Backwoods branchline…
It was, as a lot of my North American layout dreams are, YouTube’s fault. You see I do have a soft spot for old EMD diesels and even more so for patched paint jobs. The Portland and Western, a Genesee and Wyoming operation in Oregon have (or at least had) a couple of big SD7/9 still lettered for their own predecessor the Willamette and Pacific, still in their Southern Pacific bloody nose scheme…
Restricted now to yard duties I ask, how can you not love the sound of these classic 567 power units? They sound alive in a way today’s locomotives do not with their silenced exhausts and emissions regulation. The car bodies have character by the bucket load, faded glory, almost old dinosaurs. For me, that was enough to dig about a bit and find out more of the history of the railroad and where these units came from.
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Hill Oaks mill, Corvallis. Greg Brown photo (https://flic.kr/p/23uFKRy) |
Southern Pacific had a network of Branchlines across Oregon penetrating the heavily forested mountains both east and west of its mainline that ran north to south through the state. The longer ones in the west headed for the coastal ports but many survived solely for the forest products industries. The Dawson branch, a 6 mile line from Alpine Junction headed west to serve the Hull Oaks lumber mill and this became the last of its kind in Oregon.
During its’s busier days the secondary line carried on beyond Alpine Junction to reconnect with the main, but by the end trains ran from Corvallis with slow speed orders made the job take all day. SP had used its big SD7s and 9s on these branches, their Co-Co trucks spreading their weight a little more evenly on the aging right of way. It is these locomotives that found their way into the Willamette and Pacific fleet, and into my consciousness.
In this room sized scheme I’ve tried to include two important elements that I felt epitomised my experience, albeit third hand, of stumbling upon the branchline. Contrast and Discovery. Contrast from the fields to the wooded valleys. Discovery of the mill, of the trestles… but more the intimacy of being in one spot up close with the railroad. I hid the mill operation from the rest of the room, instead suggesting it is operated from behind the closed door. You discover it last, after first marvelling at the journey through the mountains along the river to the mill.
Operation is relatively limited to those who like multiple customers and car cards, but having lived with Beaverbrook for a number of years and never tiring of its two sidings I feel comfortable with this - and by providing a few sidings at Alpine Junction too it gives you a chance to create a little more interest. Trains were propelled up the branch as there was no run around at the mill. In my original scheme I did include one at Alpine junction but on reflection it didn’t add to the operation and I felt cluttered things up too much.
Built for eye level operation, book cases and work space could be created under the layout. A grown up space to indulge in your hobby. The temptation to look in the garage or shed should be avoided, in my experience layouts needs to be part of the home, even, as in this case, if they are hidden behind a closed door.
I haven’t mentioned scale, but in my heart this is HO. Not because N or O don’t work, just that I find the middle ground works best with the feeling of a place like this - big enough to enjoy as trains, small enough to fit within a natural scene.
For those who enjoy a weekend morning lost in videos I will add some more flavour. These four were filmed by Ken Olson when I think he realised the operations days were numbered. They offer a glimpse of the branch and the operation possible on this layout, it is this character I have tried to capture.
I am sure there are other similar operations out there that I haven’t found yet, but I enjoyed this rabbit hole. Luckily I don’t have the space and so far I have successfully dodged buying a model SD9 to rebuild myself! If you fancy a change perhaps this is a prototype you’d like to consider? If not this railroad perhaps this operation? I hope you have enjoyed the rambling post, the illustration and the wonderful videos. Until next time, more soon…
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Hi James
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree the Portland and Western with its various branch lines is a great prototype as is the more locally owned Albany Eastern. For me it would be a real inspiration with its base in the forest products industry, although the only time I saw a P&W train it was switching grain cars. I did however I think see one of theSD7’s back in 1999 but can’t find the slide at present.
The Bailey branch and its back up move to Hull Oakes was always a good idea for a model and I was sorry when it closed. I think Hull Oakes still operates but whether it is still steam powered I don’t know.
There were/are other branch lines which don’t maybe get the Bailey branch treatment. One I have seen is the line to Stimson Timber at Gaston/Forest Grove. Stimson is a bigger mill than Hull Oakes and had/have their own switcher. When I went there it was a GE 44-ton but they may now have a 45ton or even a Trackmobile. My notes from the visit in 1999 said it would be a good basis for model.
Another branch is that to Toledo. This services the big GP pulp mill in Toledo, itself a successor to the First World War Spruce Division and later home to one of the last steam logging railroads. The photos and books I have seen show a spectacular line over the coast range
Best regards
Alan
Hello Alan lovely to hear from you, which is not a surprise given the subject! I’ve a lovely book (seen here: https://paxton-road.blogspot.com/2024/05/friday-update-thirty-one-five-twenty.html) called Backwoods Railroads that has most of those systems in as I recall. It was the big SD9s on short trains that had me hooked though!
DeleteHi James
ReplyDeleteYes I have that book and its earlier version. They are very inspirational for this (my) sort of model railroad. I agree the Toledo branch trains are too long for your room sized plan- which I think is very good. There were obviously shorter trains in and around Toledo as the P&W and GP's switching contractor switch the mill and the town. I also recall seeing a photo on the Toledo, or the similar Coos Bay, branch of four SD7 pushing a single car into a mill .
However the branch to the Stimson mill has shorter trains often seven cars or less and as I said would make a good model. I sent you a photo of the 44-ton at Gaston/Forest Grove but have other photos if you would like?
I hope at some time you can turn this plan into reality
Best regards
Alan
Hi James, this wouldn't typically be my area of interest, but those videos are so evocative... the endless rain and the delightfully enthusiastic youngster, and that big, old, lumbering (excuse the pun) locomotive to-ing and fro-ing with those wagons (cars?) on rails that seem far too delicate to support them; a great combination. Many thanks for sharing. Best, Jonathan
ReplyDeleteThank you Jonathan. I think we can, if we remain open minded, find inspiration and motivation on prototypes beyond our shores, perhaps that share a common commodity, or operational style. I find North American shortlines and branch lines a real tonic to the GWR branchline, and have previously written about parallels between both UK and North American operations that we perhaps had otherwise missed.
DeleteHi James,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your creative track planning tips. I am planning to model the Dawson Branch but have only limited real estate to work with. I live in Australia but I am actually on a road trip Oregon in a weeks time to retrace the line from Corvallis to the mill. Despite my limited space I am committed to HO and content with short trains. My wish list has been to incorporate Alpine Jn and Dawson but I was struggling to fit in the runaround and enough tail track at Alpine Jn to make this work until now. Thanks to your creative thinking I can now see how I can stage the train at the start of the session at Alpine using the 2 track stubs and branch as though the loco has already run around the train and still get the operational fun of placing caboose first and then the cars for the shove to the mill. Also I like the tail end view of the mill that draws you into the scene as the train arrives rather than seeing the whole layout from one side in one go. Roughly what size room were you envisaging in your plan? Also I am intrigued by the bridge you have depicted. Do you have an approximate location and I will try and find it?
Thanks again for your generous sharing of ideas.
Kind regards,
Andrew
Hi Andrew, I’m glad to have helped, it’s a wonderfully characterful prototype. I had a typical single bedroom in the UK, or a single garage sized room in mind for the larger scheme. You ask about the bridge, I can’t remember where I stole that from, I wonder if it’s from a second similar line? I’ll read through my books later.
DeleteThe bridge is inspired by the one on the Willamena and Grand Ronde - at Sheridan
Delete