0n3 Rio Blanco Mining & Logging (modular layout)

The "Rio Blanco Mining & Logging" Railroad is a modular layout in 0n3 (3 foot narrow gauge in 1:48 scale).

This layout was shown at the US Convention in Adliswil/Zürich in switzerland in October 2009 - the slide show was updated and now contains new photos - including the new logging modules! (Photos by Wolfgang Bertle and Kay Kistler)

The first "Rio Blanco" was just a small (8'x3') mining layout - located in the "wild west". Topics are an impressive Trestle Bridge and a mine - and ore can be loaded on the small narrow-gauge hopper cars.
	4 = Mine 9 = Trestle 10 = entrance to the underground return loop and staging
Meanwhile, the layout was "modularized" (we are using a standard "end profile" for example), and significantly expanded. In the meantime the RBM&L also has a logging part with a small logging camp, a few more meters of track and a big fiddle yard. We are running a selection of models like Shays, Climax, Porters, Diesels plus logging flatcars and several types of hoppers to transport the gold ore - many models are built from kits or even scratchbuilt. most rails and turnouts are hand made.
this is the whole layout in 2009 - with the new modules:

Dia Shows

Rio Blanco M&L (0n3 Layout, high resolution)

Rio Blanco M&L (0n3 layout, low resolution)

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mor about 0n3:

"Lonestoke West" - UK layout in 7mm scale

"Lonstoke West" is a "Southern" sub-urban Layout in 0-Scale - it is 7 meters long and 60/50 centimeters wide with little fiddleyards on either end.

Here is an overview of the track plan (view: from top)


Theme of the layout is suburban traffic in Londen with "EMU"s (Electrical Multiple Units), a factory and a few shunting tracks add some more operational possibilities.

The factory on the left side also has the task to hide the traverser from the viewer.
		The rear tracks are the main tracks, the two tracks at the front are for freight train shunting.
On the right side of the layout (from "viewer" side) there is a platform where the EMU's stop ("end of travel" in the model)
		The main tracks are equipped with a (non-operating) 3rd rail.
Roger Murray has built the (LED) colour light signals for this layout.

Slide Shows - More Photos:

Lonstoke West (high resolution)

Lonstoke West (low resolution)

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My"KAE" (0n30 narrow gauge)

Here is the complete history about my "KAE" - which is a freelance 0e layout (1:45 scale, 16.5mm gauge) - (there was a KAE in Germany some time ago, the "Kreis Altenaer Eisenbahn" - but it had 1m gauge).

Choice of Prototype

Originally I started with the idea of building a layout as an almost exact model of the wuerttembergische narrow gauge lines, here the "Federseebahn" Riedlingen-Schussenried - mainly because of sentimental reasons: my
grand-grandpa of my wife, Josef Blank, owner of a mill, has initiated this line (750 mm narrow gauge).

The plan was to build a model of the station in Riedlingenin 1:45. With of lot of enthusiasm I started building the first G-Wagen (boxcar) nearly from scratch (because not much is available for this prototype). It took an awful lot of time and I began wondering if this flavour of the hobby (building exactly according to an existing prototype - which no RtR models available) was the right think for me to do .....

In addition, it became clear that 1m radius (40") would be the minimum for this kind of narrow gauge prototype because the box cars had 3 axles. Only a small U would have fitted into my railroad room.

This was more a less the end of the idea of the 'wuerttembergische Schmalspurbahn". However, during this period of doubts Fleischmann announced and began to sell the "Magic-Train" and even with the starters packs found out how
much fun it was to actually RUN a model railroad without a large planning and bulding phase. 60cm radius looked great and was more than sufficient.

Only the right prototype railroad was missing, so I free-lanced the "Kreis Arnsberger Eisenbahn" - it is running in the area where I have lived the first 18 years of my life.

The "KAE"

In the drawing below you see the lines of the "KAE" - the connection between Neheim-Hüsten to Holzen is modeled - with the stations Hüsten-Ost (with a lamp manufacturing plant and a saw mill), Rumbecker Holz, where logs are loaded and Holzen as final destination.

The "railroad" room

I was living with my family (3 children) in an appartment with no basement at that time, so finding a layout room was not an easy task. All the rooms in the appartment were already filled with lots of stuff so some creativity was needed.

Room for the layout could most easily be "made" in the master bedroom - the beds were replaced by a pure matrass and the railroad could run above it, 1.4 to 1.6m above floor level (4' to 5.5'). The layout was built very light weight (in
case it came down during the night ...) with a foam under construction. A total layout size of 3,9m x 1,8m (13' x 6') was possible plus a moveable part 2' deep in front of the wardrobe

The track

Both flextrack and switches is from the british manufacturer Peco - with some hand layed curved switches, minimum radius is 55 cm (22").

