Rob:
Yes, definitely the Royal Gorge.
MRH:
How did you model that area?
Rob:
Well, in places the Royal Gorge is over 1000’ deep with
rock walls going nearly straight up. It narrows to 50' wide at
the bottom, barely enough to hold a single railroad track. In
one place it was too narrow for that, so the D&RGW built a
hanging bridge to suspend the tracks over the Akansas river.
MRH:
Did you do anything special to model the Royal Gorge?
The walls of that area look like solid rock!
Rob:
Well, remember how I recommended building the scen-
ery on the upper deck first? This is a place where I didn’t do
that. The Royal Gorge is on the lower deck and there was no
way I was going to be able to reach in to do scenery once the
21
21: Train 52 in the hole at Tennessee Pass siding. The sig-
nal heads are fully functional and can be operated either
for CTC or ABS.
upper deck was in place. Actually, this is the first part of the
railroad I built, back in 2001.
MRH:
How much plaster did you use in the rocks?
Rob:
None! I met Joel Bragdon at a show and decided to use
his geodesic foam rock casting methods. He also sells huge rock
molds, over two square feet.
One of the big advantages of the foam (or plastic) that I got
from Joel Bragdon is it’s light weight. For guys that are build-
ing modules that they need to transport, it makes the modules
a heck of a lot lighter. But you can still do really realistic rock
castings with it.
It also really resists chipping. I suppose if you used a hatchet
it might chip, but I can bang on it hard without damaging it.
Amazing stuff considering its light weight.
22: Locos 5103 and 5108 lead a freight past the Belden
west end turnout.
22
Tennessee Pass - 13
MRH-Jun 2013
