Telling Tales - Harry Brunk Tribute 4

Derrell.......

"Your time period is a good one. The mix of equipment, freight cars, gives you a chance for some real variety. The only thing you lack is the beartrap. (My thinking only, of course.)

  "To fit in a 28 foot boxcar in my number scheme worried me until I realized that was what 200 to 209 was for. 210 starts the St. Charles cars. Then I remembered, checked, and sure enough, the car at Forks is a shorter car, so it can't be numbered to go with your Sn3 model, as a visual record of historic note. But WAIT! the car on the ground at Black Hawk near the turntable is just right. Have had a desire to dress it, and the immediate area up a bit, anyway. It is in process even now. It will show remnants of block lettering, and the very weathered number 205, I think.
 "Which brings up a point for discussion. Just how much weathering should your railroad be displaying on a block letter monogrammed car? Always some latitude, even though the block lettering would be the newer scheme showing at the time you are modeling. Don't want a fresh from the shops paint job, or do you? Think of Bob's weathered UC&N car, and give me an idea how close or far from that would seem right to you. Now we both agree, weathering isn't regular or predictable across an entire fleet of freight cars, and we both have seen examples of even recently painted cars that really got the ---- beat out of them. I plan no extremes, however. Then, in the 1930s, Bob's car has had at least some touch up work done, all be it not too recently. I'm remembering some block lettered C&S coal cars in the late teens that showed weathering is darned near a matter of choice, as to extreme or otherwise. 'Course these were coal cars, but box cars were normally only slightly less prone to getting messy, some times. Seems to almost bring it full circle, to the point that anything could still be right. Let me know your own personal druthers.
  "Enjoyed the visit, talk, and all. But have a feeling the host could have toured the line, and gotten a little more out there for you all, even as fast as the time flew by."
Harry

Car (shed - lower center) was apparently a 26' car

This email was dated 28 May 2008. I left the car with Harry to letter UC&N when the 4 of us visited Little Colorado a second time. This email makes clear Harry was having fun figuring out how to fit the Sn3 box car into his Union Central & Northern scheme of things. He actually could have used his first choice - that 26' car at Forks Creek - shown in the photo to the left because my car was a 26' car. But I am happy with what he did just the same nor does it change the story one bit. And that is what is most important to me (see Pre-History Part 5).
 
This all came about because I had discovered a modern (Sn3) box car decorated UC&N on our mutual friend's (Bob Axsom) layout at some point before our second visit. I asked Harry before hand if he would give one of my cars the same treatment. He agreed and I hand carried a built up and painted "The Cimarron Works" South Park box car to Little Colorado on our second visit.
 
As a modern car Bob's Sn3 model could have been a clone of an active car on the UC&N or it could have been a vacant number that simply never showed up on the home road. I never found that out, Nor was I particularly looking for my model to somehow fit into the scheme of things at Little Colorado. That was and still is one of those special, unexpected gifts that came with the package. Harry was willing and seemed to enjoy sharing the magic of the UC&N and to extend it beyond its own physical bounds. I recognize and honor this UC&N connection provided to the Trout Creek layout even to this day. 

The TC line is more oriented toward the integrity of history nevertheless, it is - or was - a fantasy in its own right. The model railroads of the past are every bit History as the  12" to the foot scale types that are just as locked into the past as the UC&N. So far as I know - especially in 1:64th scale - only Bob's car and mine have this distinction. It very well could be that Harry did similar cars in HO but the Sn3 C&S community was and still is so small I believe I would know about any such models.

This was the fate of UC&N 205 by 1932

In his message Harry describes how he arrived at the particular road number he gave my car. Thinking ahead he left the first 10 box car assignments (200 - 209) blank so that older box cars could show up on the layout as small shed structures. The 26, 27, and 30 foot cars that came to the C&S when that company was incorporated  (late 1898) are generally referred to as "inherited" cars because they came to the new company by way of several Union Pacific related roads between 1881 and 1898. Modern cars were built for and by the C&S between 1898 and 1910. By 1920 nearly all inherited cars were gone or at best set out as small "structures" scattered over C&S property. A few were sold to private citizens for the same purpose. Thus Harry provided the UC&N with a reserve of logical road numbers to represent this practice. Into that pool he reached to call on 205 as part of the history of the UC&N - what an honor!.
 
