Model Railroading > SP 8306 Allard horseshoe curve

The horsehoe curve at Allard affords the opportunity for its own train to serve as the backdrop as SD40T-2 8306 leads a mix of EMD and GE power over Tehachapi Pass on the La Mesa model railroad club layout in San Diego.

Elizabeth

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Looks great, Liz.
TC

I can almost smell the brake shoe smoke. Nice work, as always. You set a high bar in our hobby.

Arved Grass
Fleming Island, FL

That is nice. IF there is brakeshoe smoke, it's from a sticking brake as this is the climb toward Bealville.
JB

Your locomotive models are, of course, renowned-  but did you assemble all those beet gons too?!   Dear god, I could get carpal just thinking about it!
SR
 

Beautiful models on a wonderful layout.

Really nice models. Inspirational, really.

Jim

BoilingMan Wrote:
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> Your locomotive models are, of course, renowned- 
> but did you assemble all those beet gons too?! 
>  Dear god, I could get carpal just thinking about
> it!

There are (I think) 48 beet gons, all but three started as RTR models, the other three were the original kits.  I modified about 15-20 to represent the earliest style board extensions, which are most easily identified by having the L-shaped support bracket on the outside. 

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?3,4548472,4548477#msg-4548477

Unlike Dave Maffei's effort to scratch build those (https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?3,4637115,4637115#msg-4637115) I usually started* with the board extensions, disassembled them, and turned them inside-out before adding appropriate details.  A lot of the cars also had the location of the brake wheel mechanism relocated.  Weathering them all was tedious.

It's a fun train to run, I don't have to give any thought to where different types of cars fit in the train, at the end of the day there's no figuring out how to fit different length cars in the transport boxes, and it looks appropriate for the layout.  The 48 cars, locomotives, and caboose just fit into the shorter sidings on the layout (it's really tight at Caliente), trains long enough to exceed the length of sidings can create a bottleneck.  It isn't quite long enough to create the classic "over-under" scene at the loop.  IIRC, the caboose had just cleared tunnel 9.
 
*Several of the early board extension modifications started as the plywood version, only because I had several more of those than I wanted.  At the end of the day, I don't think it was easier than just building new ones, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.  Which happens to me a lot  ;-)

Elizabeth
 

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Wow. Well, they look great, and are a treat for those of us who remember them. (I saw them passing through Santa Barbara, usually late at night and usually behind SD9’s)
I have an old Details West kit I bought about 25-30yrs ago and never finished (maybe the way in which my modeling skills most match yours?)
SR

Your killing me Liz...😂 My favorite SP recipe, big power and beet racks. Would love to run my train and yours on that layout. 
Yes, I've completed 64 loaded four ounce cars. Here's the link you mentioned:
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?3,4637115,4637115#msg-4637115
I need to build / finish some beet worthy power now. Started with 8800 and need to finish more....
Thanks for sharing. If you have more photos, post away!
some photos of my beet madness and the custom made extension... Andthe Beet goes on...

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Did the model train have a read-end helper? (a photo posted on TO on Aug. 3, 2015 showed an empty beet train at Walong with a rear helper)

Looks great, thanks for sharing the inspiration.

BoilingMan Wrote:
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> Wow. Well, they look great, and are a treat for
> those of us who remember them. (I saw them
> passing through Santa Barbara, usually late at
> night and usually behind SD9’s)

I remember them heading north through Davis on the way to the Sprekkles sugar plant.

Posted from Android

Amazing, love everything about that photo. I vaguely remember the wooden beet racks, remember the steel hoppers with screen extensions that replaced them.

Nathan

Posted from iPhone