First Thoughts

Arapahoe & Sheridan Railroad

Theme:    Fledgling railroad under pressure from larger roads
Setting:  Colorado, "Front Range"
Time Period:  1915 - 1925
Scale:  1/72
Gauge:  2ft

I'm intending A&S to be a micro layout, suited for standing on top of an end table in a 1 bedroom apartment.   My initial thoughts towards the track plan lean towards continuous operation, with perhaps a turnout or two thrown in.  I'd like something where I can set the trains in motion, and leave them working for guests or family to see.  My goals for the layout are two fold:  1.) create the micro on a very limited budget, making use of already available materials as much as possible, 2.) create a reasonably detailed 2-ft gauge line which fits in the available space.

Because the layout won't have a lot of locomotive power, because space is limited, and because a budget will be enforced, I've made up a new scale/gauge combination:  72n2, or 1/72 scale, 2ft narrow gauge.  There aren't any manufactures producing products for this size, and I can't find anywhere on the internet where someone has tried it, thought I'm sure many have.

So why make a new scale/gauge combination?  Easy:  I want to model a 2ft gauge line, and I want to do so inexpensively, which means I need access to affordable locomotive mechanisms, trucks, wheels, and couplers.  It turns out in 1/72 scale, N scale track is really close to 2ft gauge (it's about 1.5 scale inches off, but oh well).  That means I can use Kato 11-105 or 11-106 mechanisms to power the rail critters.

Even though there aren't any rail manufacturers producing 1/72 products, 1/72 is a scale that's used by plastic model manufacturers, meaning I can still have access to some selection of commercially available products.  As a side bonus, 1/72 seems to be the scale of choice for many manufacturers of "plastic men" meaning there is a ready supply of figures.

The downside of course is that anything I want outside of that I'll have to scratch build.  Oh well, perhaps I'll save some money doing that?

Arapahoe & Sheridan Railroad Back History

(The following is a fictitious history of two non-existent railroads which serves to give setting and period to a model railroad layout)

In 1872 James Orman began seeking funding to build a railroad that connected the then progressing Denver city with settlers in Arapahoe county. Though he had difficulty gaining momentum, the first rail on the Arapahoe Short Line (ASL) was laid several years later in 1878. After a few bad winters, the line's construction was behind schedule and it was beginning to look like the company would go under when some last minute investors saved the project. In the summer of 1883 the line opened with service between Denver and Bow Mar settlement, bringing with it a small increase in population to the Bow Mar area.

Orman sought to make the short line profitable by transporting whatever freight he could, which at the time primarily consisted of mining supplies for the gold-hungry of the day.

Meanwhile in southern Colorado, John Marston had been working on rail plans of his own. He opened the Sheridan & Durango line in 1879, connecting many important mining and destination towns. As the Arapahoe Short Line began to loose traffic to the dominating Denver & Rio Grande railroad, it was bought out by Marston who then connected the two lines in 1889 under the name Arapahoe & Sheridan RR.

By 1899 the A&S was feeling the pressure from the competing Denver & Rio Grande an Durango & Silverton lines and began to take measures to keep themselves alive. John Marston's son Jospeh Marston by that time had taken management of a large portion of the A&S and proposed the introduction of smaller vehicles which carried less freight and passengers but were more economical to operate.

In 1907 the A&S sold the majority of their 0-6-0 and 0-4-4 engines to competitors and had the shop build a handful of rail busses, rail trucks, and rail vans, primarily focusing the line on delivery of mail, rural passenger traffic, and whatever freight it could sell transportation for.

The planned layout will pickup the story of the A&S in 1921, several years after the downsize, when the budget for improvements is slim, and any day could be the day the line closes.