The Trout Creek layout was that portion of the C&S set in 1910 that I modeled. It was built with the intent to closely follow the historical narrative of the prototype. Inherited cars were still very much in abundance in 1910 and models on the TC layout were appropriately dated. This collaboration between 1930s UC&N and 1910 C&S unexpectedly created an opportunity of story telling. And is it not the story that gives life to our efforts?

A few years (1936) later the car was more deteriorated

The Tale
Uncle Bender was a young Arkansan who took up adventure in Colorado around the turn of the century. He also took up a camera and a collection of photographs that he eventually passed on to his posterity; myself among them. In his collection were found a number of views of the Colorado & Southern narrow gauge dating from summers of 1909 and '10. He apparently spent the '09 summer in Buena Vista about 20 miles west of Trout Creek Pass. He  captured both Denver & Rio Grande and Colorado Midland trains as well but I don't have access to those photos.
 
He happened to catch an unusual sight at the wye located at Bath. By this time Bath (or Hill Top) was closed as a station. Heavy laden trains with several engines would labor up the pass from either direction and then cut off the helpers which were turned and send back to help the next train. But that wasn't what Bender saw on this day.
 

Uncle Bender caught 205 one 1909 afternoon at Bath

I should explain that Colorado narrow gauge roads typically owned and operated mostly their own rolling stock, Foreign equipment on their systems was not common but it did happen. There isn't any record why a UC&N car found its way the top of Trout Creek Pass. That isn't the story - lest we make something up. It was there that Uncle Bender recorded it on film. That's the story; at least part of it. Read on.
 
The car showed up at more than one location that demonstrated a certain presents over perhaps months - maybe longer. But eventually it made its way back home because we see in Bender's photos more than 20 years later little 205 relegated to shed status at Black Hawk, Little Colorado. Yes, in the 1930s after teaching school in Arkansas Bender returned to Colorado and ventured up Clear Creek Canyon,
 
What he witnessed was the changes put upon the railroads by the Interstate Commerce Commission that required the presents of greater safety equipment on all railroad equipment that could potentially cross state lines. Like the C&S, the UC&N scrapped or reassigned old worn out cars rather that refit them to the new requirements. And so the prodigal went home to be taken off of its trucks and set on the ground as a shed.

Better that - I guess - rather than being torched to recover the metal...

A few weeks later he caught it again at Longs Creek

 That's the story; in all of its "excitement". Please enjoy Uncle Bender's photos - and more importantly join in my gratitude and honor in memories of my friend Harry Brunk.

The Chalk Creek Toboggan - Part 8

In one of the photos of Buena Vista (taken from the Colorado Midland mainline east of town) I saw what looked like a flanger in the C&S yards. This was after the Romley layout I built in Parker (Part 5) had either been dismantled or was stored but I was still planning my 1/4" scale Buena Vista Romley layout. I kept busy building rolling stock. The flanger was one of those distinctly Chalk Creek items I watched for; spying it in the yard was what compelled me to build the model. I also found the drawing of a similar Denver & Rio Grande flanger by J.C. Benson in the Mar/April 1980 "Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette".

Completed On3 Model of C&S 016 - Poole

There wasn't and still isn't any kit for C&S Flangers (there were 2 standard gauge cars as well) in any scale so far as I know. If I wanted the car I had to scratch build it and that meant the usual challenges with such projects. The biggest issues were detailed plans and how to come up with viable hardware pertaining to the plow and mechanism. I solved the second problem by using a Durango Press kit of a Rio Grande Southern Flanger (01 as I recall). The first problem took a little more diligence. I started with the drawing mentioned above and using the few photos available redrew the differences as far as I needed in a new drawing.

