The Searles tunnel on Southern Pacific RR’s Owenyo/Lone Pine/“Jawbone” branchline is a good example why I dislike modeling modern-day railroads. They are less interesting (principally because of less variety in operations, rolling stock, locomotives, structures, and railroads themselves) and sometimes show poor aesthetic taste.
Here are some photos a fellow SP enthusiast sent me showing the current state-of-affairs at the Searles tunnel on the branchline.
This photo shows the portal at the Mojave end of the tunnel. Note the cut-stone surrounding the actual portal and on top of the side retaining walls, as well as the date of construction. A simple yet handsome portal with good aesthetics.
Here is a view further back. Missing are the modelgenic telltales (its structure was made up of boiler tubes) and a semaphore signal protecting the tunnel’s approach. These items also once existed at the Searles end of the tunnel.
Several decades ago the tunnel burned and partly collapsed. The former redwood tunnel lining was replaced with cement, and the Searles end of the tunnel was “daylighted.” Wo
Sort of like seeing a beautiful Victorian house with a plywood and tarpaper repair to recent fire damage.[:(]
Which is why I model what I model. In 1964, the Upper Kiso Valley was beautiful. By 1975 it had turned ugly - the new construction was all featureless concrete boxes, and a lot of the older traditional structures had either disappeared or been hidden by the new structures in front of them. Add in rubber wheeled traffic that had increased tremendously after the ‘two ruts in the mud’ local roads were paved…[|(]
Then, too, the local JNR route had been alive with steam in 1964. In 1975 steam was gone, never to return. So was the 762mm gauge forest railway that gave the area its unique flavor.[xx(]
Things ALWAYS change. They don’t always improve.[sigh]
Mark,Its all in the mindset on what we hold true as far as modeling railroads…However,a railroad is a corporation that is in the business of moving freight by the million tons not govern by romantic modeling whims based on old fashion ideas.
That track is there for one reason and one reason only…To serve their customers by speeding their freight on its way.
I have found this to be true in almost every aspect of life in my 53 years.
My occupation is restoring those Victorian houses and while not perfect, they were built much better than most of what we build today. And they were built to be invironmentially friendly - because they were built to last and to be repairable, and not built with materials that require wholesale replacement every 20-30 years.
As for railroads, I agree, for me modern is boring - and lacks pride of owner ship. Railroading has always been a hard dirty business, but these days the levels to which things are allowed to deteriorate is appauling.
Here on the the ATLANTIC CENTRAL it is still 1954, and the newest locos are two brand new EMD SD9’s.
[quote user=“markpierce”]
I guess I’m a mix of all of you. I will admit to liking older times modeled, simply because as mentioned the structures were still there. I like about 2 miles from the old GB&W Norwood yard, the only tell tales that it was a train yard, with the exception of all the track of course, is the vegetation dead spot where the turntable was, and the concrete grain elevator, which has been there since atleast 1910. The wye is no longer fully connected, don’t know if it always was when GBW was there though. I do however enjoy modern diesels and equipment. I love watching a line of F-units hauling a 50 mixed freight as much as I do seeing one or two SD70ACe’s haul an empty 110 grain train. Can’t get much more “boring” than seeing 110 cars, all looking for the most part the same. I think that’s why I’ve realized I will probably never have a magazine knock at me my door, hold up a camera, and tell they want to shoot for a feautre. Don’t think they would do that when they look and see a UP SD70M spotting a couple cars at the huge grain elevator (mostly the “Dallas On A Door” layout from MRP, with another industry instead of the small switcher terminal). I will also be collecting N scale locomotives, simply because I love diesel-electrics (collection will be starting out with Union Pacific SD70ACe MP heratige and DRGW heratige, Bachmann DDA40X, and Bachmann 44T locomotives). I personnaly don’t care for MY collection to be static (I do enjoy others though) so I would use all mine, doesn’t matter if it’s the afroementioned 44 tonner or the A40X switching a couple cars at the warehouse, I would like to use it.
As for modeling itself, I simply prefer modeling modern times because that’s what I’m more associated with. The last few years have been filled with CN using everything from old WC SW1500’s, to their own GP38-2W’s, to IC and WC GP40’s running around my particular residential area, BN Dash 9’s sitting in the yard (old MILW yard IIRC), and SD75I’s running fr