Good to hear!

Well, Verne, sounds as if the AV&W is well on its way to becoming reality. Looking forward to seeing it come along.

EDIT AFTER PHOTOS ADDED: I espy a cliff-dwelling there, Verne! Is that a legacy from the S&EG or newly added?

Restrictions?

See all the new tank cars, but wonder if they need to be modified to meet growing new complaints and possible new standards on hauling crude oil. (LOL!) Improvements to the line look great.

Relics from the past

Thanks Paul...the cliff dwelling was there for a few years on the backdrop for my Estrella & Sonora Grande, pointing in a sense to things to come. I plan to model one in 3-d in Arroyo Verde Gorge.

David, thanks. The tank cars are pretty much state of the art for the 1920s-30s era i am modeling, to the best of my knowledge. Since they don't intterchange, and the AV&W is a small, remote narrow gauge road, it doesn't get many regulators or inspections. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" is the rule of the road.

Good news Verne!

Thanks for the update...

Those Chinese tourists get around, don't they? 

Hey Verne

You did say 2-6-2T's?? 

Are some of these in your sights?  http://haskellco.net/0n30puffingbillyNA.html 

A nice red or green one maybe??

Tempting...

John, they are tempting...I actually put in a reservation for one of these in green livery, the Cananea Consolidated 
Copper Co. (a Mexican 3-foot mining road in Sonora) actually had very similar locos in their fleet. They were painted green, had outside frames, and were very nice looking locos.

I will stick with lighter power for now due to the substandard curves I will have on my rebuilt main line leading to hidden staging...but I never say 'never'! The Puffing Billy is a tempting thought indeed.

I may have at least one steamboat in my future, however...

This is a beautiful 1:48 kit produced by Kitwood Hill Models. Other equally attractive 1:48 kits are available from Train Troll. My maternal grandfather was a master mechanic in the Dutch merchant marine, so I guess an affinity for steamboats is in my blood.

I have space for a small landing scene to supply remote mining camps up a rugged river canyon. Similar craft plied the waters of the Columbia, San Joaquin, Sacramento, Colorado, Green and San Juan Rivers in the western US from the late 1860s through the 1920s.

A river landing scene could fit in the area where my San Lorenzo village used to be. It might be fun to have this steamer with a smaller workboat and barge in the scene, complete with a spur to spot cars for transfer of supplies. It would be a novel way to generate traffic for the railroad, and would be located a short walk from the passenger station.

On the plus side, no coupler conversions or adjustments needed, and no worries about dirty track! On the down side: would it be 'crazy' to put a sound decoder in a steamboat???

Steamboat a comin'

Hi Verne, go your hardest  - you would need to augment the "chuff" with a faster splash rate though 

Like about 8:1 for for every chuff on a 2 cylinder steam engine driving the crank (WDW Orlando - yes it was steam powered 

Don't forget the boot-shaking steamboat whistle 

Yes

Nice looking craft, John. Thanks for the pictures. Funny, I didn't anticipate, even a month ago, that a steamboat might be a-comin' to my model railroad! However, I picked up a hard to find book on steamers on the Colorado River several years ago while researching Arizona history, so the seed of an idea has been floating around in my noggin for a while. Another modeler's construction thread on this kit jogged my thinking, and has me seriously considering this course (pun intended).

The 'peanut whistle' on the Soundtraxx Small Steam decoders would be perfect...I have an old TSU-750 that overheats in the loco it is installed in, and will soon be replaced by a TSU-1000. It could be the donor for this experiment. I wouldn't need chuff, as the boat would not be moving...but a whistle, boiler blow down, pop valves...these would all be appropriate for subtle background sound in the landing area. Of course, the air pump volume would have to be turned down. As these were usually wood burners in my region, the 'Fireman Fred' sounds of shoveling coal, running the blower, lubricating, etc. would also be turned off. Just some preliminary thinking here...

But, who doesn't love a good steamboat story?

Here's the rest of the stern wheeler

May I present the "Liberty Belle"

a

and rear view - with the twin exhausts - more a "swoosh" than a "chuff"

Oops sorry wrong river...

Nice!

That's a pretty fancy boat, John...thanks for the photos.

I am afraid the AV&W will have to keep their fleet a bit smaller and less luxurious, but it still beats swimming!

Paddle wheelers came in all sizes..

And Verne, that kit would look amazing with all sorts of freight all over it. The detailing alone will keep you busy!

Trend was towards smaller boats

Thanks Art, I agree...it could be an interesting scene indeed! The boats used on the Colorado tended to be smaller than in most western rivers, an I can't recall ever seeing this modeled in a canyon country setting in the southwest. Many people are unaware that boats were even run back then, as it seems a bit improbable.