Is the model strictly accurate? No. Some things had to be presumed and some things I know now were not clear then. Overall, however, I believe the model is convincing. It does not look like either the R.G.S. model from which I borrowed parts or the drawing which I used as a starting point. It looks like a Colorado & Southern flanger.

As built by the D.L.& G. in the mid 1880s, all 4 cars used what we call the B Type Union Pacific Swing Beam truck. That was much the standard of the South Park freight roster at the time the flangers were built. When 015 became the Leadville flanger in 1936 it was re-equipped with ASF 4 foot archbar trucks used on the 1902 Type 1 coal cars. By 1936 these would have been surplus as many cars were scrapped at that time. I purchased the Swing Beam trucks from Coronado Scale Models.

Note that there are no brake beams on the front truck as there was no means of connecting to the brake linkage behind the plow. Also note that there is a brake cylinder used to actuate the blade from the locomotive. Therefore, the cars had 2 air lines and 2 glad hands on each end. None of the prototype photos of 016 suggest it had the tool box on the front deck like 014 and probably 013. Other detail differences might be square targets on the "older" cars - 015 & 016 

The following photo essay may be helpful, in a general sense, on how to develop just about any.wood framed or wooden railroad car. .

Commercial scale lumber was cut for frame parts

Wood frame parts assembled in a plastic jig

Single needle beam with 2 truss rods

 Perspective view showing more end construction

Weights added before floor boards were installed

Form-up of the train air line with other detail

The train air line ran exterior of the frame

Plow installed. Grandt Line couplers

 Plastic "square" to plumb handrail stanchions

Special jig to form the side steps from brass strips

Four sill steps ready to install

Top detail of the nearly complete model

Bottom detail

Sheet brass cut for plow wings and final details, paint, lettering and weathering.

In O scale the car is just over 4" long. This packed a rich amount of detail into a very confined space. The car won Second Place in M.O.W at the 9th National Narrow Gauge convention at Durango, CO in 1989. It was also part of the consist of a train that won first Place at the 12th National Narrow Gauge convention at Colorado Springs, CO in 1992..

Spike from RGS Ridgeway yard

016 was part of a C&S work train entry

Tribute - Harry Brunk 3

 

The other day I was reviewing old emails from Harry and realized a few corrections were in order. There was also more information about some of the subjects that I discussed previously. 

First, the dates the four of us visited Harry were a little earlier than I had remembered. Casual references in email conversation indicates our first visit was in early summer 2006. Our second visit was probably in early summer 2007. Harry and Bob Axsom were old friends and Bob spent his time during visits taking many photos of the Union Central & Northern. After both visits he had accumulated a large number of views that he used to develop the slide program from which most of the layout photos shown came from. The program on the disk he gave to each of us was dated 16 Jan. 2008.

Harry's Cinder car 0105 was scratch built for the 1930s

Harry sent the following email on 1 Sept. 2007 (a few months after Bob Axsom, Daryl Leedy, Mike Pine and I visited the second time). Harry wrote;

"Derrell............
  "FINALLY... the Rio Grande Ltd. C&S cinder car that Eric Bracher sent me has been finished. As you know, he (like I did with my scratchbuilt car,) used your plans from that slick MR article you did some years ago.(Aug. 1991 MR). Also, as per your recommendation, did some reviewing of how C&S re-lettered cars over the years, and made some changes on the scheme I had on my scratchbuilt version of the same cinder type.
"...You may or may not remember I'd lettered my car (UC&N 0105,) in block lettering to sorta go along with the correctly done type two model I'd scratchbuilt of 0206. You thought the first cinder cars had probably never been re-lettered in block style, and I just recently realized you were seeing a thing or two there that I'd missed... They only lettered or re-lettered in the newer styles they went to when or if, a car series was weathered badly enough to desperately need it. The first 0100 series wouldn't have needed it by block lettering adoption, but much later... mid '20s maybe, they possibly did. So both 0107 (Eric's kit car,) and 0105 got one of those quickie lettering jobs the C&S did in the '30s.. Both these cars do however have the up to date stirrups and hand grabs, as fits an early '30s version of the C&S. So, the block lettering came off my 0105, and both 0105 and 0107 got the UC&N and numbers in Roman on the upper left hand side of the cars. No other stenciling shows, except for end initials and numbers, since the C&S had let all that go on 0206 by that time...
  "Also, instead of just being window dressing on the siding at Forks Creek, my three cinder cars are now in operation. This whole thing was kicked in gear after I rebuilt my cinder pit at Silver Plume, a month or two after you guys paid a visit to the UC&N..."
Harry

