Bruce's Crossing Railway and Navigation Company is loosely based on the former Milwaukee Road crossing of the Mississippi River between Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and Marquette, Iowa. Built with historical help from the book 'Marquette' by John Cook.
HO scale. First generation Athearn diesel power, although there are some steam locomotives lurking in boxes. Nothing new added in years. Still have some freight cars to assemble. Many 'fallen flags' from the 1960's era, when I started model railroading.
Control is by two-throttle toggle switch blocking.
Operated about once a year. The rest of the time I just park pretty trains around it to remind me of some interesting rail history I've seen.
One third is constructed of former portable modules from previous club and home use. Lots of 'slab and scab' boards to connect the modules, and to gain mainline length in the un-sceniced furnace room.
Scenery one quarter complete. Lots of imagination in use. Photo printed background scenery and tunnel portals. And it is easier to 'doctor' the scenery in a photo program than to complete the real thing.
Last public tour was in the year 2001?
Track heights above floor are 40 to 48 inches. Grades up to 4 %. Track switches at the junction can allow for one long continuous thrice-around run, or three separate loops for three separate trains. 'River track' allows one long level route for easy operation of 70-car trains. Grades to other levels limit dependable operation to 40 cars.
Unusual features:
- Cardboard mock-up of one pontoon float swing bridge, with possible plans to actually build two (maybe in twenty years; I have many other things to do first; see my web site links below).
- Tunnel City through wall. Made the same size as an electrical box so it can be covered by blank electric cover if it is ever abandoned.
- Re-Regulator pendulum clock for fast-time scheduling.
- The amazing reversing geep, with a reversing switch hidden in the radiator fans. (This was years before command control could allow independent control of one loco)
- Section trucks run after trains (pulled by invisible thread from a train's caboose)
- home of Snow Train, the real operating HO-scale snow plows, but that is in long term storage as of 2005.
My personal web sites:
Bruce's RailRoad Pictures, usually real rail topics I've seen around central Wisconsin, Bruce's RailRoad Pictures
Website of kite aerial photography, Sky_Hi_Point
Bruce O.
Plover, Wisconsin
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