Estes Valley

ESTES VALLEY - DIVISION 5

It seems such a short time since I last wrote about the activities of the Estes Valley Division.  I suppose that winter time, the short days and the all too quickly gone holidays are part of that ‘fleeting time’ feeling.  The weather has not helped, it having often been bitter cold with icy roads.  The weather as well as a cold and cough for both me and my wife Sheridan kept us from most of what has been going on in the Division.

December saw participation in the Boulder Model Railroad Club show at the Boulder County Fairgrounds in Longmont.  The Rattlesnake Ridge On30 layout traveled down from the Estes Valley and was seen by many during the three day show.  It is always enjoyable to explain how things are done when non-modelers ask about the layout.

This two-by-four foot layout offers all the bits and pieces of the largest basement empire, just less of each.  There is a foundation, what our British modeling friends would call a 'baseboard'. Built upon the 'baseboard' are scenery, structures, track work and all that which goes into a model railroad layout.  Though somewhat limited, there is also electrical work necessary to make the trains go and light up the structures.  

Everything is there, just less of everything.  The several vignettes that are located about the layout often involve stretching and squinting as visitors look closely to see the details.  

The flickering ‘fire’ in the clay chimenea and the lighted structure add a great deal of visual interest.  The structure is small, and the interior detail actually minimal.  The mind, however, seems to ‘see’ more than is really there.  The closer the visitors look, the more they are inclined to ask how the details were done, and are amazed that most of the details were built, not bought.

The simple details are easier in “O” scale, even hand lettering the structures with a simple calligraphy pen set available from shops such as Hobby Lobby.

If you would like to know how these were built, look us up at our regular meeting in the Estes Park Library, at 6:30 PM on the first Wednesday of the month, or at Rails in the Rockies.  Bob will not be there, but he taught others how to share.  

If the adobe structures on Rattlesnake Ridge don’t look quite right, compare them to this photograph taken in Raton, NM just last August.  

Friendship, helping each other, and sharing knowledge are hallmarks of the hobby and of the NMRA - that is our purpose in the Estes Valley Division.