UP's H20-44 Diesels in Victorville, and Finishing the Mainline Cork Roadbed

This time we'll cover the UP's Fairbanks-Morse H20-44 diesel helpers in Victorville, and then we'll look at my progress in finishing the cork roadbed around the mainlines of the staging deck.

In August of 1947 the UP brought in five new FM H20-44 diesels, #1360-1364, to start replacing their steam loco helpers on Cajon Pass.  In Nov-Dec. of 1947 they brought in six more, #1365-1370, to complete the replacement of their steam helpers (until the return of UP steam in 1950-51, that is).

Here's a great photo of #1360 waiting near the water tanks in Victorville in Nov. 1947 to help the next westbound freight, thanks to Jack Whitmeyer:

Here's a beautiful shot of #1360 helping the eastbound Los Angeles Limited around Sullivan's Curve in June of 1950, thanks again to Jack Whitmeyer:

Here's a UP company photo of #1363 about to help a freight:

Back in Victorville, here's a Stan Kistler photo of new #1361 in Sep. of 1947:

Here we see #1360 and an FA unit pushing a freight up Cajon Pass, as shot by Chard Walker:

Here's a Donald Duke shot of #1364 and #1361 pushing another freight up Cajon Pass in the summer of 1948:

 

Here we see #1360 and a partner returning light to San Bernardino (along with some Santa Fe FT helpers) while an eastbound Santa Fe steam loco works upgrade out of town, thanks to Chard Walker:

 

Besides serving as helpers, the H20-44s also pulled the UP's Leon Turn local freight to the cement plants at Victorville and Oro Grande.  Here is #1365 with its caboose at Summit in Jan. 1949, heading to Victorville to pick up some loads, as shot by Chard Walker:

 

But these units were not great as helpers, so in mid-1950 the UP replaced them all by bringing back some steam locos again.  So the lifetime of these units on Cajon Pass ran from mid-1947 to mid-1950.

As for HO models, I only know of the old Alco Models brass model, as seen here after being painted:

I have two of these that have been painted, and recently I found a third one.

Now let's look at my layout progress.  I worked an hour or two each day, gluing down cork roadbed along the double-track mainlines all the way around the edges of the lower deck, until the loop was complete.

Here's the new roadbed as it curves through Sections 4 and 5, along with some tools of the trade:

 Moving along, here's the next roadbed, running through Sections 5 and 6:

And the final leg of the course, running through Sections 6, 6A, and back to Section 2 in the distance:

A couple of sheets of Midwest cork are laid beside the mainlines, to give some idea of where they will support all the turnouts into the A Yard in this area.

The next steps were to complete the cork wedges at the turnouts in Section 2, and then to lay out and mark the future turnout locations in Sections 6 and 6A:

In the lower right are two of the twelve Midwest cork squares (12x12") that I bought to supplement the four large sheets (all 5 mm thick).  

But all the rest of my larger cork sheets came from a carpet store and are 6 mm thick, so I began planning where the 5-mm cork should end (after supporting the turnouts) and the 6-mm cork should begin (where there are no more turnouts, just storage tracks).  The transition will be sanded down.

Here's a drawing I made to mark the turnout locations and the boundaries of the 5-mm cork sections:

As you can see, they are basically triangle-shaped areas around the turnouts.

I began work on making these by cutting out the triangular cork area that supports three turnouts into the A Yard at the top of this drawing.  I also laid cork roadbed around the curve of track A1 between that area and the next cork area to the right of there in the drawing.

Here is what this first sheet cork area looks like so far, but the triangular sheet with three turnouts has not been glued down yet, and the two sheets of carpet cork to the right have not been glued down either:

So, my next steps are to continue cutting and fitting all the cork sheets for the main yards, and then to paint all the cork in two shades of gray, with lighter gray on the mainlines, as I did in the staging room over a year ago.

 

Santa Fe's DT6-6-2000 Diesels in Victorville, and Laying More Cork Roadbed

Our Victorville locomotives this time are Santa Fe's Baldwin Centercab DT6-6-2000 diesels, and my layout progress report will look at more cork roadbed being laid on the staging deck.  

