Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

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JBodenmann
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Location: Tehachapi, California

Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
It's Thanksgiving Day here in the high mountain desert, well actually it's Thanksgiving Day all over. It's a beautiful day here and it's a great time to be thankful for all that we have. Wonderful friends, the greatest hobby, and a website like we have here to share information, and the things that we make.
And I'm thankful for my friends that have helped me build my dream railway.
Meet4.jpeg
Steamingdon mentioned how clean the steaming bay area is. I always said that I would not have dirt or gravel under the steaming bays. This actually makes it easy to keep clean. For ashes dumped, there is a dust pan and broom. For grease and spilled beer there are hoses and drains here and there in the brick work. I actually look forward to stains and such on the bricks. That would be evidence of steam locomotives marking their presence, which would be evidence of good times. :D
kcareron you are very welcome. I'm always glad to share information and help out when I can. Before I started building the railway I asked others what they had done concerning high lines and such, and got a lot of valuable tips.
Happy Thanksgiving
Jack
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bushav
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by bushav »

It’s an amazing project.

I ask neighbors to enjoy my Citrus trees and throw the peels on my manicured grass. It reminds me that the fruit is being enjoyed!
New to live steam
Building 3/4” 4-8-4 Northern &
1” 4-6-2 Pacific
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JBodenmann
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Location: Tehachapi, California

Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
We have had some beautiful rainy days here at the Alcalde & Coalfield Railway. Today was really cool as one of my streams was flowing. This is the drainage for the north eastern end of the drive way. As you can see in these first two snappies it was a raging torrent. Well, maybe more of a trickle. In this first photo the stream is coming down from the drive way between the house and the garage and through a small brick culvert.
Storm1.jpeg
In this next photo the stream is heading downhill where it passes under the valley division twice. It's a real treat for me to see water running down the hill and through my little culverts. This stream is named Coalfield Creek.
Storm2.jpeg

And here is another dry creek bed down at the other end of the railway. This drains the other end of the drive way and the steaming bay area. No water flowing here yet. I have only seen this one flow once during a really heavy rain. This is Alcalde Creek.
Storm3.jpeg
And there was even a rock slide in the mountain division cut. Sort of a scale rock slide. With real rocks.
Storm4.jpeg
Here in the high mountain desert a rainstorm is more of a treat than a nuisance. It's been raining off and on for a while and it's been soaking in.
Too much fun.
Jack
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Greg_Lewis
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by Greg_Lewis »

The news reported a wind gust of over 100 mph through Tehachapi. Did you get that?
Greg Lewis, Prop.
Eyeball Engineering — Home of the dull toolbit.
Our motto: "That looks about right."
Celebrating 35 years of turning perfectly good metal into bits of useless scrap.
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JBodenmann
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Yes we had some major wind the other day, but that's nothing unusual. That's why we have so many windmills here. 100MPH wind is unusual. There is no wind at all this morning. Lots of ice on the ground though. It should be a very nice weekend.
Jack
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kcameron
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by kcameron »

I try to get around the railroads anytime there is a really big heavy rain. Great to see where there might be any issues with the drainage and you can plan some improvements. Sometimes it is interesting where you find the water going vs where you thought it would go.
-ken cameron
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In the Upstate New York US area of the world
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JBodenmann
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
When it comes to streams and small watercourses I like to let the water pick its own route. Now I will encourage it to go this way or that. Move some dirt in here and there, a few boulders if I can get the tractor in there. Then after a couple good rain storms I have a water course. I will add scenery. Boulders, rocks, gravel, and sand. I will sometimes add a dead tree, or even a live one. Fussing around arranging the rocks, small rocks and sand for the bottom of the stream. The goal is to make it look totally random and natural. Between the upper and lower valley division track, Coalfield Creek wiggles and curves around, which is more interesting than the straight shot downhill as it originally was. Then on one of them lovely and far to rare rainy days, I can go out and watch my little stream do its thing. Ahh, wonderful! This is just a great big model railroad. Instead of plaster, a putty knife, and wadded up newspaper I have a tractor, shovel, wheelbarrow, and rake. Since day one I have thought about scenery. Lots of trees, rock walls...There will eventually be a bunch of little buildings, and hidden surprises scattered about for those who look closely.. After all, how cool a railroad is, has very little to do with the size.
See You In The Funny pages...🤪
Jack
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Greg_Lewis
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by Greg_Lewis »

