Eureka branchline

In previous posts, I spoke about operations and adding branchlines and then the Kalispell branchline in particular. In this article, I talk about the Eureke branchline.

The internet and google is an amazing resource. I mentioned in the "Adding Branchlines" article that I had fount that the Mission Mountain Railroad ran (run) two branchlines. The one being Kalispell and then the other, Eureka. So, I then did a search on rail industries in Eureka. First link to pop up was the "Gwynn Lumber and Reload Inc". I was looking for more industries to enable additional and varied cars to be sent to this town. However, again, this Gwynn Lumber and Reload came up trumps. By reading the information in the web page, the following was stated: -

"Gwynn Lumber and Reload Inc, is an international reload facility. Our speciality is transferring dimensional lumber from truck to rail car or truck to truck. We ship lumber all over the continental U.S. and some overseas markets. Our facility is not just subject to lumber products. We have also reloaded wood pellets and wood pulp. Gwynn Lumber has many enquiries about other products coming from and going to Canada. We have the capacity to handle them in most cases. Some of these products include diesel fuel, coal, heavy equipment, and various other products".


By looking at the above, I can have petroleum cars, coal hoppers, flat cars with heavy duty vehicles on board and all this to compliment the normal wood products of the area.

Now, again, how was I going to incorporate this into my existing layout? Initially, I thought about putting a siding on the other side of the peninsular before heading to the visible staging. At the time I was thinking about the return loop for the Kalispell branchline. What about doing something the same on the other side. The visible staging from Whitefish I had called Seattle as this was where my trains were going. But, after looking at the prototype map, the Eureka branchline splits from the BNSF mainline at Stryker. Why not make the visible staging for trains approaching from Whitefish, Stryker. Brilliant!

Locals could enter Stryker from the left on the main line and head all the way to the end. From there, the train could unhook, do a run around and then push the cars onto the interchange track. This was just fantastic. So, without a track plan, lets go to a pictorial again: -

Today, the local heads out of Whitefish heading West to Stryker and Seattle beyond

Here he will be travelling through some scenic areas on the way: -

Stryker at last and entering onto the "Stryker" mainline. On the visible staging there are two tracks that are always empty and are considered mainlines: -

A view of the local heading down the mainline between the two staging yards, Stryker (Back) and Shelby (Front): -

At the end of the yard, the local disconnects, moves forward and then reverses and runs around its load to be able to push the wagons onto the interchange track. The engines use the second mainline to do the run around: -

Lastly, we see the local has pushed the wagons onto the interchange track and is returning to Whitefish empty: -

Now, you may be asking, which cars do you know go here and which cars go elsewhere. For that, I am putting together a 4 card car operating system which I have taken a liking to. If you see this comment, you will know I have yet to post it. I will be putting a link to that post here, once the article is done.

Till next time...

Kalispell branchline

In the previous article about operations I spoke about discovering two branch-lines off of the mainline I am modelling  The one is Kalispell and which I am going to talk about in this article.

Searching the internet, I found that there was a proposal to build a railroad park in the area.

To quote the article: -

"The proposed rail site could end up being a “shovel-ready” solution, either for the existing businesses or new ones. The property would connect to an adjacent spur track running from the mainline in Columbia Falls that is part of a bigger network from Seattle, Wash., to Minneapolis, Minn., and Chicago, Ill".

In addition, looking at train forums, there were other industries in town requiring rail car service. I found this amazing forum posting about rail industries in Kalispel. The scene was set.

Now, how do I incorporate this into the layout. I really need to get a layout drawing. However, the Whitefish town is situated on the peninsular. Heading out to the left, the line swings left and eventually ends up at Columbia Falls directly opposite Whitefish. I initially thought about using one of the dual mainlines as the Branch line drop off. This would however prevent the operation of the passing siding.

Then a light-bulb moment. Just past the siding the line splits with a single mainline heading up the helix to West Glacier. However, the siding line then proceeds under the helix in a return loop. There is sufficient line to park about 6 to 7 rail-cars on the one side of the return loop to simulate a branch-line drop off area. So, what better way to show this than a pictorial: -

We start off below with the Kalispel local waiting in the yard for permission to leave: -

Here our local has been given clearance to leave and is heading East to Columbia Falls on the main line: -

Here the local is entering the siding at Columbia Falls: -

Our local stops here and uncouples the wagons so they can collect the wagons on the interchange track. From there, they then do a run-around in order to push this load onto the same piece of trackage: -

Our train is now picking up the two wagons that were at the exchange and pulls forward in order to now do the run-around: -

After pulling forward, then reversing and pulling forward again onto the mainline, the local is passing the wagons to be set out on the mainline: -

Here the local is passing the wagons that are waiting on the siding: -

The local is now returning to Whitefish after pushing the loads onto the interchange track for the Kalispell branch-line: -

Lastly the Kalispell wagons waiting for the branchline railroad to come pick up the load: -

And, that is how the Kalispell branchline operates on my layout. In a future article, I will go into detail on the Eureka local which runs West out of Whitefish. Stay tuned.

Track replacement and laying

For a long time I have been thinking of how the South African rail lines have slowly either dissappeared or degraded over the years. This is probably due to expensive labour costs and Transnet not having the money. If only Southern Africa could have a rail system like the USA.

Today I recieved a link to a video of a prototype railroad replacing track. It is absolutely awsome. Imagine one of these starting in Johannesburg and slowly winding its way down to Cape Town or Durban? How about not just replacing the track, but making it wider for bigger and faster trains? The possabilities are endless.

To see the video, click here.

Adding operations

About 3 weeks ago, my brother and I held a small operating session. Due to the current lack of industries and the necessary sidings, we literally ran one train after the other with myself running the westbound trains and Kevin running the eastbound. Although we had a great time, there was something missing and we knew what it was. Operational switching.

To this end, I have been pondering this for the last couple of weeks.

I began thinking about industries on the modelled area. Problem is, I would need to put sidings in which is something I am just not ready to do at the moment. This lead me to an idea to put strings of waggons out for a branch line type operation. The idea here was that a string of cars could be put out somewhere on the layout as though a branchline railroad would come and pick them up and switch them in the "off stage" modeled area.

I started looking on the internet and very soon found the Mission Mountain Railroad. They operate two branchines off of the BNSF mainline in the area I was modeling. What a bonus.

The one branchline runs from Columbia Falls south to Kalispell. The other branch line runs from Stryker up to Eureka, which is just south of the Canadian boarder. Now this was beginning to look very promising.


In the next article, I will go into more detail on these branchlines and what I found out.

Stay tuned.