Berlyn Locomotive Works import

I believe our discussion on the cinder cars began during our last visit when I notice the cars on his layout.

I had long forgotten that Eric produced an HOn3 kit of the cinder car for his Rio Grande Models line. I never solicited anyone to make kits of the cars I researched, however, when it happened  - and it has  many times - it is very satisfying to know others have gotten enjoyment out of  the work such research takes. Theo Berlyn imported an O scale model of the cinder cars as well.

The U.C&N herald had an extra figure and Harry neatly put the "C&" on his coal cars where the "&" in "C&S" was. That would have split nicely in the center of the car sides had he chosen to do so.

 

C&S 0107 was originally U.P.D&G. coal 3999

UC&N Block scheme on a C&S coal car

Derrell.........
"... Regarding my cinder car fleet, I have now taken and filed some photos, and will now attempt to send two of them to you, attached to this email.
 "0105 is my scratchbuilt version that for years incorrectly sported block lettering. 0107 is the built up version of one of Rio Grande (Models) Ltd's kits. Eric Bracher sent it assembled to help me make exploded drawings for his instruction sheet to be included in the kits. Note the side sill is considerably too deep, but to correct it on the assembled car would have required major surgery, and the car is too well done otherwise, I think. Anyway, the lettering, and the detailing, has been rendered as we think the were in the early 1930s. Right? Hope so".
Harry

This email came to me (with the photos of his 3 models) on 3 Oct. 2007. I can't speak to the HO version of the car by RGM since Eric never consulted me on that project. The side sills are not called out in the drawing that appears on pages 86 / 87 of the noted MR issue above. The sills were probably the same size as the Type I (1902 built ) coal cars. The measurement of 4319's sills were 11 7/8" as I recall - having actually measured them one New Years Day. (Cold!!)

Left is the RGM Kit (0107) - 0206 is a Type II car

The following discussion may shed a little light on the topic of reverting the U.C&N to C&S (which it absolutely was except in name). Again this was a discussion that came up during our visit in 2007. The email is dated 28 April 2008. It doesn't actually take into account that part of the discussion I have already related in an earlier post but it does add dimension to the topic (see "Tribute - Harry Brunk 2").

Derrell......
" ... I remember your philosophy about limited grab irons, and how that made me feel better after  suffering through all my boxcars with the full array for the '30s. The same reason you like fewer of them is kin to the reason I hang on to my Union Central & Northern lettering and numbering scheme. Whole lot simpler to only have to decal three car numbers, and I don't have to worry whether a given number for my steel frame boxcar series has to go on a car with narrow or wide ribbed roof, or one of the rare wood covered roofs. Oh, them thar folks are out there that LOVE to point out such things if they can prove it, and catch you with a wrongly numbered car with the roof you modeled. 'Course, you're very familiar with such minor problems like that...
 "...Havin' fun can take so many tracks in this hobby, its too bad more folks don't get the message. Workin' on it."
Harry
 
Harry was one of the nicest guys you could meet - I've always sorta taken his comment; " 'Course, you're very familiar with such minor problems like that" as a polite little jab back at me because I had upon occasion pointed out things concerning C&S-esque model freight cars that were contrary to the prototypes. Not about roofs, as I recall, but more fundamental issues such as, when cars were built and the frame technology that dictated the car building activity of this railroad.
 
