Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

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JBodenmann
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Location: Tehachapi, California

Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Things have been busy up at the new place. The house is all furnished painted and ready to go. So it's time to start the high line. Actually things started happening late summer when the forest started going in. So far over 50 trees have been planted around the railway. There is the mountain division with pines, cedars, firs, and redwoods. Hopefully when you travel through this part of the railway you will have that lovely pine scent of the high mountains. The other end of the railway is called the valley division, and the trees down there are maples, birches, honey locust, ash, and a pretty grove of quaking aspens and oaks between the mountain and valley divisions. Both divisions are actually at the same elevation with a 1-1/2% up and down between them. As the whole main line is just a bit under 700 feet this will be an attempt to create the illusion that you have actually gone somewhere. In this first photo we have the location of one of the cuts. You can see a line of rocks curving off across the center of the photo and to the left. This will be an S curve around to the left of the picket fence and red shed in the distance. This is the valley division. The second photo is this cut in progress. My lord there are a lot of rocks! In this third photo we have a line of rocks representing the main line curving off to the left and into the cut previously shown. At this point the railway will be built on fill. At the highest point the fill will be just over three feet high. At the top, the fill will be seven feet wide so there will be a safe pathway on both sides of the high line. Also important, is that the height of the high line above the walk way be uniform throughout the railway. In this last photo you can see a line of stakes where the high line will be. This is the transition area between the two divisions and there will be a long sweeping S curve through here. There are some nice juniper trees here, and some more oaks and aspens will be planted, and eventually a couple picnic tables so my friends will have cool shady spot to sit and watch the trains go roaring by.
Attachments
HighLine1.JPG
Cut1.jpg
HighLine3.JPG
High Line6.jpg
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JBodenmann
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by JBodenmann »

Here is some more. This is some of the nuts and bolts. After hearing what other high line builders have done in the past and some very helpful suggestions, concrete was decided upon for the supports. So a couple molds were made, and here are the first two concrete high line supports. Brown die was added to the concrete so as to blend nicely with the terrain. The foot print is 12"x15". They are designed so that the rail height will be 21" above the walk way. When running, a tall guy's toes will be just above the path way. There are threaded studs to hold supports for anti tip rails for the riding cars. Photos #2 and 3 are of the tie drilling fixture. Ties are Trex. 1" Hi x 1-1/8" wide by 8-7/8" long. 1/2" high aluminum rail will be used. And this last photo for now is the same cut shown earlier, although with a bit of snow. I am really looking forward to having some gatherings of my model builder friends. The Alcalde & Coalfield will be 3-1/2" and 4-3/4" gauge. And right next door is Joel's Quail Valley 7-1/2" gauge railway, Too Much Fun!
Happy Model Building
Jack
Attachments
HL Support72.jpg
Drill Jig.jpg
Drill Jig2.jpg
SnowCut.jpg
Last edited by JBodenmann on Sun Mar 09, 2014 2:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
Craig
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by Craig »

Jack
You sure have changed from a mild coastal climate.
Where have you moved to?
Your new railroad looks like it will be wonderful.
Craig
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JBodenmann
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Location: Tehachapi, California

Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by JBodenmann »

Hi Craig
The new place is up in the mountains 13 miles east of Tehacapi Ca. in Sand Canyon. The elevation is 4500 feet. That is on highway 58 east of Bakersfield. I have not moved yet as the new shop will have to be built first. We are just finishing up the drawings and engineering for the shop. Here is another photo of the "Mountain Division". Planting pine trees and firs. The native trees are junipers.
Jack
Attachments
Pines1.jpg
Last edited by JBodenmann on Mon Jan 27, 2014 12:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
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JBodenmann
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by JBodenmann »

One more just for fun. The climate at the Alcalde & Coalfield is actually quite mild. In the summertime it gets warm during the day, usually in the high eighties and low nineties. August is the hot month and occasionally it will get to a hundred. But it cools off into the sixties at night, great for sunset and night runs. We get beautiful sunsets and the mountain division has a beautiful sunset view down the canyon. Wintertime can get really cold at night, but it is usually in the fifties during the day. Quite pleasant during the day. But occasionally we have a snow storm like this when it never gets above forty or so. Snow here is more of a treat than a nuisance as it only lasts a day or two. This photo was taken in the morning and the wind was really blowing, BRRRRR! Good day to stay inside. This week it's in the mid fifties so this weekend will be a good time to battle the rocks in the valley division cut.
No shortage of things to do!
Jack
Attachments
Brrrrr!.jpg
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Harlock
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by Harlock »

Hi Jack big step up in planning and detail since we last did a walk through. It will motivate me to get "Anny" back up and running after I am done with some of the 7.5" gauge projects.

