Great Northern 4-8-4

Monty said:
the xmas lights being non standard methinks....;)
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August 2010, not Christmas time. We'd broken our journey on the Empire Builder, as SWMBO can normally do only one night at a time on trains. Why Havre? Well, I sort of look at the schedule and see where the train will be mid afternoon, and if the station is attended, and handles baggage, then I figure it will be something a little more than some hick town. Try that idea sometime, you do get to see 'real' places.
Savoured the delights of Glenwood Springs in the Rockies that way, instead of doing a stop in Denver off the Westbound California Zephyr..... naught worse than arriving somewhere at breakfast time, then having to worry about hotels that won't do early check in, and that sort of stuff. (We always 'do' Denver Eastbound off that train, evening arrival, and onward departure some days later after the mandatory visit to Caboose Hobbies). Mind you, these days with all the ills of the world, we just may have to settle for the memories.
 
I think that the likelihood of Aster/Accucraft EVER producing the GN S2 is a resounding no.

As you live in the same state as we do - at least for part of the year in normal circumstances - you would be better advised to contact Accucraft/Aster in Union City CA. I'm happy to bet that the answer is the same as mine.

If you are not in the G1MRA then I suggest that you join with us. The US group is headed up by Ernie Noah. Given the huge distances between members over where you are, it seems a good idea to keep in touch with other gauge-1'ers by joining the association. That way you can share the huge meets held at Staver locomotive in Portland in normal times. Google Staver locomotive to see what goes on there.

Here's a warmer into the bank for ya.....

 
Great show at Staver!
I'm wondering why the rails are on little blocks about 2 cm above the layout level?
Is there a special reason?

Regards,
Gerard
Netherlands
 
Gerard said:
Great show at Staver!
I'm wondering why the rails are on little blocks about 2 cm above the layout level?
Is there a special reason?

Regards,
Gerard
Netherlands
Click to expand...

The 'little blocks' are the rail ties. The rail is not like ordinary model rail in section, but a bar shape. There was a great article on largescalecentral a few years back showing the husband and wife of Carl and Jenn actually making some of the couple of miles of track, including a multiplicity of switches. To build this layout using commercially-manufactured track would have cost a genuine fortune.

Please let me know if there is any more interest in this fantastic track - I'm happy to post it. You can follow it all here - Large Scale Central - Advanced Forum Detail Topic - Big changes at Staver Locomotive for Spring Steamup

This is from Carl and Jenn's blog on the track building in 2018.....................much more has happened since.

Hi Everyone:

This is my second post and first to the live steam forum. My name is Karl, and together with my wife Jenn, we have been building all the trackwork at Staver Locomotive since taking over for Tim Miller about 5 years ago.

For those who don't know, Staver Locomotive is a very large and getting larger live steam railroad in a 16000 sqft restored industrial machine shop in NW Portland, Oregon. We have started on a large scale reworking of the railroad, and Larry (owner) has given permission to post some details and pictures of the work we have undertaken.

At Staver's, we try hard to build as much of the railroad in house as possible, including machining of all turnout frogs and points, and laser cutting of all kinds of support tooling, fixtures, and helpful aids of construction. Larry has a complete machine shop, including CNC mill, laser cutter, and 3D printing. My duties involve working with Larry to invent, design, and construct everything we need to build the railroad. My wife Jenn welds and fabricates the turnouts and associated parts. Then we both spend many hours like a well oiled machine installing our handiwork.

One new process, is that we design all our trackwork and turnouts using real railroad principles and design techniques. Using Templot 2 software, Larry and I are redesigning the railroad and printing out templates on a plotter from which to shape curve easements(transition curves), and switch work including diamond crossovers and tandem curve turnouts.

The railroad as of early December at the Holiday steam up had about 700 ft running length indoors, and a couple hundred feet outdoor. The steam ups have become large enough that traffic on the original single track railroad had become difficult to accommodate. So we have torn out completely, approx. 350ft of the mainline track, and associated yards, bridges, and sidings. Also, a significant amount of work is being done on the outdoor infrastructure in preparation for doubling the size of the railroad over the next year. This all started with a desire to add a diamond crossover before the entrance to what we call the narrow gauge yards. Somehow this quickly turned into double tracking a previously single track section of mainline. which then led to...350ft of torn up railroad.

