Change is here

So incase people haven't noticed I have fallen way behind on updating this blog. That does not mean that progress has halted but to the contrary there has been lots of progress made on the research front, however nothing that I have felt merited a full blow blog post. So with that in mind I have created a Facebook page for the layout as I find Facebook easier to make quick posts on. That does not mean the blog is going away but rather that I will attempt to update it more regularly with a meaningful post instead of letting it slip by the wayside, and all posts that are more fitting to Facebook such as the "shut up and take my money" ones that seem to follow every other months Athearn announcements.  Also wile the blog name will stay the same I felt the layout deserved a more railroad like name. I decided on the Southern Pacific YPG Lines. No it isnt named after the Yuma Proving grounds but rather to reflect that the layout will represent the Yuma, Phoenix and Gila Subdivisions of the Southern Pacific. While Yuma will remain the focus I have decided that operationally including Beaumont Hill was a good Idea. So if all goes according to plan the visible layout will start at Colton Tower and end at the Tucson depot. I am trying to figure out how to best include the three subdivisions and have perhaps settled on a two deck design but thats for another post. So on that note like us on Facebook @SouthernPacificYPGLines.

Speed bumps in the road

In July I started laying out the Yuma main yard using Fast Tracks templates on cardboard in order to create templates for future modules. Starting from 16th Street and working north I successfully completed the yard throat including the grain spur and scale track.  Progress however came to a screeching halt when I began trying to connect the "Old Yard" area to the newer "Main Yard" the first hiccup is when the mainline was relocated in the twenties it was placed on a fill due to persistent flooding in the area.  I know it sounds funny as one would not think flooding would be a problem in Arizona, however we must remember this was in the years before Hoover Dam was constructed so aside from the very small (in comparison) Laguna Dam just north of town the river was for all intents and purposes still wild.  So because of this fill the "Main Yard" in some places is about 15 feet higher than the "Old Yard" so this grade must be accommodated.  second the yards being slightly off parallel to each other means that they join at an interesting angle which must be taken into account when laying out the modules.  The industry tracks in turn go off from the "Old Yard" tracks at differing angles which also compounds planning for uniform modules. Since I am trying to keep the modules no more than30 inches wide and6 feet long this is proving problematic. The solution I have come up with to minimize problems is to simplify the "Old Yard" and eliminate some of the industries and their corresponding tracks. Which leads us to the final problem; a very large industry called Southwest Ice and Cold Storage.  when the line was relocated instead of building a new ice plant the railroad just ran the tracks down the other side of the facility.  So before the "Old Yard" tracks can return to paralleling the "Main Yard" they must first create enough space that this facility can fit between the two yards.  The measurements I had made the building seem too large to build with out significant compression and even then it would take up a large chunk of a 6 foot by 30 inch module.  Thankfully this impasse lead to a return to the local archives where I learned that the facility had had a significant fire in 1959 and therefore no longer matched the information on the Sanborn map in the period I model which is roughly two decades later.  Also some of the functions of the original plant had been moved to a second facility closer to the depot.  The problem is both of these facilities were long gone by the time I got to Yuma.  Thankfully Google Earth has both a historic photos function as well as a measurement function. these rough measurements were used and yielded a more manageable building.  hopefully in the next couple weeks I can develop a 3d model of the facility in Sketchup and track planning can resume.

So much going on.

It has been a while since I have updated this so I figured a quick update was needed.  Progress on the layout planning ground to a screeching halt for a variety of reasons first and foremost that I had to travel to attend a wedding.  The big hurdle right now is that I have to figure out how to effectively compress the Southwestern Ice and Cold Storage facility with out losing its aesthetics. This facility sat right between the old yard and the new yard and determining its size for the layout is crucial to determining the size and location of other industries and tracks.  That's not to say I haven't been doing work in the hobby, in the interim I have been helping my dad with a few projects for his layout.  He models the Great Northern circa 1955 so when ever I get frustrated with my layout, his projects are a nice change of pace.  On another note I had the privilege of going on Model Rail Radio and discussing my layout ideas with Tom Barbalet.  You can find that episode by following the link here: http://www.modelrailradio.com/archive.html#122.  If you aren't already listening to this fine podcast I cant recommend it enough, along with A Modelers Life and The Model Railcast Show.  Sorry for the short post but as I said there is so much going on right now.

