Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

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ccvstmr
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by ccvstmr »

Jack...can't give you credit for the distance scenery...but nice track work. Looks like a 100 mph elevated track right of way to me! Any time line for the inaugural run? Do keep us posted with your progress. Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
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JBodenmann
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
I don't have a time line as to the completion of the railway. I originally predicted that it would be done years ago. I thought it might be finished this fall...but I don't think that will happen. Earth moving on the mountain division has come a long way but there is still a good bit left to do. Now I'm thinking maybe this spring. I ran across these early photos this morning of the valley division. The top photo was when it was just a line of rocks in the dirt. No grading yet, no trees, just a line of rocks in the dirt, but lots of enthusiasm and determination. In the second snappy we have the grading done, but the trees are just pitiful little twigs at this point. Then we have a photo I posted earlier today but I thought I would use it again to show progress in this area. All three taken from about the same spot. Sometimes when out working (playing) on the railway I have questioned my sanity. In the early days battling the rocks, breaking the back hoe, and actually going after them with a hammer and cold chisel in a couple spots, I really had doubts at times. But the bottom photo here makes it seem worth it. :D A railway, trees that aren't just twigs, and this part is finished. About ten years between the first and last photos. Too much fun? You bet.
Jack
Attachments
Early On.JPG
Valley Division2.jpg
High Line.jpeg
Mike Walsh
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by Mike Walsh »

Jack, what is the completion percentage estimate at this time?

Is there anything that would be helpful - a work party, perhaps?? I wonder if we couldn't get a team together for a few days and really get some stuff done! If I could swing it, I would love to make it down that way.
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JBodenmann
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Thank you Mike. I don't know when the railway will be completed. If you read back through this thread you will see that I estimated a completion date quite a few years ago. :roll: Well, this is how we learn. There will most likely be a work weekend this fall. Probably around the end of October. Your help would be most welcome. The work days at the Alcalde & Coalfield Railway are not all work and no play. We will usually hit it in the morning and play some later in the afternoon. Usually running some steam. After dark some good food, pointing and talking, and railroad videos. Here is a bit of progress. It's still pretty warm during the middle of the day, low nineties this time of year. By the middle of August the ninety degree days are finished for the year and it's usually in the mid eighties. I have been putting down some rail in the morning and evening, the evenings lately have been really pleasant. Here are a couple snappies taken this morning. This is the Valley division looking down hill toward half way tank, the lowest part of the railway. There is a water tank planned there. Track goes together pretty slow, with six screws per tie. Just the kind of job for an old Bozo like me. :lol:
Jack
Attachments
Track1.jpeg
Track2.jpeg
ccvstmr
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by ccvstmr »

Jack...nice job on your elevated track. Top notch track design and installation. Looks like 100mph territory...even if it is only 3/4" scale.

Ever consider getting some pop up tents to straddle the track? Movable shade! As track installation progresses...so can the man-made shade. At least the track crew won't have to work in direct sun light. Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
I don't walk on water...I just learned where some of the stepping stones are!
I love mankind...it's some of the people I can't stand!
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JBodenmann
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by JBodenmann »

Help My Friends
Progress is slow putting down the ties and rail. I went out for about an hour last night and managed to fasten down about twelve feet of rail. A lot of time is spent fussing around with alignment of the railway. Above every support column a hole is drilled in the tie and a nail put in. Also between each column. The nail is left proud so it can be easily pulled. First have a look and put a few nails in. Then have another look, pull a nail, make an adjustment, put the nail back in. This can take a while. I want my track to be smooth with gentle transitions from one curve to another. There is very little straight track. The bottom photo shows where the railway will have a very long gentle S curve through the trees. For a stretch it is almost straight, but not quite. The curves will have a tiny amount of super elevation, only about a sixteenth of an inch. A high line can be dialed in very accurately, using shims to adjust the elevation and nails into the ties and horizontal beams. I have been pleasantly pleased with how stabil things have been. Track assembled last year is looking just fine, only needing a little tweak here and there. Having fun here.
Jack
Attachments
Track3.jpeg
Track4.jpeg
Mike Walsh
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by Mike Walsh »

Jack, that's a beautiful setup. It will look amazing with trains rolling down the high aluminum!

One question. What is the common etiquette for folks who like to pull trains with their motive power on a highline? I can see a bottleneck if the owner wants to take a break from running his engine and his train is still on the highline. Of course, if it was my trainset, I'd let others take it around.
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LVRR2095
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by LVRR2095 »

The usual is to give someone else a turn on your train. But all of the clubs here in the Northeast have passing sidings for just that purpose. The passing siding is also where you will usually find a water tank for topping up the tender. That way you don’t hold up traffic if you need to water, add coal to the tender or just take a break for lunch!
Here is a link to a video of Jim M. running my center cab while I take a break. Also notice the passing siding alongside the main.



Keith
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JBodenmann
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Thanks Mike. That is a good question. What to do when you need to park an entire train. The Alcalde & Coalfield has a turntable lead that will line up with a small two track yard. Roll on over the turntable and straight into the yard. It will probably only hold an engine and a few cars. At least that's the plan.
Jack
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JBodenmann
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Progress on the valley division has come to a stop for a while. A culvert must be built before things can proceed. A truck and trailer of dirt will be arriving tomorrow. All the loose dirt on my property has been scooped up, so this was needed to finish the mountain division fill. Work will now be focused on the mountain division which hasn't been touched in almost a year. As we got virtually no rain this last winter the soaker hose was running there for a couple weeks to stabilize things. There is almost a hundred feet ready for pylons and track. I have also been doing a bit of track alignment. Adjusting the height and leveling things with shims between the concrete pylons and the two by sixes. Also aligning the curves and straightening. Placing a nail through the ties here and there. I have been pleasantly surprised by how stable the track has been as it needs very little adjustment. Here is a snappy from this morning. I'm closing in on the last hundred and sixty feet or so. I can see the end :D . It has been ten years since I started. Time has a way of just slipping by doesn't it.
See you in the funny pages...
Jack
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Mtn.Div..jpeg
Last edited by JBodenmann on Wed Aug 11, 2021 3:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Greg_Lewis
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by Greg_Lewis »

Whew. If there was an Olympics contest for tenacity we know who wins the gold.
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.
Andy R
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Alcalde & Coalfield High Line -as in HIGH !

Post by Andy R »

What's not shown in Jack's progress photo above, because it is right behind him as the photo was taken, is a really high fill. A really high fill. That's why he needs the truck and trailer of dirt. It is daunting and Greg's comment is spot-on. It is amazing that all the excavation and fill work to date has been done with a little 6 cubic foot bucket on a little tractor. No wonder it has taken 10 years.
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