He references my long standing penchant for modeling the pre ICC regulations that more than doubled the number of grab irons on freight cars after 1911. That isn't the only reason I like the earlier periods. I do loath the tedious task of installing grab irons. Harry is relating my impatience with grab irons to his impatience (I gather) of applying decals - one digit at a time - characteristic of lettering sets for freight cars. Fewer numerals, fewer grab irons - yeah. I get that. But imagine the task of re lettering every model to match the prototype should one try to change a layout as advanced as Harry's.

In the following post, dated 30 May 2008. Harry responded to a few of the thoughts I shared with him about the world of Fine Art and its treatment of artists. His remarks reveal a little bit of insight into his own experiences as a working artist.
 
Derrell........
 " ...Too many years spent learning the hard way that even supposedly sure fire ways of doing it, weren't a sure thing at all. One truth stands out, and it works for Vegas gamblers and artists, and any salesmen... the more money you have already... the less you NEED the next move to succeed... the more likely you WILL succeed, and win big. A relatively well off bank president, who was a good friend was a case in point. He ALWAYS won big in our poker sessions. 'Course they weren't serious money games, but you get the drift. Saw the same thing amoung the artists that I showed with. One of the more successful was asked by a friend and fellow artist, just how you went about getting into one of the major big league art shows, as he had. Not being smartass about it, he said he noticed they actually came to him, after his own personal sales were doing so well he no longer really needed help.
   "In my case, supposedly having your art on magazine covers was a fast track item. Yeah, well with 11 Quarter Horse Journal covers, one Western Horseman cover, and a good western history book cover along with some lesser publications, I admit in some circles it helped the sales of my paintings. But getting in front or into those circles with any regularity wasn't a done deal. Made some big shows, and good sales, but the economy beat me up in between. Never got the war chest built up to the point that the next one didn't matter too much. I got close, but the bottom for the up and comers fell out just as things seemed to be coming together. Close, but no cigar...
...Harry

I'll not burden you with much of what I said to Harry. What I will say is that the artist - who does all the work - gets very little return compared to the industrializers of art. Unless, of course the artist is an industrializer himself - like Thomas Kinkade. True art is contrary to commercialism because it is a language not a product. Anyway, I have sold a few pieces - and never saw them again! They are like children you send off to school; and never come home again. My walls are filled with some of them. I get more enjoyment out of them than what ever I might do with the money.
 
There is an excellent article on the Union Central & Northern in the May 1989 Model Railroader that includes a layout plan before it moved into "Little Colorado". That issue has a beautiful cover photo of U.C&N no. 65 at Idaho Springs. If you can obtain or have a copy, it is well worth reviewing for more of an overview of the layout and philosophy the went into creating the Union Central & Northern.
 
Next time we will talk about the Sn3 box car Harry lettered U.C&N for me. .
 
 
 

The Technical Files - More on Scale Coat Paint

Scalecoat from the 1970s

The Iron Horse introduced "Iron Horse Paint" in June, 1967 according to their ad in Model Railroader that month. It needed no primer and would not chip or scratch. The original formula was tough; an enamel that was to be baked at about 200 degrees. In fact, I've baked the paint at over 300 degrees and I regularly solder to brass models that I've already painted - out of necessity - with no real damage to the surrounding pant. The formula included both Xylene and Toluene therefore it was not meant for plastic models. However in 1967 model railroad world, plastic models needing paint were not so common.  The primary purpose of the paint was to cover model locomotives of zamac and brass and other models made of wood..   

The ad announced 15 colors (including 3 "Locomotive" colors); Locomotive Black, Oxide Red, Graphite & Oil, and Black, White, Tuscan Red, Caboose Red, Reefer Yellow, Reefer Orange, Pullman Green,  Coach Olive,  Southern Green, M & W Gray and Roof Brown. A 2oz bottle sold for a Dollar and you could get a bottle of thinner of the same size for 4 bits.

Nov. 1967

In less than 6 months the name of the paint was changed to Scalecoat and the company was rename Scalecoat Model Railroad Paint (SMRP). The first ad had invited dealer inquiries and apparently M.K. Walthers took the Que. The Nov. MR announced their exclusive distributorship of the product. From then on the paint was always distributed by Walthers.

