Steam & Excursion > Friends Weekend at ATT&NW

An earlier post mentioned the weekend visit of four Cagney 4-4-0 steamers to the 15" gauge Arborway, TT & Northwestern Railroad as part of the annual gathering of "Friends of the Railroad."

The ATT&NW was built by the late St. Louis investment banker John R. Woods on his 2500-acre farm in the Missouri Ozarks and, at the time of his 2008 death, was merely "Phase One" of a master plan he envisioned that would include a three-mile extension of the main line over a rugged section of the farm, requiring several large trestles, a steel bridge and many cuts and fills. A small branch line was also in the works.

Today, the Woods family has placed ownership of the entire railroad into a non-profit IRS 501c3 setup, assuring that the railroad and rolling stock will remain intact, as John wished. Although there are no plans for the grand extensions that John had planned, the current railroad features a main line run of 3-5/8 miles, with more than 5 miles of track on the ground, along with two large tunnels and main line grade of two percent. The main line is entirely ABS-signalled and many of the grade crossings have standard railroad grade crossing protection. A second part of the railroad, the "Upper Loop Subdivision," is a mile or so of closed-loop that is perfect for hosting small steam locomotives and other guest equipment not equipped with air brakes. Rolling stock includes the entire roster from Glenn Bell's former Bell Gardens Railway in San Diego County, California.

The ATT&NW's 4-8-4, #801, is believed to be the largest 15-inch gauge steam locomotive in North America. Coupler-to-coupler it is 32 feet long and weighs 20,000 pounds.

The visiting Cagneys spent most of their time on the Upper Loop Subdivision during the "Friends Weekend."

The Cagneys were provided by John Rimmasch of Wasatch Railroad Contractors and the House Of David 15" gauge railroad in Benton Harbor Michigan.

For more information on the ATT&NW, a current roster of rolling stock, and upcoming events when the public may visit, please see our website at http://www.arborwayrailroad.com

1. Two of the Cagneys pause on the Upper Loop Trestle as ATT&NW #801 climbs the Meramec River Subdivision mainline in the background.

2. Saturday morning steamup time as 801 backs out of her stall in the ATT&NW roundhouse.

3. 801 and train emerge from the 800-foot Ozark Mountain Tunnel on the Meramec River Subdivision with an uphill train. The single-track tunnel is protected by fully-functional ABS.

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4. A work train drops ballast at River Road crossing on ATT&NW's Meramec River Subdivision, using the the railway's Davenport diesel #27 and one of the two m-o-w ballast cars constructed in the railway's car shop. "Friends Weekend" usually begins with a Friday work session attending to track and signal maintenance issues. The diesel was built for ATT&NW by Hillcrest Shops in Reedley, Calif.

5. A Friday work party helped install the control box and several hundred feet of conduit and actuator gear at River Road crossing for the railroad's recently-acquired Griswold grade crossing signal. The stand and stop sign of the Griswold were mounted and working for the weekend, and signal maintainer Zachary Gillihan will install the lights and classic Griswold "harp" in the coming months. The challenge here is the signal is almost a half mile from commercial power. Here, farm manager George Cottner assists in spreading ballast around the signal box.

6. Gillihan (r) and railroad Chief Engineer Alex Beams (l) calculate the mounting angle for the solar panel that will provide recharging power to the batteries powering the Griswold signal. When the signal is fully functional and complete, the railroad hopes to find another equally-exotic signal for the other side of the River Road crossing.

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7. ATT&NW #801 at milepost 5.75 on Meramec River Subdivision with uphill train. Note superelevation on curve.

8. 801 and train along Bell Lake near Woodsvalley Farm station.

9. The Great Race. John Rimmasch of Wasatch Railroad Contractors races his Cagney 4-4-0 with ATT&NW 801 along Bell Lake, with ATT&NW's "Tennessee" Angles at the throttle of the 4-8-4.

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Holy cow - that's an impressive engine and layout!

Thanks for sharing these pics and the background story!

/Mitch

Couldn't have asked for a better day Saturday for this. Seventy two degrees, great people, coal smoke, barking exhaust. I left before the Cagney races though and wish I hadn't.
Saturday night I missed the Bluegrass music by the Ozark Alliance, a super family group too.
Was also honored and priviledged to see a great young man propose to his pretty sweetheart. I wish them a long happy life
together.
It was also great to meet John Rimmasch after talking to him on the phone over the years. Good people!

Great pictures! Now, we need video clips please, esp. of 801 pulling a load....anything....gotta hear them!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/12 18:32 by OKTrainboys.

For clips of 801 in action, http://www.arborwayrailroad.com

Posted from iPhone

Is the resemblance between the 801 and the Cotton Belt's 800 Class L and L1 Northern's a coincidence or is there a correlation here?

I would love to tell you that the SSW 800-class 4-8-4s influenced 801's design, particularly since my Dad's late uncle, W.T. Miller, Cotton Belt CMO, was instrumental in the design and construction of the Cotton Belt Northerns.

Not the case, here.

But as soon as I laid eyes on the 801, I wanted to know what influenced her design, so I asked her designer, both via email and in-person.

ATT&NW 801 was designed and built by Darrel Klopmaker and crew at Merrick Light Railway Works in Wisconsin. I asked him several times about what influenced the design of this engine, and he repeatedly told me that the 801 was designed specifically for the railroad it was built for---the ATT&NW--with relatively high-speed main lines, a grueling 2 percent grade and (for 15" gauge) heavy trains. I said it looked like a Frisco or Cotton Belt engine. He said it is an ATT&NW engine. It's not designed to match a particular prototype. Fair enough. But that engine sure looks right at home in Missouri, and if it looks like a Frisco or Cotton Belt engine, then so be it.

BTW, at the time of his unfortunate death after a motorcycle accident, railroad owner John R. Woods was investigating the cost and feasibility of shipping 801 to the UK for a summer of running on several 15" gauge railroads in the UK, particularly the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch.

DRB



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/03/12 08:00 by Alco251.

Great to see an investment banker who used his wealth for something constructive, and FUN

The ATT&NW is like no other miniature railroad I've seen. Incredible detail on the 801, too. Wish I could have been there, maybe next time. Thanks for posting these pictures.

I had the privilege to attend the Friends Weekend at ATT&NW this year. I was blown away by the railroad, the site, the people, and the potential for this place. I'll be working on the video of this year's event over the winter.

Here's an early morning foggy photo from Saturday. The roundhouse is on the right.

Steve Mitchell
http://www.yardgoatimages.com

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Shameless plug for our favorite soft drink, imported from eastern Kentucky, next to our favorite 15" gauge 4-8-4...

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Son of a gun. Had I known you had some of that there, I would have begged one from you just to see what it's like.