Adventures in 3d printing

So today I finally recieved my long awaited package from Shapeways. The model is an HO scale Southern Pacific preformed concrete relay and baterry shed.  Needless to say I was amazed at how the model turned out however there are a few things I now know I need to tweek in the drawing. Some of these could be solved by working more on the kit form of the model however after seeing the size of the final model a kit may just border on insanity. For one thing the smoke jack is half the size it needs to be because I missread the common standard drawing I was working from. Secondly the door and window trim does not show up very well when drawn to true scale. This causes the door to blend into the model. That said i think this model might still be salvagable. There are two of these sheds near Prison Hill in the Yuma main yard both are in derelict condition and one has been moved from the location it was in during the period I am modeling. The photos I have seen on the internet and elsewhere show that even in the 80's one of these sheds had already had the smoke jack removed, so modeling this shed could solve the problem of the undersized smoke jack and prhaps the other details can be painted on. I have included some photos for reference of both the model and the prototype as well as the drawings I was working from.

 Drawings from Southern Pacific Common Standard Book volume 5

The model:

The prototype:

Shut up and take my money!!!

To say I am excited about Athearn's most recent announcement is an understatement. 


http://www.athearn.com/newsletter/052716/01_Genesis_GP40P-2_052716.pdf


I have always been a fan of the Bicentennial units and this was the last one I needed to complete the trio.  Also considering that the other two units were released by Athearn and Bowser respectively about the same time this announcement has been a long time coming.  This is also one of the units I asked Shane about a couple years ago at the Worlds Greatest Hobby Show in San Diego (here's hoping for DD35s and SDP40Fs will be coming soon). 


Now the sad part is that since I have decided to model the Sunset Route this locomotive will most likely become a shelf queen as the GP40P-2s like the SDP45s were usually held in captive service for the commutes in the Bay Area and when they did venture out in freight service it was usually only over Donner Pass or to Los Angeles on a Saturday so that they could return to the Bay Area on Sunday to resume commuter service on Monday.  So the likelihood that this locomotive would make an appearance in Yuma is low however if there are things I have learned in this hobby is never say never and there is a prototype for everything. So if anybody has any photographic evidence that these locomotives ever ventured to Yuma please contact me and share.  Since these were the reserve power for the business train it is possible they made a run in that capacity.


On another note I realize this blog seems a bit neglected which I hope to rectify in the future.  I recently returned from a two and a half week road trip across the southern United States and yes some railroad sites did make the itinerary but more on that another time.

Final closure on the status of the Somerton Branch?

So the other day I was driving by and noticed a Union Pacific work crew working in the area where the Somerton Branch begins.  For those not completely familiar with the layout of the tracks at the (railroad) west end of Yuma for the last few years there have been three tracks in the area of the passenger platform and the old yard office. At the end of the platform there was a crossover between the track closest to the yard office (true west) and the middle track.  After this crossover the closest track became the Somerton Branch and the middle and far tracks merge to cross the bridge.  A return visit today once again yielded a work crew in the area but in one spot where there should have been a crossover and three tracks there were only two tracks. It appears that after nearly three decades of not being used by the railroad and an embargo on the line the Union Pacific has decided to finally officially abandon the line (which has been unofficially abandoned since the tourist Yuma Valley Railroad ceased operations) and severed its link to the mainline.  While this is not a complete surprise as there are many segments of this branch that have been removed for road improvements further down the line but most of these were south of the power plant and desalinization plant  which both seemed to maintain rail spurs although if I recall correctly the line into the desalinization plant was cut the last time I drove by the area taking that industry offline. An interesting side note is that the desalinization plant was constructed well after the time period that most people give for SP ceasing operations on the Somerton Branch.  This is also an interesting move because when the Arizona Department of Transportation repaved Fourth Avenue a year or so ago they were required to replace the tracks crossing Fourth Avenue albeit with abandoned signs under the cross bucks.  One would think if the line was truly abandoned and was going to be severed from the mainline this unnecessary time and expense would not have been taken.  So it appears that the Somerton Branch is now officially history however as this is a key area in my planned phase one of construction I will be making repeated visits and keeping an eye on this.  below are some photos taken today unfortunately as far as cell phone photos go they are pretty bad lighting wise.  they are also taken from the opposite perspective that I had described the tracks from earlier.

A UP maintenance truck sits were the crossover used to be.  Interestingly a prototype for my current modeling project also appears in this photo.

The shadows make it hard to see, but the rail for Somerton branch end about the rear tire of the truck.

The Invasion is over

Since late December or early January (I really cant remember) our house has been invaded by the grandparents. first it was the in-laws who left at the end of February only to be replaced the next day by my parents.  So it has been a long time of having house guests.  The upside is that my father is also a model railroader and enjoys research so we spent some time digging through archives while he was here.  The Arizona Historical Societies archives are split between multiple locations and as previously mentioned we visited the Tucson portion of the archives.  On a whim we decided to revisit the Yuma archives and discovered that they had just gotten a bunch of their photos back from being cataloged.  These photos  yielded much information but as is always the case for every question answered at least two new ones were formed.  So now I just have to find time to go look through the non-rail pictures to see what they yield.  As far as projects go I am in the process of reorganizing my garage so that I can use my tools but with the temperatures already climbing into the 90's it will likely be next fall until I can start building phase 1(more on that later).