The rolling material

is mainly from Fleischmann (0-4-0 plus boxcars and passenger cars, some of them kitbashed), the a diesel from Minex (built by Maerklin, several years ago, no longer sold) and a Wismarbus (railcar) from Henke. All a equipped with Faulhaber micro motors and run excellent.

Running the "KAE"
.. is very easy - even for my children (see photo), because DCC is used for controlling the locos and all switches are thrown by hand. DCC is a big advantage over having the switch track power on and off by batteries
of electrical switches!

The couplers

To cut a long story short: I'm using Kadee couplers - there are about 10 different coupler systems in this scale available in Europe - most of them look more prototypically but most of them are very difficult to operate (I made some painful experiences with the "wuerttembergischen Trichterkupplung" - where you end up crawling on the floor looking for 4x0.8mm coupler pins ....) and of course all the differnet coupler types are not compatible to each other.

The track layout is shown below

(larger version here). From Neheim-Hüsten (Fiddle yard, this station and a few other parts of the layout are compatible to FreModul and frequently travel to meetings of this model railroad club) the trains to Hüsten-Ost. Here is a loading track and the track for the saw mill.

From there through a tunnel Rumbecker Holz is reached where a lot of logs are waiting to be loaded. Most of the forest (Holz = forest) is already transported away (so I did not need a lot of expensive Silhuette trees!).

Through a "cut in" the end station of Holzen is reached (not finalized yet). All the buildings are scratch built.

Operation

Operation is done based on the following time table (because it seemed to make more sense than just running back and forth ...):

Besides passenger trains and the one rail car everz morning and evening there is a mixed train - operated with freight cars similar to the Fremo operation principles.

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=> Slide Show with photos from the "KAE" layout

Addendum:what happened during the last 15 years? In the meantime I sold the "KAE" modules - except for 2, which I take to FREMO meetings once a year - and, because I now own a house with a large basement - I now have a standard gauge layout, of course also in O-scale !!

"Green Hills RR" (1:48 - amerikanisches Vorbild)

The free lanced GHRR is a small branchline in the Eastern US. Its main purpose is to transport coal from the fields around the "Green Hills" to "East Port" where most of the coal is loaded onto ships.

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Track plan
Below you see the schematics of the whole GH RR - the track is completely laid and about half of the layout is finalized, the other half still lacks ballast, detailling and structures. ( "*" marks the actual physical location of the fiddleyard.)

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Photos
Lets follow the line from the mine to East Port.

Green Hill Mine #2
.. is the major coal shipper for the GHRR


Cumberland:
A small station with 4 industries (Pechstein Piano Factory, Phoenix Fuel, Cumberland Great Furniture und Cumberland Steel Co)

Veetown
Kreuzungsbahnhof mit einem Gleisanschluss "VT General Goods"

East Port
most of the coal is shipped from here - a few industries ("Bad Axe Grain", Morgan Construction, "Freedom Works Inc.") and the "Pier#2" are located here
Pier #2 (on right side of East Port)

Petersburg
... is a hidden staging yard - here the Green Hills RR ends and connects to the B&O
Petersburg (inside the large hill - below "Green Hill Rock")

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more to come on this page:
.... motive power on the GHRR
.... operation on the GHRR

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others pages with info about the GHRR:

The "Chili Line" (DRG&W, 0n3)

The original "Chili Line" was the Santa Fe Branch of the DRG/DRG&W railroad in the southwest of the USA. The line was 3 foot narrow gauge and ceased operation already in 1941.

Emerging from a hidden storage track my"Chili-Line" in 1:48 Scale soon reaches "Espanola". It crosses the Rio Grande and arrives at "Embudo" (the famous cobblestone station). From there the rails climb up "Barranca Hill" with a 4% grade.
(Barranca Hill)
Up on the mesa the trains reach "Taos Junction" where a logging branch ends. The mainline continues to a hidden storage track. (All drawings by Wolfgang Bertle, Reutlingen).

A few fotos can be seen in the slideshow "Chili Line".

What happened to the "Chili-Line" Layout in the meantime? Well, it was dismantled. What was the reason?
1. I don't like building turnouts ... (now, in 2009, you can by them from San Juan!)
2. 90cm radius was not enough for the big steam locos, like the sunset K28...
3. I wanted to see some more green again ...
==>> Now the "Green Hills RR" is occupying my basement - with RtR equipment, Atlas-O turnouts and green hills....