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Somewhere along the
line, I have always intended to do a slightly serious accounting of
the grimey underside of the Skeena Pacific Railway,
you know,
the part that makes it all work (most of the time). Well, here it is.
Please, take what is given here as my experience, my mistakes, my fun and my
joy. I'm no expert and, as they say, your results may differ.
Large scale model trains like those of Skeena Pacific run on #1 gauge (45 mm
- 1.75inch) track. The actual scale of the models can vary from 1:13.5 for
trains that represent 2' narrow gauge prototypes to 1:32 for those that
represent finescale, standard gauge prototypes. The designation of "G" scale is
not a scale at all but covers this more general "Large Scale" category
It is more appropriately called 'G' gauge, because the various scales all
run on the same gauge of track.
Philosophical Digression
Skeena Pacific Railway
is one of
those garden railways that is referred to as "A 10 foot railway". That means that if you stand
back 10 feet and look at it with a non-critical eye, it looks pretty good.
If you want to be a 'rivet-counter' (one who not only knows how each
prototype locomotive, car, etc, looked, felt, smelled and was numbered and
wants the model to be EXACTLY the same way) stop now. I will only frustrate
the living daylights out of you. This garden railway has been built as a
railway-in-the-garden, not as a garden built up around the railway. While
our garden has been changed significantly to accommodate parts of the
railway (see
the Pictorial) we have not planted
'scale' sized plants. That may change if/when we start developing The
Village, but we will see.
Personnel
There is a lot of work to starting and running
a railway. Unlike the big guys, you don't just go out and hire track
gangs and foremen and engineers and CEO's. Well some do, but they
aren't in my tax bracket. If you are married or have a 'significant
other', one position has been immediately filled. That of Chief Financial
Officer. Well, someone has to keep track of the money and whether it's
shoestring or Trump, there is money involved. On top of that, it builds an
immediate interest in what's being done by you. Nothing creates interest
like "Honey, where's the money?" For all those other positions,
it's most likely you. But that's what makes the hobby interesting. You get
to design and build a railway to your specifications, often with help from
wives, sons, daughters, friends and some people you don't even know yet and
the result is yours. Have Fun!
Some
Specifications of the Railway in the Garden
Skeena Pacific Railway is a
single line,
track-powered
railway with several passing sections, using 2 cabs with
Block Power Control,
giving the ability to run two trains in opposite
directions, with care. The mainline run is about 350 feet with two main yards
located on each side of our garden, with a
storage yard and a passing tracks along the back fence. The railway also has a tunnel that is, by
appearance, about 35 feet long. Space taken by the railway is about 50
feet in length on three sides of our yard and varying widths. The various locations
along the are named for
places in Northwest BC (see
A
History) and make it easier to describe where a train is or where it is
going. A
Track Plan has been added if you wish
to figure out the layout of the land.
More background is
under the
'About' tab. |
Under Construction - We're working on the Railway