Another attack of life

Well not much too much has gone on hobby wise in the last few weeks.  Once again my work schedule changed and I have had a couple family members with health issues. So consider it another severe attack of life.  I did however find a short window to visit the Arizona State Historical Society archive in Tucson. While this did yield some information some of the areas I was most hopeful about finding information about turned out to be a dead end.  I am also currently  in the process of trying to better organize my garage so that I not only can find all of my tools but have the space to work on possible layout sections. So heres hoping that the coming weeks offer more progress than the last few weeks.

Some Unlikely Sources of Information

I am constantly trying different web searches in an effort to find information on the prototype be it operations or just photos.  It should be noted that Google and Bing will yield different results as they use different methods to determine search results.  Recently I have come across information in some unlikely places.  First was a picture from 1982 on a New Zealand travel blog that showed an eastbound train about to pass under the 16th Street overpass.  Here is a link to the full size picture on the blog http://transpressnz.blogspot.com/2015/03/southern-pacific-sd45-leads-freight.html

Another unlikely source of information National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) website http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/railroad.aspx which contains most of the accident reports generated over the years many in downloadable PDF format.  In these reports I have located three of interest; an accident involving HAZMAT at Thermal, CA, an Ordinance explosion at Benson, AZ and a head on collision in Yuma.  While the first two incidents do not yield information specifically about Yuma the trains involved had or would have passed through Yuma en-route to their final destinations.  All three accident reports contained what was effectively wheel reports and consist information for the trains. as well as operational information.  The reports also include pictures and diagrams however the pictures look like black and white photo copies of color photos.  The most interesting part of these reports turned out to be the attached railroad documents.  An interesting form contained in the Yuma accident report was the Rule G certification form; this form was to be filled out and signed by the conductors of outbound trains certifying that the members of the train crew were not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.  This form could actually add an interesting twist to operations if implemented on a layout.

Rule G certification form from NTSB report NTSB/RAR-88/02

The final unlikely source of information was Facebook.  My wife deserves the credit for finding this gem but there is a group on Facebook that shares historical pictures of Yuma, many of them railroad related.  Since she has shown me this I have stumbled upon many similar groups for other cities. Hopefully the next few months will yield some great photos on that group.

Adventures in hand laying track

While I did not have time to post this the other day, on Thursday I completed the filing bending and soldering portion of my first Fast Tracks turnout.  As I completed this project I noticed that my skill was improving as I wen along so I made the decision that I will most likely not use the Quick Sticks that came with the kit at this time because these first few units are practice and rail is a lot cheaper than Quick Sticks, so I will save those for when I feel my skill is sufficient to make a turnout that rivals prefabbed ones. 


But before we continue with that thought lets start off with the fact that prior to the last year I never had any desire to hand lay track, in fact I considered it tedious and unnecessary work; this was especially true with all of the great track offerings now available.  This all changed in the last couple years due to a couple factors, first I realized that I was not going to have a permanent layout space for many more years so any construction I was going to do now would need to be modular and so there was going to be some serious track work at the module junctions and everything I heard was that hand laid track holds up and keeps its gauge better than flex track.  Supply was also an issue as we all remember the track shortage just a short while ago and while I could go with an American made track like Micro Engineering their selection of turnouts is limited. Another factor is that I am considering trying the AP program because after listening to various podcasts a few MMRs have made it seem like it is not as difficult as it appears on paper.  Don't get me wrong the accomplishment of becoming a Master Model Railroader is still huge but people like Clark Kooning and Miles Hale have made me realize that the requirements for each of the categories as listed at NMRA.org over complicate things and make it seem daunting to even attempt.  Being introduced to the Fast Tracks product line also helped spur this development as I knew from experience in  former life working in a machine shop, that a jig is essential to consistently replicating an item during fabrication.  I also knew that jigs were virtually fool proof (knowledge also gained at the same shop) Finally I realized cost was significantly lower to hand lay even with the cost of the jig, especially for specialty track work such as crossovers. for example it is $18 US to build a Fast Tracks number 6 turnout (after the jig and tools have been amortized) versus $39 US for a Walthers/Shinohara turnout.  Although the savings is less with Atlas or ME turnouts I wanted to keep my turnouts consistent and Walthers has the greatest variety of turnouts (and I know they aren't the best either) so I used Walthers for comparison. even with roughly $270 US in tools to purchase the break even point is only 13 turnouts which will most likely be accomplished on the east end of the Yuma Main Yard.  As I mentioned this break even point is smaller with more complex track work and add to all of this that Southern Pacific liked to do weird things like use wye switches at the end of double track (they called them high speed equilateral)hand laying just made sense. Sadly the cost advantage is not there for straight and curved track but that is a decision for another day.