Hey Jack, how about another snow photo? The forecast for you is a lovely blizzard with gusts to 50 mph and a wind chill of 17. So poke the camera out the window and show us what that looks like! :P
Greg Lewis, Prop.
Eyeball Engineering — Home of the dull toolbit.
Our motto: "That looks about right."
Celebrating 35 years of turning perfectly good metal into bits of useless scrap.
apm
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by apm »

Greg_Lewis wrote: Thu Feb 23, 2023 6:44 pm Hey Jack, how about another snow photo? The forecast for you is a lovely blizzard with gusts to 50 mph and a wind chill of 17. So poke the camera out the window and show us what that looks like! :P
Come on taking pictures out the window seems kinda lame the Canadians over on the 3.5" Facebook group would call that prime weather for a meet!
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tsph6500
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by tsph6500 »

apm wrote: Thu Feb 23, 2023 7:16 pm
Greg_Lewis wrote: Thu Feb 23, 2023 6:44 pm Hey Jack, how about another snow photo? The forecast for you is a lovely blizzard with gusts to 50 mph and a wind chill of 17. So poke the camera out the window and show us what that looks like! :P
the Canadians over on the 3.5" Facebook group would call that prime weather for a meet!
Run in the snow? They must be drunk on maple syrup!

Here are a few snapshots from my home track to prove it.
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Best regards,
Jim Leggett

Montreal Live Steamers
www.montreallivesteamers.org

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James Powell
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by James Powell »

apm wrote: Thu Feb 23, 2023 7:16 pm
Greg_Lewis wrote: Thu Feb 23, 2023 6:44 pm Hey Jack, how about another snow photo? The forecast for you is a lovely blizzard with gusts to 50 mph and a wind chill of 17. So poke the camera out the window and show us what that looks like! :P
Come on taking pictures out the window seems kinda lame the Canadians over on the 3.5" Facebook group would call that prime weather for a meet!
I'm fairly determined, but would rather not be at -10C for a meet or outdoor running ! I had problems with the checks freezing on the Stuart #9 plant when I had to do some running under those sorts of conditions- blow torch in hand to get enough heat in to be able to pump water was not really my idea of "fun" ! I'd have been ~14 or so at the time, and it left a lasting impression of how hard the CNR and CPR crews must have worked across the west to run steam in the wintertime !.

On ship, the coldest we ever were was going to Dutch Harbour, AK in ~March, when we had the arctic recircs on, and were wearing floater jackets (Mustang survival suits) into the boiler room with the ventilation set to low on one side only ! Nominally, the boilers lost 2 million BTU/hr into the space...(1% of rated power)
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JBodenmann
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Yes we have have had snow off and on for almost a week. I love it, but then I don't have to drive or work outside when it's like this. Heavens to Betsy, tsph6500, now that's dedication to run when it's that cold. The coldest I have seen it here this year was low twenties. Last year we had one night when it got down to 2 below zero. That's unusual here. But we do have snow and here are some pictures. This first one was taken after a recent work day here. There was a small crew here and we got a lot done. Here there is only a fifty foot gap between the ends of the railway. There will be a trestle going in here.
Snow1.jpeg
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And now here is a snow photo. Essentially from the same spot.
Snow2.jpeg
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Here is the same spot only in the opposite direction.
Snow3.jpeg
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And here is the snowy version.
Snow4.jpeg
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And this one is here because I just like it. At the right one of the Pistasche trees still had some red leaves. They have amazing fall colors. Red like a fire truck. This is where the valley division comes out of Monolyth cut, and heads out onto the Valley division fill. Here the railway descends at 1-1/2 percent. Just around the curve is a grove of Quaking Aspens. I think they are my favorite trees. The way they catch the light and shimmer, and also the soft rustling sound they make in a breeze. Pretty cool scenery for a model railroad 🤪
Snow5.jpeg
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See You In The Funny Pages...
Jack
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