The list of colors began to expand after Walthers took distributorship. In 1968 SMRP added 3 colors per the Oct ad; Santa Fe Blue, Union Pacific Yellow, Sliver. In April '68 they added the "Glacier Park" Green for Great Northern and included it as one of the 5 locomotive colors - along with Southern Green.

The line then looked like this; Locomotive Black, Oxide Red, Graphite & Oil, Southern Green, Great Northern Green, and Black, White, Tuscan Red, Caboose Red, Box Car Red, Reefer Yellow, Reefer Orange, Pullman Green,  Coach Olive, M & W Gray, Roof Brown, Santa Fe Blue, Union Pacific Yellow, Silver.  They offered a new 8oz size of Thinner. Up to this point only a standard 2oz bottle was available.

October 1968

 

April 1969

The final additions by the SMRP were the Flat and Gloss Glazes. The Nov. 1969 ad was the last version by that company. There may have been repeats of this ad in the Jan. or Feb. 1970 magazine issues - there are no Scalecoat ads in those issues of Railroad Model Craftsman - but I don't have the other magazines to verify.

 

Nov. 1969

When Quality Craft Models (QCM) obtained SMRP sometime between Nov. 1969 and April 1970 the paint line consisted of  20 colors. This included 5 locomotive colors; Locomotive Black, Oxide Red, Graphite & Oil, Southern Green, G.N. Green and Black, White, Tuscan Red, Caboose Red, Box Car Red, Reefer Yellow, Reefer Orange, Pullman Green,  Coach Olive, M & W Gray, Roof Brown, Santa Fe Blue, Union Pacific Yellow, Silver, Santa Fe Red.

April 1970

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 1970 MR was the first advertised notice that I've been able to find where Scalecoat had been obtained by QCM. Quality Craft Models immediately issued a color chart and instruction card for using the paint.

Quality Craft Models was established in May or June 1965. Their business was finely milled basswood craftsman kits in . Their ad in June 1966 MR announced the company's first anniversary with a big sale. At that point their address was a P.O. box in Villa Vista, Pennsylvania. Quality Craft Models often advertised Scalecoat Paint as a Subdivision of QCM in their ads but when Scalecoat published an ad (about every other month) they rarely made mention of QCM. Both were owned by the Weavers from 156 Wheatley Road, Northampton, PA and they would own Scalecoat for the next 45 years.

By the end of 1970 QCM added 12 new colors plus a sanding sealer. After all, their business was primarily wooden kits. Presumably they also offered the thinner for the Sanding Sealer at that time..

This was the line up; Locomotive Black, Oxide Red, Graphite & Oil, Black, White, Tuscan Red, Caboose Red, Box Car Red, Reefer Yellow, Reefer Orange, Pullman Green,  Coach Olive,  Southern Green, M & W Gray, Roof Brown, Santa Fe Blue, Union Pacific Yellow, Sliver, Great Northern Green, Santa Fe Red, Illinois Central Orange, SP Dark Gray, SP Scarlet, SP Daylight Orange, SP Daylight Red, UP Harbor Mist Gray, UP Dark Gray, PC Green, CNW Yellow, CNW Green, Baltimore & Ohio Royal Blue, Burlington Northern Green.

Toluene was part of the formula

 

 

It appears Toluol (Toluene) was part of the reducer formula through most of the '70s. The bottle on the right - visible in the top photo was not yet part of the product line in 1970.

Undoubtedly, government regulations were part of the reason it was finally omitted but even though the paint continued to be advertised for brass and wood only the removal of Toluene helped make it more usable on plastics. Of course baking as part of the process was not comparable with plastic models. 

After 1970 ads for Scalecoat became more infrequent  Next time we will attempt to determine when the colors began to be number and  when other auxiliary product were introduced..

