A New Beginning - Section 1 Silver City, SD

[SVJim]

I have finally settled on a setting for my new layout. I am going to loosely model the Rapid City, Black Hills and Western (RCBH&W) Railroad from Rapid City, SD to Mystic, SD. The RCBH&W followed the rapid creek from Rapid City up into the Black Hills where it connected to the CB&Q at Mystic. It had a total of 32 miles of track and crossed the Rapid creek over 100 times in 26 miles.

I plan to start small and expand as time and money allow. Here is the track plan for the Silver City portion of the layout. I made it a simple loop so I could run trains as I work on the layout. The switches on each side of the layout are there to connect to the larger layout as I expand. Silver City had only 1 siding but I've added a second to include a sawmill that was slightly away from the town (the town will be on the left side and the back track will be hidden from view by a hill. Rapid creek will extend from the lower left, be crossed by the track then follow the track on the inside and exit at the lower right. The upper siding will also cross the creek. The layout will be set in the 1910s. It's 35" x 8'. The table is complete and I am beginning to layout the track plan.

 

[BigGRacing]

Looking forward to watching the progress for sure

 

[santafewillie]

Good concept to have a loop to run on while you expand.

 

[CM-Fan]

I like this project and era, I spent the last half hour looking at the history and pictures of this railroad. Great subject and time frame!

 

[2Tracks]

Very nice Jim! Neat layout....

 

[SVJim]

Thanks for the kind comments. So far I’ve managed to get the bench work built, the track plan transferred to the bench work, and have just finished putting camper tape down for under the cork roadbed.

 

[SVJim]

Since it’s the black hills, ponderosa pine trees are the dominant tree. As I wait for the cork I’ve started building my trees.

Here are some photos of a couple of finished trees and others in various stages of work

 

[SVJim]

I've decided to drop one of the front center sidings to bring it more in line with the actual prototype. Here's the new slightly modified plan.