November 30, 2017 is a day that history was made. At least it was history being made in my basement. On this day the last sections of track were laid, and the last spike of the mainline was driven.
Somehow befitting the significance of the mainline's completion, the last spike was drivin in the terminal property at exactly the point that the mainline makes its main entrance to the terminal. A year and two months after construction commenced, track is now complete.
Here is the final tally of the mainline's statistics:
Here is the final tally of the mainline's statistics:
- Mainline run (operational, as calculated by the amount of track that must be navigated to make a complete loop on the mainline): 475'
- Actual track (including switches) used: 404'
- Minimum mainline curve radius: 39'
- Maximum radius: 52.5"
- Maximum grade: 2%
- Maximum straight track run (in terminal and main yard): 22' (1,914'/ >1/4 mile in scale)
Here is a first view of the Terminal with mainline in place from the South looking north:
Switches are set into the Terminal Ladder (right - #8 switch) and onto the Freight House Branch (left - #6). In my ongoing research of major passenger terminals from Ogden west I found that the length of 2700-2800 feet was pretty common for station tracks, which allows me to build an accurate passenger terminal operation per prototype practices. I was thrilled to learn this fact and be able to build a suitably monumental terminal operation.
Passenger terminals along the Overland Route are impressive. Starting with Ogden and terminating in LAUPT and Oakland, the major terminals (Salt Lake, interestingly, was not considered a major terminal on the line, serving only Union Pacific while Rio Grande and Western Pacific had their own station 1/4 mile to its south) were Southern Pacific properties. Ogden, for example, was built to Southern Pacific specifications (the butterfly sheds based on Sacramento with their 23' span and same construction), using the same SP architects as LAUPT, John and Donald Parkinson. Even the Ogden Depot and Railway Company, who operated the station, was held under 53% SP control.
Major passenger stations were (many are gone) large buildings, and the layout provides ample room to construct a prototypically-correct station. Architects' drawings of Ogden Union Station, from the Station Archives, shows the size and scale of the building, along with all of the rooms needed to serve passengers and facility management.
LAUPT is well-documented too, as is the Oakland Mole, all providing good material for the design of fictional Overland's station. The objective of the layout, as noted from the beginning, is to build a city on the Overland Route that captures many of the elements of it without being a copy of any one place. In many ways that is easier to imagine than execute. Here I ultimately look to John Allen and George Sellios for guidance. They created a feeling, a look, and an ambience through modeling a railroad. Like them, trains are an important, though not the only reason for the layout. All elements - trains, track, buildings, scenes, details - must work together to create a powerful impression of a railroad town that draws people into the whole, rather than just watch trains go. That . . . is the difference between a train set and a railroad model.
Looking Ahead
The latest iteration of the station plan is a combination through/stub operation with the station buildings occupying the north end of the property. This location provides ample room for a dramatic facade and a parking lot more than spacious enough to accommodate the taxis, parked cars and busses for all the local destinations. Being the centerpiece of the layout, the passenger station needs to be monumental - the temple of transportation as stations were through the 1950s. Because of the site, I envision something on the order of Portland Union Station with its impressively elegant Romanesque architecture, monumental tower, the centerpiece of the main wing being a replica of the 'Southern Pacific Lines' stained glass window in the Oakland Mole. I also plan to add a similar window for Union Pacific's Overland Route shield, which seems especially fitting for this freelance terminal.Passenger terminals along the Overland Route are impressive. Starting with Ogden and terminating in LAUPT and Oakland, the major terminals (Salt Lake, interestingly, was not considered a major terminal on the line, serving only Union Pacific while Rio Grande and Western Pacific had their own station 1/4 mile to its south) were Southern Pacific properties. Ogden, for example, was built to Southern Pacific specifications (the butterfly sheds based on Sacramento with their 23' span and same construction), using the same SP architects as LAUPT, John and Donald Parkinson. Even the Ogden Depot and Railway Company, who operated the station, was held under 53% SP control.
Major passenger stations were (many are gone) large buildings, and the layout provides ample room to construct a prototypically-correct station. Architects' drawings of Ogden Union Station, from the Station Archives, shows the size and scale of the building, along with all of the rooms needed to serve passengers and facility management.
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