Santa Fe bought seven of the big Baldwin centercabs from mid-1948 through early 1950, numbered 2600-2606.  But only two of them are known to have worked as helpers on Cajon Pass: 

#2600 from delivery in June, 1948, until sometime in 1949 or 1950, when it  began pulling transfer runs to the Los Angeles harbor until 1956; and

#2601 (bought in August, 1949) starting from about mid-1950, when it pulled coal loads from San Bernardino to the Kaiser Steel plant in Fontana on weekdays and served as a helper on Cajon Pass on the weekends (according to Chard Walker).

Here's a G.M. Best photo of #2600 when new (July, 1948), in Los Angeles:

At this time the zebra stripes were limited to the frame (until 1950).

Here's a rare photo from the collection of David Lustig showing #2600 in helper service at Summit, about to run light back to San Bernardino:

 

Since Cajon Pass helper service involved helping trains out of Victorville too, we can assume that they were also seen in Victorville, although no photos of them there have turned up.

Sometime in 1949 or 1950 #2600 finished its Cajon Pass assignment and moved to the Harbor District, along with #2602.  Then #2601 showed up in San Bernardino to pull loads of coal from San Bernardino west to Fontana on weekdays, and to help trains over Cajon Pass on weekends.

Here's a color photo by Jack Whitmeyer of #2601 at San Bernardino in Jan. 1953:

Note that the zebra stripes now include the side of the cab, but not yet the lower part of the frame.

Jack whitmeyer also shot #2601 and its crew in San Bernardino in April of 1952:

 And then again in July of 1952, with its caboose:

In 1956 the 2600s were transferred east.  Here is our #2601 at Argentine in Nov. 1956:

Note that its zebra stripes now extend down to the lower part of the frame.  The upper part of its side walkway is still short, but most or all of these locos got a higher walkway later in life (perhaps to strengthen their frames).

As for HO models, I have one of the expensive, painted models that Division Point produced years ago, like this one:

They also made some with the later zebra stripes and the longer upper walkway:

Now let's take a look at my layout progress, which involved gluing down a lot more cork roadbed with DAP Alex Plus caulk.  It's the turnout areas that take a lot of the time, as wedge-shaped pieces of cork have to be cut to fill in where the two roadbeds come together.

Here's a view of the new roadbeds leaving Section 8 and curving farther into Section 1:

Note the small Dustbuster vacuum in the left corner, which is very useful in cleaning up all the cork bits after I sand the rough edges off the cork.

This next photo shows the tangle of turnouts near the edge of Section 1, including the turnout to the future helix track at the lower left:

Now we look back at this Section 1 area from Section 2:

A week later, things are still moving along, day by day.  Here's a view looking from Section 1 toward Section 2, where the roadbed for some mainline crossovers has now been laid:

Also, note that I've begun cutting and setting in some sheet cork that will support the ladder tracks that run beside the mainline, and note the ladder turnouts that are being temporarily located on the sheet cork.

Here's a closer view of this area on Section 2, with two double-slip switches also visible in the foreground:

Finally, we'll look at the advancing mainline roadbeds, as they now flow through Section 3 and curve into Section 4 in the foreground:

The black box behind the Dustbuster is my CD player, for listening to my 1950s rock & roll CDs while I work!  Next week I may be able to complete the mainline cork all the way around the edges of the layout, until I meet the final tangle of turnouts on Section 7.

Meanwhile, I've been discussing ideas with Jim Coady for how to cut and build the Rainbow Bridge pieces, including maybe using a Cricut Maker cutting machine and/or a 3D printer, which my library has available for public use.  Here are some recent ideas for making the bridge parts, thanks to Jim Coady:

I'll be back with more locos and more cork roadbed in a couple of weeks.

UP's 2-8-2 Locos in Victorvile, and Starting to Lay New Cork Roadbed

Our featured Victorville locos this time are the Union Pacific's 2-8-2 steam locos.  Then we'll look at my latest layout progress, which involves laying the first new cork roadbed in over a year.

The UP had many 2-8-2 locos in many classes, and their history is very complex.  Looking at the postwar photos of them on Cajon Pass, it appears that virtually all of them belonged to the MK-7 class, especially the 2709-2715 series.