I am thinking of the Kitwood HIll Models boat (perhaps named the San Juan or Colorado) tied up for loading, with the progress underway. Near it would be a smaller tug from Train Troll (named the Idab) with a barge. In my modeling scheme, the point modeled would be the farthest point upriver that boats could navigate, without dealing with uncrossable rapids and shallows. The boats would transfer freight and passengers for the mining camps along the rugged river canyon that otherwise would require expensive and lengthy transport by pack animal or stagecoach

How to fit this in is still something I am figuring out, but I am really interested in the modeling possibilities here.

Backdrops

Hi Verne

In the weekly photo posts you asked for comment on your backdrops. IMHO only you can answer that one. From Dave Ms article you are the producer/director of your story.  To me the painted backdrops in your previous layout perfectly suited the story I thought you were trying to tell.  While I personally like the photo backdrop examples you showed, I think they would actually detract from the stories you are telling so well.  Hope this makes sense. Bottom line if you are going to be creating a similar story to your last layout, my vote would go to painted backdrops.

...

They had a small paddlewheeler running from Nogalas to Tucson until the Santa Rita dried up.

Ahhh Nogales

Ahhh Nogales, my old stumping ground back in the days.

I like the boat idea...

Something different for sure, but neat! 

In this case...

I like the photo backdrops.  I followed along with your work over the years.  In my opinion the new photo backdrops are adding a brightness to the layout.  Once the trains start running I doubt any attention will be drawn away by the backdrops.

Den

New blog and riverboat page on my website

Hi, I have added a new blog entry about Colorado River riverboat service, and a new page on my website. Click here and check it out if you are interested in this fascinating but little-known chapter in southwestern US history.

Southwestern riverboats

Verne,

It's interesting that you're heading in this direction just now, as I've been having some similar thoughts lately.  My freelanced lines run between the RGW (pre-D&RG, pre-D&RGW) and AT&SF mainlines, across the canyons, desert, and mountains of Utah and Arizona - following the Colorado as far as Moab and eventually crossing the San Juan near Bluff.  I read some years back about the steamboats on the Colorado and briefly considered including some rail-riverboat interface in my concept before realizing that most of those vessels operated far downstream from my area of interest.  But recently, looking at some history of the Green River and Moab areas, I discovered that attempts were made at water transportation much further upstream, as you've mentioned.  So I'm giving some thought to re-introducing that scene to my (at this point un-attainably large) pantheon of modeling goals.  It might seal the deal if Kitwood were to offer their boat in HO - the CR Lamb by InterAction is beautiful but much too large to be plausible in my area of the Colorado or San Juan.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing what you do with this and I'm sure I'll take much inspiration from your efforts.  The rail-water connection is about the only thing missing from my freelance/protolance world - I can plausibly include the red rock canyons, the windswept sagebrush of the open high desert, the alpine terrain of the La Sals, and the mining boomtowns, riverside fishing camps, and growing small cities therein.  If I can find a way to tie in a scene where my little diamond-stacked engines can pull up alongside a comparably diminutive sternwheeler, that's pretty much having it all in my book.

Chris

Liking the boats Verne

 Interesting blog entry. I can't wait to see what you do with a paddle wheeler on your layout.

For all the reasons talked about above, is why I have a small wharf scene on the R&T. Unfortunately, as of yet, no paddle wheeler has pulled up to the dock... but you never know!

Did you see this ?

This was a post from MRH in 2013.

Your posts have set me off on a tangent, sort of. My railroad name DOES include "& Navigation" but I'd forgotten how much of my hometown history of the Skagit River included the small paddle boats to support the local communities. Another search of Columbia River sternwheelers led me to my great grandmother''s home near Astoria where boats of all size worked their way as far as Canada. 

The "Skagit Belle" sank in about 1965 after having been converted to a curio shop along pier 51 in Seattle. I remember it but never boarded or knew it's history. It was one of many, sadly, sadly long gone. 

It is time to add a little creative license to my little Hawaiian Line and sprinkle some Puget Sound history in the mix.  Thanks Verne!

Neil

Go for it!

Have fun, Neil! Sometimes these 'tangential diversions' just happen to me over time...I bought an obscure book on Colorado River steamboats several years ago, because I found the idea interesting. No thought about actually modeling it until I recently realized by moving my layout to a different location with scenery like the canyons near the Colorado and Green Rivers, it was an ideal opportunity to work in my somewhat ignored love for boats. So the idea literally moved from a back shelf to the front of the layout!

In my experience, what may seem like getting 'distracted by a tangent' can be a very good thing! I would suggest sometimes they can be a catalyst leading to something great. I can't wait to see what you come up with on your Hawaiian/Puget Sound fusion!

Bump...

Hey Verne, any updates? You been really quiet lately...

Thanks...

Thanks, Art...no updates, have been away on vacation and dealing with 1:1 world priorities. I hope to be modeling again soon, thanks for your interest!