 

The Chalk Creek Toboggan - Part 7

 "One day this week the flanger, being used by the C&S to clear the rails of ice and snow, became detached from the train, owing to a defective coupling, at the St.Elmo water tank and started off down grade. The car kept to the rails for about 2 miles and is estimated to have gained a speed of at least 75 miles (ph). On a sharp curve, it jumped the track and plunged into the bank, completely clearing the right of way and did not injure the track one bit." - Chaffee County Republican, 5 February 1916

This would have been flanger 016 which was permanently assigned to the Buena Vista Romley run. The C&S had 4 narrow gauge flangers; 013 - 016. They were very heavy cars. By comparison the heaviest n.g. freight cars were 6 big reefers built in 1898. They weighed nearly 31,000lbs but they were also 30' long. The flangers were 17' over the end sills and weighed 18,300lbs. Considering their purpose and shortness they had to be heavy. 

C&Sng 016 O scale model of the Chalk Creek Toboggan - Poole

Snow battles were a fact of railroading in the Colorado Rockies and the railroads developed a number of "weapons" with which to do battle. The largest machines were the steam driven snow plows but there were several lesser devices as well. These included the Priest flangers that were attached to the pilot truck of the locomotives and pilot plows of various styles and sizes. The medium equipment consisted of the flanger cars.

Likely 013 Note toolbox - round targets. Como late '20s

The blades of the flanger's plow were equipped with knives that cut the ice away from the inside of each rail heads. But these were located behind the leading truck of the cars. Therefore, only the weight of the car would keep it on track when running thru solid ice; which often covered the rails.

The weight of 016 and speed it may have reached leaves little doubt that the main was "cleared" of ice and snow. That it stayed on track for two miles may be phenomenal but being such a heavy weight maybe not so much. In recollection of another version of the "Chalk Creek Toboggan" story (which I have yet to find again) the car never derailed and coasted to a stop along the relatively level stretch between Mt. Princeton and Nathrop. That does sound more like a wood-stove yarn as there were plenty of severe curves along perhaps 15 miles. The printed record is certainly believable.

08 would become 014 by September 1909 - Scott

The St. Elmo water station (an unusually small tank of just 8'x14') was almost 1600 feet down grade from the St. Elmo depot but 4 miles above the Fisher (Alpine) depot.The flanger left the track well before it could whistle past - or into - that station. 

Flangers on South Park trains were often placed behind the lead engine. This practice seems to have been problematic as several wrecks were blamed upon them. The more practical location was to put it ahead of the lead engine which must have been the case in this instance; lest it not be able to escape. Photos of 016 ahead of the engine are shown in several pictorial volumes.

 013 without plow for idler service by April '36 - Kelly

Very likely, in the 30 plus years the railroad had been using such cars, this wasn't the first time a flanger got away. This is simply the only time I am aware of that such an event was recorded. It is an interesting part of this  car's story and historical account. 

 

02 or 03 (1890 Snow Plow trials) round targets no tool box.

The Denver South Park & Pacific built 2 flangers in 1885 and numbered them 5 & 6. They built 7 & 8 in 1887. In 1894 the Denver Leadville & Gunnison renumbered  5 & 6 as 02 & 03 and 7 & 8 as 07 & 08. In 1899 the Colorado & Southern changed 02 & 03 to 09 & 010 and assigned the vacated numbers to the Jull and Cooke snow plows (01 was already assigned to the first Rotary). The flangers were renumbered again as 013 - 016 between April 1908 and September 1909. That means 013 above was originally built in 1887 and 015 was originally built in 1885. 

The 2 builds were very similar and photographically there were only a few detail differences. All of the cars were built when the South Park was under Union Pacific control and new cars were equipped with what we call the Type B swing beam truck. Except for 015, all of the cars appeared with these trucks. But by 1936 there was a surplus of modern trucks as hundreds of type 1 coal and flat cars were being scrapped. The Leadville car, 015, appears in 1936 with a set of the ASF 4' archbar trucks from the scrapped cars. 

