I keep seeing on this forum people wanting or asking what type of layout to build, Well, try a layout of the Panama Canal, I just saw a film on the construction of it, hundreds of steam locomotives and steam shovels.
This should keep you busy for a while and out of the bar,---- it’s still an amazing construction feat and could not have been built without trains. Now let’s start seeing photos of this scene ! !
i think theres a couple of locos that creep along and pull smaller boats thru.
GEARHEAD426
[8]
I thinkTatans was referring to the constuction of the Canal, not the operation.
I’ve seen the old films of this with cranes moving the ties and tracks around as they had to be constantly relocated.
Bill
The construction railroad would be easy to model with all the easily available stuff in On30 or whatever flavor of G gauge trips your trigger. This would make an interesting outdoor layout with some planning.
The “mules” as they were called are electric locos that help pull and spot ships in the locks. They could make a nice large scale model with available power units.
Then there is the Panama Railroad that crossed the isthmus, linking the Atlantic and Pacific coasts by following mostly alongside the Canal at a discrete distance. Much of its route actually preceded the Canal and was used for those taking this route as a shortcut between ships on each coast.
Originally built to 5 foot gauge, as I recall, it was converted to US standard gauge after it was bought by an American RR holding company just recently – I don’t recall which one brought it though. You could easily model it with standard gauge and no one would likely notice the difference. It used equipment that was very much like North American in terms of passenger cars and locomotives, but I think freight cars were a bit more exotic.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
and formerly of the Zone, '59-'61
PS I have just a bit of footage of all this rail activity, except the construction trains, from video made from the 8mm movies that my parents made in those days. I was born in '56. Also pictures of my GF’s father’s sub making its West Coast shakedown cruise, long before he commanded it as the last diesel sub in the active fleet.
Does anyone make a HO scale sub?
[:)]
Doesn’t Kansas City Southern own the Panama Canal RR system?
No, MTH owns it. Just check their latest filing with the Supreme Court.
Yes KCS operates the PRR (that’s Panama RR not Pennsy) and also one of the Mexican RRs. The Chicago & Western Indiana (Chicago terminal RR that ran Dearborn Station) ran a commuter service south of Chicago that used former PRR moguls for power until Alco RSs took over. They were modern looking engines and I don’t know for sure how they resolved the guage problem but I’d suspect that all they’d have to do was shrink the tires onto the drivers about 1 3/4" inches inboard. I think that’s also how they “Americanized” the Russian decapods.
Sorry, I must be more specific, I meant a layout of the construction of the canal itself, to start you will need many many steam locomotives and unusual rock hauling cars, this project, even today, is staggering in it’s proportions in all aspects. And I believe KCS does own the Panama Canal Railway(PCRC) and KSS(Mexico), the Panama Canal Railway is 47.6 miles,143 years old and is transcontinental, this from their website. I’m still waiting for some photos,so get busy out there.har har.
Panama Canal construction rail operations were not too different from contemporary open pit mining operations. Rail-borne steam shovels on one alignment dumped dirt into hauling cars on a more-or-less parallel alignment. Through trains went past on a more solidly constructed main track. All tracks were moved around as necessary to get them to the active spots being excavated. The one ‘different’ feature was the use of flatcars to haul out the waste. They were emptied with a gadget that looked like a snowplow blade.
At least one of the Panama Canal locomotives was used in East Texas logging operations by the Moscow, Camden and San Augustine and/or W.T.Carter & Brother Lumber Company. Might be one of these ca. 1970:
http://www.railimages.com/albums/kennethanthony/aau.jpg
About 12 years ago, one of the ex-Panama Canal construction locos was pulling a tourist train at Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Don’t know if it’s still there.