Current Projects

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By the end of the third trip to Nebraska we had track laid through the loops, staging, Duluth and the West Duluth yard. We had also begun to drop feeder wires. About one pair of feeders for each 40” section of track. We have a lot of wires to drop! The West Duluth roundhouse is seen here, but it is not yet placed as we’re waiting for the turntable. The roundhouse, all of them, are made from 2 Atlas kits each. The grade in the foreground is just under 1%.

To the left is a photo of our version of the West Duluth trestle. The prototype was ½ mile long and went up and over the neighborhoods of West Duluth. The three story depot is a scratch-built model built by Scott while the trestle is a mix of Grand Central Gems bents and decks, kit bashed girder bridge sections and scratch-built details. This feature is being built by O scale modeler Jeff McDonald. It is about 22’ long and that is highly compressed from the prototype. You can just see Sara in the background; she’s a bit weary after a week of track laying.  

Looking from the doorway to the reverse side of the trestle and depot. Once completed, the layout design inhibits this view of the depot. All those stairs on the backside will be tough to see.

One more view of the trestle and depot. The loco is a Williams 2-8-0 which will require some modifications to appear as DWP/CN motive power.

A view down the Duluth aisle and a look at the Atlas flex track that Sara put down over the course of 4 days. There will be close to 3000’ of this code 148 track laid down before the golden spike is driven.

We installed benchwork along the East and North walls during the forth trip to Lincoln. This photo provides a glimpse at the extent of this layout. Noah is working on lowering the upper level benchwork 6”.  

Noah and Scott discuss an important point while laying out the Ft. Francis yard. The pile of empty boxes in the foreground represent a fraction of the Atlas switches that this project requires. The empty floor space will be crowded with more railroad in a few short months.

A couple of views of the finished model West Duluth depot. The tower in the rear housed an elevator for freight. The DWP was not a busy passenger line and this Depot was not the scene of crowded platforms and bustling passengers. The windows and doors are custom made resin castings that are available through Scale Art Parts.

One of our first trains run on the new track work zips through the staging on the lower level. The supports for the upper level will be finished with the fascia and will look much nicer than they do currently. We put together a mixed bag of 16 freight cars to check out our track laying and grades. The Weaver 2-8-0 had no difficulty pulling the light grade between Duluth and staging. We had no derailments during our test runs. We’re still just using a single cheap DC power pack that is clip to one set of leads. The DCC is yet to come.

My son, Aram took this neat shot of the station board through the open box car doors. Jeff will be returning to the layout soon to finish the trestle. The legs for the girder bridge are not final. We also have to hide the wire drops.

Photo by Aram Anderson

Photo by Aram Anderson

Photos by Aram Anderson

Photos by Aram Anderson

Uncle Pete visits the DWP! In a flight of fancy a UP Challenger rumbles across the West Duluth trestle as Noah and Scott watch closely for any signs of trouble. While our 60” minimum radii cause the boiler to swing way out to the side, the loco negotiated the DWP right of way with no problems. The Challenger is a Sunset 3rd. Rail locomotive.

Photo by Aram Anderson

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