2022 National Garden Railway Convention: Part 4

This set of pictures is from our last day touring layouts in Colorado

Tuscarora Railroad

The Tuscarora Railroad is set in 1916 in Pennsylvania (it's modeled after a branch of the East Broad Top Railroad) and it features some amazing modeling work.

A small loading facility supported by a mix of logs and lumber boards.

I liked this scene of loading logs on a flat car, with a partially finished log cabin in the background.

Another station along the line. I like the use of planks on top of the tracks where it is crossing a small ravine, as presumably horses or pedestrians would be crossing here as well.

San Miguel Southern Railway

The San Miguel Southern Railway was a large layout built into a slope that led up to a fence at the back of the garden. Lots and lots of rock was used to provide tiers for building on. There were a a number of sidings and this seemed like it could well for railroad operating sessions. 

Cattle grazing in a field of succulents.

A lot catches the eye here from the bridges in the foreground to the stamp mill clinging to the hill above.

A nice curved trestle helps the railroad navigate a small canyon.

Cat Mountain Railroad

The Cat Mountain Railroad isn't a very large layout but it has a whole lot packed in to provide interest. This layout was started eight years ago. I like the use of flagstone as a bridge.

The layout is built on a raised bed and then a whole lot of very attractive rocks help raise the center of the layout higher.

And a lot of great plantings around the entire layout provide splashes of color.

The Golden Spires Railroad

The Golden Spires Railroad was inspired by the owners' love for Disneyland. It is still a work in progress, and completed buildings are interspersed with two-dimensional renderings of future buildings that are in progress so you can see what will be there in the future.

Lots of curves and stone arch trestles and tunnels. Like a ride a Disneyland the railroad twists and turns and you're never quite sure where it is headed next.

The locomotive is very much in the style of Disneyland trains.

B&E Colorado & Northern Pass Railroad

The B&E Colorado & Northern mainline loops around the entire backyard twice, requiring some elevation at one end to help keep the lines level. Here the outer loop floats above the garden while the inner loop rests on a long trestle. 

A street tram provides service along main street.

The mainline also passes underneath a mountain lake and waterfall.

Flowers, quilts, garden trains and flags. Was this made for me?

I like the use of large PVC pipes for grain silos. Or is it perhaps a water filtration system for the pond?

The Denver & Clear Creek Railway

The Denver & Clear Creek Railway was the last layout we visited and it was a great last stop. It's a new railroad, just started last year, and so far there is a long dog bone loop and expansion is already in progress. They were running a long freight train when we stopped by headed by two locomotives.

A town and I think there might be a train there but really this picture is all about the incredible view. I could have sat here for hours just enjoying the view.

 

A mountain cabin and a windmill, echoed by another windmill in the distance.

I'm really just focused on the view here and the ranch buildings in the background.

A train barely made it in this picture of the Front Range.

2022 National Garden Railway Convention: Part 3

Sharing photos from day three of layout visits in Colorado. I hope you enjoy them.

Red Cliff, Denver and Rio Grande RR

The Red Cliff, Denver and Rio Grande RR is a nice raised layout that allows two trains to run independently. Here we see a passenger train on the upper track while some maintenance-of-way cars pass on the lower track.

My favorite feature was this 16 foot long engine house with roof sections that tilt up to allow access along the entire length of the building. The side toward the railroad is decorated with false building fronts so it provides a nice backdrop to the railroad.

There is a single track running into the train shed and then it splits into three tracks inside.

Another cool feature was using an old train car to hide electrical switches. This blended in so well I almost missed it.

Worthington Central Railroad

One part of the Worthington Central Railroad is a raised railroad floating above a planter bed. Here a train hauling logs floats through the vegetation.

This koi seemed to be posing for the camera.

A very nice five-track yard in a storage shed, with a very nice pair of folding doors.

Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad Ridgeview Division

What I really liked about this railroad is how it was split in two personalities. One side of the layout had sufficient shade to allow a lush garden to develop with all sorts of dwarf and miniature plants and groundcovers.

While the other side of the layout which had more sun exposure featured exposed rock, catcus and other xeriscape plants. 

Great Southern and Western Railway

The Great Southern and Western Railway is set in the 1940s in a rough, mountainous terrain with minimal vegetation. A lot of various rock types are used to create a very rough environment requiring multiple bridges. Trains are hauling ore from mines and whole logs from lumber camps, and there is a small village as well.

A double-track through truss bridge in the foreground and a trestle in the back crossing over another track. Also notice the stone arch in the upper right-hand corner.