UP's MK-7 class 2-8-2s were built in 1917, and during the postwar years they were used as helpers and on local freights on Cajon Pass.  In alternate months they also served as the local switcher in Victorville, until UP dieselized the area for the first time in mid-1948.

Here's a great photo of UP #2710 beside the Victorville water tanks in Nov. 1947, as shot by Jack Whitmeyer:

 

And here is UP #2711 on a helper waiting track in Victorville, with the boiler house stack behind the cab, the elevated fuel oil tank behind the tender, and the sand house to the right of the tender:

 

Here's a good action shot by Fred Wheeler of UP #2733 helping an eastbound freight at Blue Cut on Cajon Pass in 1945:

 

And here we see UP #2713 helping a westbound freight up out of Victorville and through Hesperia in the 1940s:

Although these locos were replaced by diesels in mid-1948, two of them came back during the 1950-1951 "return to steam" period.  These were OSL #2515 (an MK-4) and UP #2715 (an MK-7).  I haven't found any photos of these two locos during that time.

But there was one final appearance of UP #2709 on a fan trip between LA and San Bernardino on March 14, 1954, as shot by Jack Whitmeyer in San Bernardino:

 

As for HO models of UP MK-7 class 2-8-2s, I think that only LMB made them, and they all came with coal tenders.  I have this model (below) painted for #2710, and I'll be replacing the coal tender you see here with a UP-style "long" oil tender by Bachmann Spectrum:

I'd like to find another LMB UP MK-7 for #2715, but they are rare and expensive and need an oil tender.  I do have a Balboa UP MK-6 like this one below (but without the snowplow pilot), #2253, which I could also use in Victorville:

Turning now to my layout progress, I finished drawing the track centerlines and turnout locations in pencil on the plywood for all the secondary tracks beside the mainlines.  It was challenging to make everything fit as well in full size as they did on paper!  

When that process was nearing completion, I shot photos from two angles, showing the various curve radius templates and rulers and turnouts and the triangular templates for #6 angles and #8 angles.  Here's a view showing some turnouts being placed and outlined and some curves being drawn using templates:

 

And here's another view showing some curve templates being used around the turntable area, and a #8 angle template being used for the crossover turnouts:

 

Then I cleared these things off the layout and got out the tools for laying cork roadbed, which I haven't used since I laid all the cork roadbed in the staging room over a year ago.

 

I began laying the Midwest cork roadbed where the tracks will emerge from the staging room onto Section 8.  I use DAP Alex Plus caulk to glue the roadbed to the plywood, following the pencil centerlines I drew.  I use a few pushpins to hold the curves in place, then use a roller to press the cork down, and then set some bottles of water on top while the caulk dries (not very long). 

 

This is mostly fun, except where there are turnouts and the cork needs to be cut into wedge shapes where the tracks come together.  I have a pile of cork turnout pads that someone sent me, and I use them, but they are not long enough to eliminate the wedges problem.

 

I shot a photo at the end of the first day's work, showing some of the new cork in place on Section 8 (with the old Section 9 in the background) and the other turnout pads in the lower left:

 

This week I laid a little more cork roadbed each day.  Where there is a tangle of turnouts, it gets really difficult to cut and fit all those cork pieces.  I keep a little bowl of all the cork wedge scraps and use them whenever I can.

I shot three photos at the end of this week's work, showing the new cork in place on Section 8 (a real tangle) and curving into Section 1.

This view looks back from the new Section 8 roadbed to the old Section 9, where the roadbed was painted a year ago.  You can see all the patchwork around the tangle of turnouts here, and the little bowl of cork scraps:

 

This next view looks in the opposite direction, from the old Section 9 (painted roadbed at the bottom) toward the new roadbed and the tangle of turnouts:

 

This final view looks at the curves from Section 8 into Section 1, where the new roadbed ends until I can tackle the next tangle of turnouts, whose cork pads you can spot in the distance:

 

It feels good to make a little mindless progress each day!

 

Finally, here's the cover page for the expanded set of Rainbow Bridge CAD drawings that Jim Coady made for me.  We're still discussing how to go about building this large bridge, which is almost 36" long in HO scale:

 

 

I wonder how far I can get with the cork roadbed in the next two weeks.

