A journal following the history, design, construction and operation of Bernard Kempinski's O Scale model railroad depicting the U. S. Military Railroad (USMRR) Aquia-Falmouth line in 1863, and other model railroad projects.
©Bernard Kempinski All text and images, except as noted, on this blog are copyrighted by the author and may not be used without permission.
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June 28, 2022

Black Hawk Railroad in 1/24th Scale

Fred Hutchison explaining his track plan
 
The switch stands are fully operational - a benefit of large scale

Storage cabinets under the layout
I visited Fred Hutchison's layout last weekend to provide him with some input on his 1/24th scale Black Hawk Railroad. Black Hawk was an interesting town in Colorado where gold and other minerals were mined and smelted as early as 1859. Two railroads eventually served the town, the Colorado Central and the Gilpin Tramway.

Fred is building a layout in 1/24th scale that is prototypically based. That is not something you see very often. 

It is essentially a one town switching layout. He is trying to replicate the track plan as it actually existed. That is a challenge given the large size of 1/24th scale.

The layout is situated in his garage with a removable staging section that will extend over the driveway. The whole layout is moveable to allow access to the rear. He also built very clever rolling storage cabinets under the layout.

Fred is decorating the garage like the interior of a station.   It will be interesting to see the layout  develop.


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3 comments:

  1. JeffJuly 01, 2022

    A fascinating layout. Are the engines and rolling stock scratch built, being that they are 1/24 scale? It's too bad large scale narrow gauge was made to fit an existing track gauge rather than the more manageable proportion of 1/2=1'-0"

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    1. AnonymousJuly 01, 2022

      I am not sure. I think he is using 45mm track but I might be wrong. He has two engines. one is. Gilpin Tram engine but it also runs on 45mm. Prrhaps Fred can clarify.

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    2. Fred H.February 27, 2023

      Sorry to have missed the comments on this... Modelling large scale in 1/24 is a compromise... The track is 45mm, which IS too wide (and explains why 1/20.3 eventually became the norm for accurate modelling). If this were to scale, it would have both 36" and 24" gauge dual track to represent the way it was during the Gilpin Tram era... I have a variety of motive power... The principal engine is "LGB scale" (1:22.5) and is a beautiful Aster 2-6-0 mogul circa 1920s. I also have an 18 ton shay (representing a Gilpin Tram engine) that was made by Iron Horse models. I also have some 1:24 scale 2-8-0 consolidations made by Aristocraft from the original Delton molds. While these are of D&RG prototypes, with some modifications they can become credible C&S models. Most of the rolling stock is old Delton items (1:24), including the prototype made for the C&S bobber caboose... I plan to make some scratchbuilt cars from the 1900-1906 timeframe, which I will use when adults are switching the layout.

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