This layout features a lot of very detailed modeling which made it very fun to explore. Here a station sits up above the tracks which must be reached by a long staircase.

A lumber mill is the destination for the logs. Behind the mill is a very cool stepped-back retaining wall.

Another view of the village.

Here is a loading facility for mine ore. I really like seeing HO scale track used for the mine cars.

A close up view of one of the mine portals.

A loaded ore train is about to head under a long, curved trestle. This was one of my favorite railroad layouts I saw in Colorado.

Windsor Extension, Rio Grande Southern

The last train we visited on this day was the Windsor Extension, Rio Grande Southern. The layout is spread out over a large garden area which allowed fast moving trains over long, sweeping curves.

There are over 90 feet of trestles, including this long curving trestle following the edge of the lawn.

I really like the use of cribbing along this road cut through the bushes. A passenger streamliner is just disappearing around the curve.

This was also a very cool feature—a bridge directly into a tunnel built from stacked stone.

2022 National Garden Railway Convention: Part 2

What I enjoy most about going through all the pictures I took at the convention is seeing details I hadn't noticed. Most railroads have so much detail that there isn't enough time for me to capture it all while I'm there, so I take lots of pictures.

Gruenenwalt Berg Bahn

I really like the Grunenwalt Berg Bahn because it felt so natural in the garden. A 300 foot loop slowly winds its way throughout the garden, passing through and under mature plantings, and passing villages and other buildings like you see in this picture. Nearly everything except the track is scratch built, with many houses of fired clay and others of wood with tin roofs.

A beautiful curved arched truss passes over a dry stream bed.

And I also really liked seeing cows grazing in a field of dwarf marigolds. I didn't notice the quilts hanging on the clothes line until I was reviewing pictures.

A beautiful trestle and bridge crossing the dry stream bed. I was paying a lot of attention to different trestle styles as I was touring as I need to figure out what I'm going to be building.

Saint Mary and All Angels Railway

The Saint Mary and All Angels Railway is tucked into a rather small garden and demonstrated how a railroad can fit into whatever space you have. A giant statue of Mary looks down on passing trains.

My favorite feature was this collection of adobe buildings on top of a red rock mountain and a warehouse in the canyon below. If you look carefully you can see three nuns at the door of the church singing over the canyon.

And in another part of the garden a stream tumbles by a depot and grain elevator.

DB Railroad of Germany

Next up was the DB Railroad of Germany, another great reminder that a garden is just as important as the railroad that passes through it. Many, many tons of rock were placed to create a mountainous landscape that rises toward the back. Here we see a line winding around a pond stocked with koi.

And here the train passes over cataracts of the stream feeding the pond.

Two railroad bridges and an auto bridge pass over a dry creek in another part of the layout.

Most of the village residents seem to be hanging out in a Biergarten.

In another part of the garden, what was a concrete patio has been converted into a multiple track yard with an oil refinery at one end.

Colorado & Sparktown Railroad

The Colorado & Sparktown Railroad was definitely a wow moment and I wasn't surprised to learn that it had been featured in Garden Railways Magazine. A very long but relatively narrow layout along a slope with over 1,300 feet of track, the multiple loops allow for running up to nine trains simultaneously.

Can you see the train? There are so many manicured plants that at times the railroad completely disappears in the garden.

A passenger train crosses a small stream crosses one of the 19 bridges on the layout. I really like the cow pasture and the near-vertical wall of rock in the background.

This is the main street in the city of Sparktown, circa mid-1950s.

Another view of Sparktown showing the building roofs. A truly amazing amount of detail in modeling.

Here a Galloping Goose passes by a church on the edge of town.

A gorgeous lumber yard just outside of town.

And a tool shop along the tracks.

There was so much to see along the Colorado & Sparktown and these photos capture just a small fraction of what is there. Every aspect of this railroad was picture perfect.

Gold Dust & Red Rocks Railroad

A stream wanders through the Gold Dust & Red Rocks Railroad requiring multiple bridge crossings, all of which were scratch built. Lots of mature plants as well as this railroad was started 24 years ago. 

A key feature is a 40-foot long curved trestle that is double tracked on one end. Here a train is starting across the trestle, and note the arch bridge in the background.

Another view of the trestle.

I was planning on using bricks as a foundation for my trestle, but then I saw these custom made poured foundations and I think I might give this a try.

I didn't realize there was a connection between balloons and railroads, but I saw them so frequently on Colorado layouts that I think I need one now.