"Along The Blue" #9 | 0 Comments - Click Here :

113 years ago today:

Summit County Journal; Feb 28, 1900;
Some More Storms.
    Last Saturday's Journal vouchsafed the prediction that the C&S railroad would be free from snow and open for traffic on that day between Como and Leadville - the territory covered by the snow-blockade. That prediction was made in good faith, and would undoubtedly have proved true, were it not for the fatal disability to the rotary snow plow, ascending Boreas Pass from the Como side on that date.
    On the way to Denver for repairs the big whirling machine collided with a locomotive and further disabled its vital parts, so that by the time repairs were completed the territory between Breckenridge and Como previously open for traffic was visited by another terrific northerner and blockaded for a period of three full days.
    In the meantime the half dozen engines hemmed in between Boreas and Kokomo ran out of coal and all efforts to open the High Line were practically abandoned.
    Today the rotary is endeavoring to plow its way through the snow in the Ten Mile, which when accomplished will be the means of relieving Frisco, Kokomo and Robinson, where they have not been favored with a mail since February 14.
    No freight has passed over this end of the C&S system during the past two weeks, but the railroad people say that the system will be open by tonight.
    A Pointer - It takes a good and substantial roadbed, first-class engines, plenty of fuel and a strong rotary plow to operate a railroad over the hazardous territory traversed by the High Line and without all these requisites the management cannot expect to perform even fairy satisfactory service.

Roper Sez: | 9 Comments - Click Here :

Gee whiz Pa... When you gonna post those layout photos you've been promising everybody?

    So... I still haven't purchased that new camera that was on my to do list, but here are some recent pictures of the layout as it stands today anyways:

    I constructed the backdrop and wings out of Gatorboard. I found a local source with very reasonable pricing ( Laird Plastics ). They have offices nationwide, so check them out. All of my future benchwork and layout construction will be made using this material. The wings (view blocks) are hinged and can fold inward when being transported. Currently, only one of them is finished, with a sign and a digital photo frame containing a slideshow of prototype photographs. The other wing will have a similar setup.

   I have yet to order the skirting for the layout. But I found a commercial company ( Premier Table Linens ) that again, seems to offer reasonable rates. The red trim on the fascia will be the topic of a future blog post.

    The backdrop is in desperate need of landscape painting. The blue base is very intense right now. Eventually very little of it will be visible, as a long ridge of mountains are directly behind Dickey and the sky will also portray a fairly cloudy day.

 

    It took a while to get it right, but I'm pleased with the LED lighting I installed in the aluminum angled valance. Many thanks for the recommendations from Ted Dilorio, Bernie Kempinski and Ronald Halma. I started with three warm white strips. But they were too yellow; so I ordered 3 bright white strips. They were too blue. But mixed together, I think they are just right. Its hard to tell since no scenery or finished models populate the layout yet. In the future I will add an RGB strip for special lighting effects. What a great and inexpensive way to light a layout!

   

    My next steps are to construct the two staging cassettes and install the skirting. Then the layout will be moved out into the family room, and my life will return to the workbench and building models again!

"Along The Blue" #8 | 1 Comments - Click Here :

    With rodeo season fast approaching, any available free time I've had (which hasn't been much) has been spent working on the Dickey layout instead of blogging. Although I've made allot of progress, I'm not ready to post any proof of it yet, as I'm still experimenting with color temperatures for the LED lighting that I installed.
    Photographic evidence of my progress will be posted in the following week or so. For now, please enjoy another installment of adventure and tragedy along the C&S, in all it's graphic and gory detail!

The Leadville Daily and Evening Chronicle; Feb 8, 1892;
KILLED ON THE CARS
W.O. Hook, a Brakeman on the South Park, Meets a Violent Death Early Sunday Morning. 
     Another accident, resulting in loss of life, occurred Sunday morning, making a total of three on the Denver and South Park Railroad during the past eight days. W.O. Hook, a brakeman, was struck on the head with a club from the effects of which he died three hours later. But very little is known of the accident, as Hook spoke only a few words afterward. It seems that when his train, a freight, was standing at a station on the east side of Breckenridge, about 4 O'clock Sunday morning, Hook left the caboose for the purpose of setting or loosening the brakes. On the mountain divisions of the various railroads it is customary with the brakemen to use a "club", in order that the brakes may more easily be tightened. The "club" is a piece of hard wood, nearly two inches in diameter and round in form. It is about two feet in length and weighs probably two pounds.
    A few moments after the train arrived at Breckenridge, the door of the caboose was opened and Hook staggered in, remarking he had been struck with a club. He fell in a heap on one of the seats and passed immediately into a comatose condition. The other members of the crew were sitting in the caboose at the time; but thought nothing serious had happened and paid little attention to the matter. When the train arrived in Dickey however, one of the crew noticed that Hook was very pale and seemed to be very sick. He walked over to him and began shaking him but every effort to arouse him was in vain. An examination reveled a small lump immediately over the left temple, which was only discernible on the closest inspection.
    Upon arrival in Leadville, it was found that the injured man had passed beyond all human aid. The body was at once removed to the Morgue by Coroner Nelson. An inquest was deemed unnecessary, but a post-mortem examination was performed by the South Park company's surgeon, result of which is as follows:
Removing the skull cap found no fracture of skull, but an extraravation of blood forming a clot of about four ounces by weight, which came from a rupture of the temporal-artery, the pressure of which upon the brain caused death.
    The most plausible theory as to the cause of Hooks death is that he left his club in the brake wheel, and when air was released it made the wheel revolve quickly, throwing the club out and hitting him in the head.
    Hook leaves a wife, at present residing in Fort Collins.