Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

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Pontiacguy1
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by Pontiacguy1 »

I would LOVE to have a sketch or outline drawing of that steel boiler on that raritan! What thickness of plates did he use? One of these days I'm going to finish my raritan chassis. I have built quite a few steel boilers, but never have built a copper one.
Andy R
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steel boiler Raritan on Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by Andy R »

Here's two photos of John's steel-boiler Raritan when it was new (at LALS), one with the wood cab and one without in preparation for steaming.
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JBodenmann
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Here are some photos taken yesterday. The main push right now is grading. The Mountain Division fill which is visible in the top two photos is quite low for a stretch. Four inches or so of fill is added, wet down, and compacted with the tractor. Then another four inches...In some spots the fill will be six or seven feet tall. The third photo is midway around and is the lowest spot on the railway. Eventually there will be a water tank here called half way tank. A good spot to fill the tender and blow up steam for the charge up the hill. The trees are mostly all bare now and it's surprising how much smaller the place looks when you can see through them. In this photo you can see the upper line where it's level. The last photo shows the end of the Valley division just peeking out of Monolyth cut. This end of the railway is graded very accurately with just one minor low spot at the end of track.
No shortage of things to do!
Jack
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FKreider
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by FKreider »

Looks awesome!
-Frank K.
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JBodenmann
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Here are a few snappies of the railway under a blanket of snow. It snowed off and on for quite a while, almost a week. It reminded me of some of the photos in Charles Purinton's book, Live Steam Of Years Gone By. Photos of them running in the snow on a high line in Marblehead, Mass. There has been some discussion here of a rotary snow plow. Wouldn't that be cool, a 3/4" scale rotary blowing smoke and steam and snow. Some day when I don't have anything else to do! Anyway it's fun to think about.
Jack
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Harlock
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by Harlock »

We sure got a good dump! Haven't seen that much snow in town in a while.
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Greg_Lewis
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by Greg_Lewis »

And just a few weeks ago we had a balmy day at the A&C railroad.
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JBodenmann
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends

Well it's been a while since anything was posted concerning the railway. Not much happened during the winter, lots of snow and rain. Springtime finally sprung, and the weather has been beautiful. Another reason not much has happened is that I was sick for about a month. No..not the corona virus, just a persistent cold that refused to go away. So I'm now fit as a fiddle and back at it. This time of the year the main priority is gardening. Trees to fuss with. Several dead ones to deal with. One of my biggest prettiest poplars located in the valley division loop just up and croaked. I hate it when that happens :? And flower beds to get in shape, weeds to spray...It goes on an on. I like to think of my little railroad empire as a garden with a railway running through it. Or maybe a railway running through a garden. Lately I have been enjoying the gardening more than the railway. Sometimes I just need a break from the nuts and bolts. But now it's time to get back to the railway proper. I have a gaggle of concrete uprights, and a stretch of fill that's nicely graded and compacted. Plenty of rail and pre drilled ties, get er' done! So here is a photo just for fun. Yesterday afternoon when the sun was low in the sky, I spotted the little Railroad Crossing sign peeking out of the poppies. This is one of the flowerbeds I was blabbing about earlier. Part of the "Railway Through The Garden".
See you in the funny pages...
Jack
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Harold_V
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by Harold_V »

There's not much in this world prettier than those California Poppies! Such a lovely shade of orange.
Looking good, Jack!

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NP317
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by NP317 »

I cannot fathom how a person could be bored in life!
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kcameron
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by kcameron »

Since this thread has lots of high line people on it, I have the following to ask: what is a good length/depth for a high line engine house? So what is a good length for a loco and riding car?

At FLLS, we do not have a high line, it came down around the late 90's. But we do consider the idea from time to time. In this case, I'm working on a design for a 1" ground running car barn. But the location would be a likely choice for being next to a high line, if/when we decide to build one. My thought is a second level for the car barn that would be a engine house for the high line. The location and elevation would be about right. If I get a good size guide for 3/4" locos, I can see if this might make sense.

It could be built with the engine house top or make the design have a removable roof section (with effort and bucket lift) to put the engine house level on later. I'm just playing ideas. Not likely to get to building the lower car barn for another year or two. Just collecting data to see if something could work out well or not. One main idea is the lower level 1" car barn is long and narrow (3 or 4 tracks wide) but the upper level engine house would have tracks 90 degrees from the bottom. So the engine house part is coming out the side of the lower building footprint.
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Mike Walsh
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by Mike Walsh »

kcameron wrote: Fri May 15, 2020 8:42 am Since this thread has lots of high line people on it, I have the following to ask: what is a good length/depth for a high line engine house? So what is a good length for a loco and riding car?

At FLLS, we do not have a high line, it came down around the late 90's. But we do consider the idea from time to time. In this case, I'm working on a design for a 1" ground running car barn. But the location would be a likely choice for being next to a high line, if/when we decide to build one. My thought is a second level for the car barn that would be a engine house for the high line. The location and elevation would be about right. If I get a good size guide for 3/4" locos, I can see if this might make sense.

It could be built with the engine house top or make the design have a removable roof section (with effort and bucket lift) to put the engine house level on later. I'm just playing ideas. Not likely to get to building the lower car barn for another year or two. Just collecting data to see if something could work out well or not. One main idea is the lower level 1" car barn is long and narrow (3 or 4 tracks wide) but the upper level engine house would have tracks 90 degrees from the bottom. So the engine house part is coming out the side of the lower building footprint.
Would be cool to see a highline at FLLS. With the expansions that have taken place, that could be difficult..

If the Engine house is above the car barn, consider the drippings of the engines on the rolling stock. I would be none too happy to find my custom built caboose pulled out of the car barn, covered in oil, grease, and ash from the Niagara that was stored above it. Fluids can still find their way through crevices in wooden floors.

Sorry for the thread hijack continuation, Jack! Great work!
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