Swing Gate

 Having finished laying track and wiring up my staging yard, I needed to build a removable section of track that carries trains in front of the entrance door.  I’ve used lift out sections in this spot on prior layouts and just wasn’t happy with the results.  The track in this area is on a 30” curve and I always seemed to have stability issues with the previous lift outs.  So this time I decided to build a much stabler and sturdier swing gate.  I built the gate out of 3/4” plywood and glued and screwed all of the sections together.  I plan on turning this into the Judith River trestle at some point, which is why the tracks are so far above the base of the swing gate.  I’m really pleased with the performance of the gate so far and have had no issues testing it with my pickiest engines and rolling stock.  

Side Project

I’ve been doing taxidermy on the side for about a decade now and really enjoy.  I took a break over the weekend from layout construction to finish an antelope mount for my sister.  It was her first antelope and she took it back in October of 2019.  I mounted it back in late September, but the head has just been sitting in my shop since, waiting to be finished.

  

Final Trackplan - Central Montana Railorad

After several months of designing different layouts in AnyRail, I finally settled on a plan and prototype that should keep me busy for a while.  My final choice is the Central Montana Railroad, which is a Class III shortline based out of Denton, MT.  The CMR's tracks start at the BNSF interchange in Moccasin, MT and then proceed to the NW going through Denton and ending in Geraldine.  The railroad used to move a large amount of grain, until their operations were brought to a standstill when the massive trestle over the Judith River was damaged in the 2012 spring floods.  The trestle has been repaired but most of the grain traffic has disappeared.  Currently, the CMR's operation's center around storing cars.  I spend alot of time in that part of the state and there is a large number of tank cars currently waiting for a rise in oil prices before returning to service.  Because of the a washout in Arrow Creek Gorge in 2006, the line has effectively ended at Coffee Creek, MT, with trains no longer serving Geraldine.  

I plan to stick fairly close to the prototype when building and operating the railroad, and it will be set in present day (2021).  However, I will deviate from prototype practices in several ways.  First, even though it's 2021, the elevators in Denton are still going to ship grain.  Second, I'm pretending that the tracks are still in service to Geraldine (represented in Staging), and the CMR will service a mythical unit grain elevator there.  Third, the gravel shipper near Ware, MT is still served by rail. 

My last and furthest stretch of the imagination is that the CMR's trackage (which is former Milw. Road) extends past Geraldine and continues into Great Falls (the tracks were pulled up in the 80's).  This will allow me to use my large collection of BNSF engines from time to time.  The line would serve as a backup to the BNSF Laurel Subdivision.  

The main operations of the CMR will center around Denton, MT.  I figure I will use two crews to work the railroad.  The first crew will take loaded/empty cars back to Moccasin for interchange with the BNSF and switch the Montana Gravel Spur.  The second crew will be responsible for switching out the industries in Denton.  I will run an extra for the unit train service to Geraldine.

I’m Back

Not sure if anyone who reads this really cares but I’m back after a long hunting season here in Montana.  Back in April I drew a limited-entry bull tag in the Missouri River Breaks.  Having never set foot in the unit I spent most of the 6 week bow season out there learning the unit.  It was a lot of fun and I had numerous close encounters with bulls. 

Come the start of rifle season things changed drastically.  Tow massive snowstorms pushed the vast majority of elk to private land.  I spent 3 solid weeks in the unit and never got within shooting distance of a decent bull.  I eventually found a rancher who was willing to let me explore his place.  My dad and I spent several days stomping around his land and eventually found a nice bull on Veterans Day.  He is an ancient warrior.  Not sure how old he is, but I sent a tooth to a lab for aging and my guess is he’s is 12+.  Most of his points are broken from fighting and he has mass for days.  Just an awesome looking bull to finish an amazing elk season.

Since I still had a week of hunting season left I decided to take my wife and sisters on a mule deer hunt up on the Canadian border.  We had a blast together and my huntresses managed to each get a nice buck!

Now that hunting season is finally over I can get to planning and building my next railroad empire.  Still not sure what direction I’m gonna go but I have a few plans I hope to upload in the next few days with operational details.

P.S. my truck, trailer, and horses are also glad the season is over!