Riding the narrow gauge rails of the
and the
A virtual trip back in time through the magic of
For as long as I can remember I have always been a fan of the
Denver & Rio Grande Western. In 2003 my Dad sent me a collection of books
on the Rio Grande Southern railroad. And ever since then the RGS has had a special
place in my heart. Just hearing the names conjurs images of diminuative steam
locomotives pulling their consists through treacherous canyons, or over steep
mountain passes dwarfed by the San Juan range of the Rocky Mountains.
The routes I've chosen to model are perhaps the most picturesque
in Colorado. For the D&RGW it is the Black Canon of the Gunnison River.
The route started in Gunnison, CO and followed the Gunnison river through the
Black Canon until it reached Cimarron. At this point it cut out of the canyon
and proceeded up and over Cerro Summit and then down to Montrose, CO. From here
a line went south to Ridgway and Ouray, CO. At Ridgway the D&RGW met up
with the Rio Grande Southern. During the time of its operation on this route
the primary cargo was coal out of the Crested Butte area north of Gunnison.
Coal was brought down to Gunnison and over to Montrose. Another major comodity
on the line was livestock. Sheep and cattle were brought down from the high
country on the RGS and transferred to the D&RGW at Ridgway. Some silver
and gold was brought up from Ouray out of the mines near Red Mountain Pass.
During WW2 the uranium that was used in developing the atomic bombs was mined
south of Placerville, CO on the RGS. The time period that I'm primarily modeling
is the 1940's.
I'll use this page to update you on the progress of this project.
I'll keep a logbook below. The latest update will always be first. New screenshots
will be located on the Screenz page.
3/24/06 - Just getting back into
the swing of things. No new progress has been made on the route in a while.
I'm awaiting a new PC to continue that work. But, currently the RGS portion
of the route has all of its track laid. And, much of the scenery is done. See
the map on the Screenz page. There are still many buildings to be created for
the various towns. I've gotten started on updating buildings to make them interactive.
My watertanks are animated and will supply water to tenders. I'm working on
creating interactive frieght and passenger depots. The D&RGW portion of
the route still needs to be created. Also, I'm considering creating the lines
out of Durango to Silverton, Antonito and Farmington. But, that's way down the
line now. Screenshots of the current progress on the RGS can be seen on the
Screenz page.