The train room is a Aussie ‘pool room’ [referenced in the classic Aussie movie the Castle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Castle_(1997_Australian_film) ]
Most of the time the bar in the Pool room is not accessible because of layouts taking up space in this area.
This is where I need to confess a few things, since the early 1990s I have been a ATSF modeller, nothing fancy just building B40-8W and GP60M, FP45s etc. Long before any of this stuff was available r-t-r.
I also have a fair bit of BNSF stuff, not until recently I did an inventory check, discovering I had enough locomotives and rolling stock to look at building a layout.
The problem is that ATSF of the early 1990s looks nothing like BNSF today.
But secondary lines might do the trick, ones that don’t have concrete track or new hooded signals etc. The Peavine division between Williams AZ and Phoenix AZ fits this brief, there is an excellent Youtube video on the Division here:
https://youtu.be/ob1-6GW6ZhU?si=bJyANODodVkEZtuw
I was looking for a location that could have trains slowly working their way through some pleasing scenery while also having a bit of shunting ‘switching’ maybe an interchange. In the train room it would be a comfortable place to sit and watch trains go by, have a few drinks, nothing too serious. However also capable, if required to flip to a ‘operating session’ version as well.
Yes, that is a tall order.
Let’s just say that a lot of designs later, I came up with a plan that would:
Fit in the train room
Allow the bar to be used
Have a continuous mainline run
Capable of ops
Drake AZ is such a location, it is the interchange for the Arizona Central Railroad (AZCR), and by 2012 the home to the Drake Cement Company.
Yes not exactly ‘ATSF frozen in time’, but we can’t have everything.
However, the mainline and the Big Hell Canyon bridge looks pretty much as it did in the ATSF days, so my older power is not going to look out of place.
Currently BNSF run two trains to Drake.
The Williams Turn operates two times a week, this train switches Drake yard, interchanging with AZCR.
Block coal train, this train delivers loaded coal hoppers to Drake for the Drake Cement Company and AZCR.
The Drake Cement Company has a Shuttlewagon SWX 735 https://shuttlewagon.com/shuttlewagon-specifications/shuttlewagon-swx735/
to shunt their sidings, inbound is coal and empty cement wagons. Outbound is empty coal wagons, loaded cement and bauxite.
The AZCR hauls coal and empty cement wagons to a plant in Clarkville AZ.
The AZCR roster is here, rebuilt GP30s (into GP26s) and GP35s (GP38-3 innards).
https://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locolist.aspx?id=AZCR#google_vignette
Now I need to sit and let this design settle, I am not a big fan of compromise, so what is at Drake now, is in this plan.
Some reference images.
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