Santa Fe's Freight F9 Diesels in Victorvile, and Drawing More Track Lines on Plywood

Our featured Victorville locomotives this time are Santa Fe's EMD F9 freight diesels, and my layout progress report covers the drawing of all the secondary tracks that run beside the mainlines on the plywood benchwork for the lower deck.

Santa Fe bought nine ABBA sets of freight F9s during June and July of 1956, which was late in EMD's F-unit production.  They were numbered 281LABC through 289LABC, and they were painted in the "cigar band" blue and yellow freight scheme of the time.

Some were at first assigned to mainline freights over Cajon Pass and through Victorville.  Here is F9 set #283, with 283C in the lead, climbing westbound just outside Victorville, passing the West Victorville siding and nearing the Frost Flyover, in April of 1959, as shot by Allan Styffe:

In 1960 all of Santa Fe's cab units got grab irons added above the windshields and down the right side of the nose, and the remaining photos here show those grab irons.  Here's set #287 of F9s rounding the curve at Summit in the early 1960s, as shot by Fred Worsfold:

 

Here's a John McCall photo of F9 #286 at Clovis, NM in the 1960s, mixed with other units including a GP9, showing the extra louver set that the F9 A units had just behind the cab.  They also had extra cooling pipes on the left side of the rooftop:

 Here's a similar view of #286C, as seen by Fred Worsfold in San Diego:

 

Finally, we see another F9 mixed set, led by #289C, on the curve at Summit in Nov. 1963, as shot by Matt Herson:

My modeling time period ends at the end of 1956, so I can only run the F9s in the last six or seven months of 1956, about the same time as the Hi-Level El Capitan passenger train began running.

Stewart made Santa Fe's F9 sets in HO long ago, as seen here:

 

They lacked the cooling pipes on the rooftops, but those could be bought from other diesel detail sources.

Later, Athearn Genesis also made the F9s, but they had the 1960s grab iron details, so I didn't buy those:

 

Now it's time for another layout progress report.  I continued slowly drawing more track centerlines on the plywood for the secondary tracks that were beside the mainlines, and they are almost all completed now.

Here's a view of the tracks and turnouts being laid out near the approach to the turntable, which I represented with a paper circle 18.25" inches in diameter in the center distance: 

 

My frequent advisor, Tim Fisher, pointed out that I had four places where there were reverse curves (which can cause derailments) due to back-to-back crossover turnouts, which I later marked with red ink circles on Version 7 of my staging schematic (and the red arrows show right hand running on the mainlines):

Tim's solution was to use double-slip switches at those locations, but it's hard to find any Walthers Shinohara code 100 double-slips now (#6 or #8).  I did get one #6 from eBay, and Tim sent me another #6 that he no longer needed, so I could use those two to get the trains from the right end of the A yard across the mainlines and into the helix.

I laid out the two double-slips where they would go on the plywood, as seen here:

For the other two problem areas at the left end of the A yard, I moved one crossover and deleted the other and found new ways to route the trains without too much difficulty.  Here's the new Version 8 of the schematic, with double-slips at the right end of the A yard and a revised crossover at the left end:

I'll keep checking this to make sure all the trains and locos can move around the tracks without too much trouble.  Speaking of trouble, when I went to draw track R1 on the plywood, I found that one of the legs sticking through there was in the way, and there's no way to move it now.  But I found that I could reroute track R1 around the outside of the leg, so all is well again.

Here's the current track plan for the complex area near the turntable, with red ink notes showing some of the new features:

 

I should be able to finish all the track lines on the plywood next week.  The yard storage tracks will be on sheet cork and won't need their centerlines drawn until the cork is down.  I've postponed the big decisions about powering the turnout frogs and where the block boundaries should be.

I watched a Larry Puckett video online about the problem with KD magnets causing unwanted uncoupling and how he solves that by using the new Neodymium magnets under the rails, so I sent for 16 of those (four of each shape) but haven't experimented with them yet. 

My architect friend, Jim Coady, jumped into another CAD drawing project for me, this time for Victorville's big Rainbow Bridge.  I sent him the original bridge plans, and he sent me this initial drawing of just the arch:

 

A week later he came back with a 3D model of the main bridge parts, which look like this:

We're trying to decide how to build this model, whether by 3D printing and/or other methods.  Your suggestions are welcome.  I'll be back in two weeks.