If you need any help let me know, I am only 20 mins away. Shoveled a lot of ballast on Joel's railroad a few summers ago.

-M
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steamin10
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by steamin10 »

:D Always good to hear about another 'Rock Concert' being planned for.
Big Dave, former Millwright, Electrician, Environmental conditioning, and back yard Fixxit guy. Now retired, persuing boats, trains, and broken relics.
We have enough youth, how about a fountain of Smart. My computer beat me at chess, but not kickboxing
It is not getting caught in the rain, its learning to dance in it. People saying good morning, should have to prove it.
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rwmorris
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by rwmorris »

Awesome! I love the cast uprights. Much like our GGLS units but with the nice base cast in!

Bravo as always Jack!

Happy New Year.

~Robert M.
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JBodenmann
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Thanks Rob, looking forward to having you up to run the pacific. Here is a bit of an update. Grading is the operative word for now, or should I say battling the rocks. This first photo is my rock collection, the big ones that are being piled next to the road. One was too big for the tractor bucket so it was horsed out of the cut with the back hoe and then rolled next to the drive way with the bucket. I felt like a dung beetle rolling that sucker around. Although it is a lot of work I have been having too much fun building the high line. I have built O gauge, N scale, and HO railroads and this is by far the most fun. I have also helped to build a few live steam railroads and there is nothing like building your own. The second photo shows the first culvert, just some cinder blocks lined up. Here the fill is almost four feet high so this culvert had to be done now. Later on there will be four more culverts. They will be more elaborate and will look like little stone arches. Where they go the fill is only one to two feet deep, so the fill will be put in place and then just cut later for the culverts. Photo 3 is the fill looking towards the mountain division and descends away from us for about 200 feet at a 1.5% grade through an S curve through the future picnic area. Then the mountain division starts where it heads up another 1.5% grade onto another large curved fill and into another cut into the hillside. Then returning back this direction and into the steaming bay area. The last photo is taken from the current end of the fill looking in the opposite direction as the previous photo. Lots of bucket loads of rocks and dirt. Many of the rocks have to be placed by hand and the fine tuning of the fill was mostly done with a hoe and rake with the help of a really cool laser transit. The last trip up to the railway featured a snow storm with four inches of snow. This time the temperature was in the seventies during the day. So that is what has been happening. Time to make some more concrete uprights and to build thirty feet or so of test high line to get the recipe down. No shortage of things to do!
Jack
Attachments
RockCollection.jpg
Culvert.jpg
Fill 1 ValleyDiv..jpg
Fill 2 Valley Div..jpg
Last edited by JBodenmann on Wed Jan 01, 2014 11:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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rwmorris
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by rwmorris »

I wish it was a shorter drive for me! I'd love to spend some time with a shovel in my hands! I'll get down there someway or another...

The Pacific will be ready to strut her stuff for sure!

~RM
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JBodenmann
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by JBodenmann »

Hello My Friends
Steve's posting of the 1936 IBLS meet in Maine got me all fired up about high lines. The plan is to go up to Ponderosa next weekend and hopefully get the cut for the Valley Division finished up. There is a washing machine size lump of sandstone in the way….I hate it when that happens! The Cut has proceeded from both ends and met at the boulder. I have been chipping away at the rock with the back hoe. Making steady but slow progress. The valley division fill still needs about forty feet and then it should be done on this end. I have been making concrete uprights and have a gaggle of them to take with me. I have also been cutting and pre drilling ties with the drill fixture. Then hopefully, to build twenty or thirty feet of high line just to step back and have a look. Also to test things with a riding car. A tall guys toes should be an inch or two off the pathway. So here are a few photos of the war of the rocks from a while back. Man there are a lot of rocks! No shortage of things to do!
Jack
Attachments
Rock Collection.JPG
Rocks.JPG
Bangin'Away   .JPG
kvom
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Re: Alcalde & Coalfield High Line

Post by kvom »

Now we can see why the Hudson isn't finished. Building a high-line and some lubricators obviously fills up your day. :D

Should be a great track when finished.
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