The two 1887 cars seem to have had round targets; indicators to the engine crew when the ice blades were engaged. An air cylinder controlled by the cab would raise the blade when passing thru switches and other possible obstructions. The 1885 cars had rectangular targets. Also, both 013 and 014 seem to have had the front end tool box at one time or another but the box has never been seen on an identifiable 1885 car.

The last Flanger, late 1930s, Leadville - Kelly

 015 & 016 had no box. Rectangular targets, 4-'36 - Kelly

 

By 1911, 014 was off the roster. Some time between 1934 and early 1936, 013 was stripped of her blades and used as an idler car for moving mixed gauge cars together. It was retired in 1936 but was reinstated in 1940 for use on the Leadville Climax run. The Leadville Mineral Belt consisted of many miles of dual gauge track. By 1938 this was the only portion of the narrow gauge left after the majority of the South Park system had been abandoned and removed in 1937. Then in 1942 the run was completely standard gauged and the two flangers were disposed of  by 1943.

Part-6

In September of 1984 I graduated with an associate degree in Civil Drafting. At the same time the 4th National Narrow Gauge Convention took place in Denver. The following month we moved back to Colorado Springs.

Conoco no. 5 as of the late 1930s

Technical drawing depends upon the ability to assimilate precision of detail into a graphic message. (They are often considered legal documents.) The ability to lineally plan ahead and the skill to execute the plan are essential to a successful job. Most importantly the drawings must be authentic and correct - after all, they involve the disposition of millions of Dollars. It also pays better than the T.V. repair job that I had while in school. These skills are valuable to the craft of model building and repair work as well.

In the 1920s some C&S Reefers may have been red

The Narrow Gauge convention was the first major model railroading event I had attended. It was a wonderful and enlightening experience. Unlike the National Model Railroad Association conventions, model contests are judged by popular vote. I had entered a few local contests but never with any results. I entered a few models in the N.N.G.C. that year - with the same results. Maybe the models I entered were good, as time might prove, but because the contest wasn't "officially" judged the merits of any model were not directly meaningful. That's part of the reality of a popular vote. Years later we joked about entering Brio or Thomas "toy" trains as models to see how well they would do. After the convention I gave popular vote contests a lot of thought.

Refrigerator 597 was once a Tiffany car

The move from Parker to Colorado Springs put an end to my layout building for a very long time. There would be an occasional shelf layout and even another module for the Slim Rail group but because of the space demanded by O scale there wasn't much opportunity to build an actual layout. We moved into a home that was as big as the one in Parker but there wasn't a space suitable to work with. What I had was a small work bench upon which to build models.

This plain coal car was built in 1902

The events of 1984 had a marked effect upon the direction of my hobby. With no real layout project all of my railroading efforts went into building models. My enjoyment of history was always a part of model railroading but under the circumstances I found myself indulging in the merger of model building and historical study. I realized each model could become a part of the overall historical narrative. This heightened the dedication to accuracy toward authentic representation of the prototypes. For the next decade modeling was a pursuit of this type of authenticity.

How this box appeared, when built in 1898

 

At that time there was no detailed narrative of the Colorado & Southern narrow gauge freight roster. There were listings of car classes and serial numbers with rough dates pertaining to the cars existence but there was no compiled history. Specific questions were difficult to answer.

It was no longer enough to just build models from general drawings and photos. These are essential but they are limited to the moment and plane on which they were created. My models had to become story tellers. In order to make that possible I had to know how and where the real equipment came from, what they "did", and what happened to them, There was an actual coal car 4319 (there still is). My model had to tell its story as accurately as I could make it.

The 550 series of reefers were the heaviest freight cars on the n.g.

Perhaps that was a distracted notion but I saw it as worthwhile. I set out to be as thorough and accurate as the available information - where ever I could find it - could afford me. I like to believe many modelers benefited from these efforts and that a better understanding of the C&S evolved because of it.

The models shared in this post represent the individual stories that each of the prototypes had to tell. In future posts of this series I will try to share some of these and other stories; as well as that of the models themselves. Perhaps next time we will start with that funny looking car in the photo below.

The Chalk Creek Toboggan