a gulch that is frequiently so narrow that slides will come down and impact high up along the other side of the gulch when they hit the bottom. That’s what helps the snow bridges form there, with the river flowing below and oftentimes heavy equipment is required to tidy up the road at the beginning of the season. In some sense, the current avalanche resembles that as a feature, which may not be readily apparent unless you’ve been up and down that trail several dozen times like I have.
Ok, two quick additions of items that are useful for operational fun and games, just so we don’t get stuck on avalanches. I think I’ve got a plan now on the landslide, too. But stay tuned for some more snow up top.
People and Things That Get in the Way
The always around the next corner road foreman. Or the signal maintainer. Or whatever causes someone to be out there hy-railing along for whatever emergency you can think of. Doesn’t even have to be powered (although I’d like to give that a shot someday). A couple of examples, regauged to 3’, too…
The PowerWagon
The Unimog
Then there’s a delayer of a different sort, the Sperry rail inspection car. It moves slows, sometimes has to back up (depending on era, maybe the new ones just keep going ?), and generaly gets in the way, but is the highest priority except for passenger traffic. Walthers put out seravl runs of theirs so far.
Still working on taming that too bright front headlamp. [:$]
You don’t have to crazy with the snow. Just cover the area where your avalanche is.
If your worried about people at your ops sessions messing it up. Then just in the area of the tracks, spay some ballast glue mixture, white glue, water, alchohol. Sprinkle the snow around the tracks. Clear the rails first. Then spary the glue to secure it down permanently. Then on the mountain just leave it so you can vacum it up.
I don’t think your visitors are climbing all over you mountains?
Also, you’ve seen my snow scene. I only used one bottle of WS snow for all that. So I would say for your mountain 2 bottles should be plenty.
Will keep in mind the ease of using the WS snow. I’m sure I’ll get around to doing at least one photo-op session, but I need to build a nice wedge plow or something first. Right now I’ve got a week to get my ops session ready so need to tie up loose ends enough to do that. Still got one more “snow cap” piece to go, after what I’m showing here next is dried and done.
One thing to keep in mind, although things usually come out OK in pics, the topography is pretty weird. The dramatic climb on this side of that ridge has a rather implausible curved ridge that shelters the Animas Forks turntable and its shed. It’s a little hard to translate everything possible to work here.
First, the existing situation, showing the avalanche on the left, the snowshed on the right and the ridge above everything. The plane, flown by Captain Hotz, it is owned by the miner’s union, who graciously agreed to have these pics taken. Generally it operates as an air ambulance, but has been known to fly vital fluids into Red Mountain in case of a snow blockade there.
The first layer is shaped.
The second.
The third.
The fourth. Since it was prtty thin, I decided to do much of the carving before gluing things up.
Here’s how it looked from the avalanche side.
The backside, where the laws of physics start bending badly[*-)] but it still looks like a snow cornice along a ridge.
Once everything was glued and aligned, then I shoved long skewers through the whol thing, which really added strength to things.
Here the left/south side is done, more or less.Notice that the whole drift is slanted , originally to follow the roof of the snow shed, but also so that once the top was reached, we could follow a nice downward sloping drift with our eyes. One thing most drifts aren’t is more than a few inches taller than the blocking objct that helps form them.
More snow viewed after getting the Sculptamold applied, which is close to final appearance.
The only thing I would perhaps query Mike is how your operators would react if the trains they were expecting to run were delayed or even cancelled? That said variety is the spice of life.
BTW, I’m amazed that you managed to get Capt Hotz from not staying in Macguires when he was just supposed to pick up supplies.
Fortunately, Animas Forks is the end of the line. And folks in the San Juans know the possibility of slides, so tend to have well-stocked larders, beer cellars, etc.
The way I’m probably going to work things, all with crew in consultation with the dispatcher:
get scheduled train out of way and any passengers possible out
get locomotive on work train and on its way to incident
if long blockage, arrange for mail/supplies to be moved beyond
Oh no! It sounds like Capt. Hotz’s secret is out, at least in part. The real truth is Capt. Hotz’s first name is Honey, so the pilot is cut from the same block as Amelia Earnhardt. But she also is said to dance for pleasure and profit at Maguire’s…by someone who violated the rule that what happens at Maguires stays at Maguire’s. Hard to say what the truth is in this situation. You’d have to go see it for yourself.
Ah, I should have looked at the scematics, yes it should make for fun every now and then.
I’ve spent many a pleasant time in such establishments, especially before they became unPC and frowned upon by the Authority. In fact it is hard to find a good airport watering hole these days.[:(]
Got the basics done for “Snowy Ridge.” Figured it needed a title, that’s good enough for a working one until something better comes up.
I built an armature for the Topshell – the third one that’s at the top. Here it is in pink from the Eureka side.
The clear wrap protects the scenery, but lets the Sculptamold snuggle close so there’s a tight fit. This is a technique I used in making removable scenery sections on the Cascade Branch. Here I’m “underfilling” some of the overhanging pink to make things look more believable. I also “fill and feather” between the layers of styrofoam that form the armature underneath.
Here’s with the two upper pieces I call the “snowpack” in place. Trains can proceed safely this late in the spring, although the passengers often find the remaining, brooding snow cornices unsettling.
Earlier in the spring, with snow coming down heavily still at times, train crews fought to keep the line to Animas Forks open. Then, suddenly, there was a rumble in the distance and the next train up the tracks found this.
The Eureka agent got on the line, calling Silverton after being unable to reach the Animas Forks station. The slide must’ve taken out the phone line, too. A relief train of primarily work equipment left Silverton in short order, bringing the Silverton Union RR’s biggest piece of equipment, the ditcher.
It’s gonna be a long week…
So, as you can see, I’ve got the basic parts done, but they are still dryin
I finished some minor edits on the snow “caps” then painted them falt white followed by brushing with acrylic pearlescent. The weird, almost glowing result looks a lot like - snow!
The folws up in Animas Forks were not happy to see a later season slide fill the downhill entrance to the snowshed.
Capt. Hotz snapped this pick of the snowpack on the snowshed a few days back and people were hoping that was pretty much the end of winter…
…then a late storm swept through, bringing down unstable slopes at several points.
Thanks, it should be interesting. I’m still debating whether the avalanche happened before or during the session. Kind of depends on how many show up, I suppose.
I really do like how the non-avalanche section came out. I’m considering going over one more peak at the top for a somewhat better effect, but that will have to wait. Too much ops paperwork to do right now.[:P]
