Deadwood Central Railroad

I was in Huntsville, Alabama a couple days ago and had the chance to visit the Deadwood Central Railroad, a truly amazing example of garden railroading. It models the town of Deadwood, South Dakota and the surrounding area, and is named after one of that region's early railroads. The owner, Dave Roesler, grew up in Deadwood and most of the structures historically replicate actual buildings in Deadwood from when he was a child in the 1950s.

A Deadwood Central local train crossing the creek with the help of a beautiful Pratt through truss bridge.

The railroad occupies a sloped area about 90 x 50 feet with a water feature running through it. It is filled with rocks and boulders and at first I assumed that all of them had been hauled into place. But it turns out much of the rock was there to start with and it provided the inspiration and guided plans for how the railroad would be laid out. Rather than starting with a blank canvas, Dave worked with and around the existing boulders, moving them when necessary and sometimes cutting through them, just like a real railroad would do. There are a couple of beautiful canyons which have been cut down into the existing terrain.

There is a large loop, probably about 250 feet, with many sidings for multiple industries. Just like the buildings in the town of Deadwood, the surrounding industries are modeled after actual structures that were around Deadwood.

Dave caught the railroading bug in 2002 with the purchase of a Deadwood Central steam engine. But it wasn't until around 2009 that construction on the railroad started, so this is still a relatively young railroad, and it's not done yet. There are more buildings he wants to add, and one of his next big projects will be adding lighting to the buildings.

I took about a hundred pictures but obviously can't share them all here. I hope you enjoy the ones I selected. I'm in Atlanta right now for the 2018 National Garden Railway Convention, so expect more garden railroad pictures soon!

Train pulling into the town of Deadwood, S.D.

This use of a retaining wall on top of the natural rock outcrop allows the railroad to continue around the curve without a change in slope. The retaining wall is built using a natural rock bathroom tile -- an idea I plan on stealing for the PE&A.

A close-up view of the lumber mill. It is busy producing square timbers for use in the mine.

The largest structure -- the mine head house and crusher building -- sits at the highest point on the railroad.

The Deadwood Central rolling stock has been custom painted with a weathered look.

I really liked this double track drop-girder bridge.

This station in the town of Deadwood was modeled after an actual station of the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad. It was scratch built using historic plans from the original building.

The DeSmet stamp mill.

Here's one example of a cut that was actually cut into the existing rock. It looks incredibly real -- because it is.

I forget what this structure is, but it was another large structure that I really liked and was situated perfectly in its environment.

This arched bridge greets the visitor to the Deadwood Central when they arrive. Made of steel and custom built by Mainline Bridges (as were the other bridges), it is anchored on concrete foundations poured on and around the rocks. The amount of detail in this and the other bridges is amazing, one of the standout features of this railroad.