So back to my adventures in hand laying track as promised by Tim when I purchased the Jig from him in Portland I found the process fairly easy, slightly addictive and calming.  Plus the huge satisfaction I got from building something from scratch.  I did get ahead of myself and skip a couple steps and rushed through some others but over all the end result wasn't bad.  next time I will do a couple things differently such as not touch my knuckle to a hot soldering iron when trying to solder in a confined space but overall it was an enjoyable experience and I have included a photo of the first attempt for posterity purposes. This experience has created more questions however; I had considered using smaller rail for the Somerton Branch and I even by chance located the point where the prototype transitions to lighter rail (I included that picture as well).  The problem is that having only ever worked  with code 100 track the code 83 rail looked tiny and at first it was difficult to handle for my giant hands so I am not sure I want to attempt code 70 and definitely not code 55 rail on the branchline.  I could up my mainline rail to code 100 but the general consensus is that that is over sized unless you are modeling the Pennsy and their 155lb rail.  Guess I need to pull out my track chart and see what rail was used on this line but that's for another day.

First attempt at a turnout

Change in rail size on Somerton Branch

Lots of irons in the fire

So the last week or has been kind of hectic and not much real progress has been made on the layout.  On a positive note I did receive several reference items in the mail that I had acquired through various sources.  EBay yielded a track chart of the Tucson Division from 1982 and train orders issued at Yuma from the 70's and 80's.  Although Yuma was CTC territory special instructions were issued in the form o train orders and some off these orders were very informative.  For instance I now know approximately when the visual defect detectors were replace with over the radio detectors.  I also acquired Wesley Fox' Southern Pacific Across the Southwest which had some interesting photos of the Sunset Route from my modeling time frame.  As far as track planning goes I have decided to divide the layout into phases following the One Module at a time philosophy discussed recently by Joe Fugate and the staff at Model Railroad Hobbyist http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/.  After talking with Joe and visiting his Siskiyou Line layout during the NMRA National Convention Last August I realized that this approach was probably much better than trying to imagine the exact dimensions of my future layout area.  Also during that convention I was able to visit author Tom Dill's layout and noted how well a layout worked that was centered on one rail yard.  So I have started taking the information I have and am trying to design a reasonable facsimile of the Yuma AZ Main Yard and Old Yard as they would appear in the late 70's/ early 80's.  This will be phase one of my design and construction with the adjacent Dieselville Yard and Yuma East Yards being phase 2 and 3 respectfully.  Following that I plan to design and build a representation of the Somerton Branch Also known as the Yuma Valley Railroad as phase 4.  Phase 5 will be to work east and west of Yuma as time and inspiration allow with the idea of reaching Indio in the west and Wellton in the east.  After that we will see what happens but I do have some ideas.  At the same time as this is going on I decided to actually try my hand at hand laying and building turnouts using the Fast Tracks Jig I acquired in Portland.  So far I am only on step 3 of 11 and have invested at least an hour but I see many places I could shave time off.  Lastly my work schedule changed so we will see how much hobby time I can squeeze in in the next year.

The Black Hole

So why do I refer to this section of railroad as “The Black Hole”?  The answer is simple there is a dearth of information on this railroad from Indio to Tucson.  While there have been terrific books written on the Sunset Route as a whole little attention has been paid to Yuma and the surrounding area.   A great example of this black hole of information is the railroad section of the local chapter of the Arizona Historical Society archives.  While the archives list folders for all decades of the 1900’s the folder for the 1980’s, which is the middle of the time frame I am interested in, is just an empty folder.  Google searches yield some examples of items that should be in this folder such as newspaper clippings or NTSB accident reports (there was a fatality accident on the railroad within Yuma city limits in that decade) but even this information is limited.  This lack of historical information and more importantly photos is understandable as the environment on this line is as inhospitable as it gets and even today parts of this line are super remote.   Also Yuma itself did not really become the fast growing metropolitan area until recently.   Unfortunately time is my enemy on this endeavor the Union Pacific cannot seem to tear any reminders of the Southern Pacific down fast enough.  The diesel shop was torn down with no fanfare and the old searchlight signals are being replaced one by one, with the classic SP signal bridges being left on the side of the right of way to rust.  Recently UP vacated the yard offices in old town and moved into a new facility at east yard so I do not know how long those facilities will remain the only bright side is that new LED flood lights were installed on the Amtrak platform where the old depot used to be but the depot burned down in 1993 and was replaced by a war memorial park.  So I will close this post with a request for help; if any readers have any information on this section of rail line or know where to find it specifically photos from the 70’s to the 90’s please contact me.