Progress has been steady, and this post is started with pictures of work completed in December, we are much farther along now, and over the next week or so I should be able to =bring you all up to date as I prep and post pictures.

Looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones at the Spring Steam Up.

Here is a few pics of how we got started on this project. Starting with the our first diamond crossover.
Xover%20half%20way%20there.jpg


Xover%20ready%20for%20ties.jpg

Jenn installs the ties. The must be custom cut on and interesting gadget that allows us to route 1/8" slots through the ties at any angle.
Xover_Layout_for_ties.jpg


Xover%20with%20ties.jpg

And finally, the location it will be installed
Xover_approx_location%20overlay.jpg

I will post more updates as I have time. We are getting ready right now to fight the snow storm and head down to Stavers
to finish some more mainline.

Thanks

Karl
 
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Karl, what a fantastic project!

Using steam only you do not have all the problems related to bad electric connections and non performing reverse loop switches and moreover not the necessity of using brass or copper rails!
You and your friends have build a really impressive track.

If you don't mind i have some questions:

TRACK:
I presume the track is made from square stainless steel bars?
How do you make the construction of a whole track section like the crossover? I guess point welding?
And how are the wooden bars connected to the rail? Are they glued?
Please can you post some close ups of these construction details?

TRAIN CONTROL:
I watched the videos and some locos are running quite fast short behind each other.
Do you have any damage control system to avoid head-tail collisions?
Or does the driver who walks along his locomotive having the responsibility to be able to stop the train in time?
I guess there will be unfortunately some accidents during the year resulting in a 1 meter drop to the ground?
Do you have an overall insurance for that or must every train driver have such an insurance?

May be these are too many questions for you but i really hope you can/will answer them.
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us!

Gerard
The Netherlands
 
Gerard, the post was from Tac Foley, where he QUOTES Karl at the Staver project.

So you are not talking to Karl.

There's a lot of posts on this, a very long thread that would explain all your questions:
www.largescalecentral.com

Big changes at Staver Locomotive for Spring Steamup

Hi Everyone: This is my second post and first to the live steam forum. My name is Karl, and together with my wife Jenn, we have been building all the trackwork at Staver Locomotive since taking over for Tim Miller about 5 years ago. For those who don’t know, Staver Locomotive is a very large...
www.largescalecentral.com www.largescalecentral.com

1. mild steel bars, not rail
2. welding
3. I believe press fit and glued
4. plenty of pictures and discussions in the thread above
5. battery or live steam, no track power and no coordinated control system
6. yes drivers walk along with their locomotive

And if you read the thread, you should be able to get contact information to ask even more questions directly.,

Greg
 
Greg, I don't think that Gerard is paying too much attention to my posts, so maybe I should make them shorter. I also listed the link in my post, as you just did in yours.
 
Greg Elmassian said:
Well, heck, I like reading your posts!

By the way, they treat the outside rails with a special "oil", but not inside, I wonder if they will be forced to in order to combat rust?

Greg
Click to expand...

Well, if you are as familiar with the PNW as we are, you'll know that much of the weather up there comes in the form of airborne water, so it seems a great plan. I don't know what it is that they use, but I can ask David Leech or Peter Szolga, with whom I am in occasional contact. Even Dan Pantages has been known to talk me now and then!

Take care.
 
Yes, was talking inside, but perhaps ambient humidity is not a big issue. Also, clearly since they run battery and steam only, rusty rails is not a bad thing, good traction, although I do believe the layout is dead level.

It's a great venue for someone wanting to run their layout in a nice large interesting space.

Greg
 
I have to get up there to see it. I wish they had a website with information (website tells nothing), or a FacePlant page or something.

I get that battery is "tolerated", but live steam is the mainstay of what is operated. We had a good discussion on the oil-based "treatment" they use on the rails outdoors.

Gosh, I guess I will have to make a battery operated loco some day!

Greg
 
Greg Elmassian said:
I have to get up there to see it. I wish they had a website with information (website tells nothing), or a FacePlant page or something.

I get that battery is "tolerated", but live steam is the mainstay of what is operated. We had a good discussion on the oil-based "treatment" they use on the rails outdoors.

Gosh, I guess I will have to make a battery operated loco some day!

Greg
Click to expand...
Greg - see your PM.
 
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