Sure beats a thrashed trio of Borg GEs.... I'd love to get a D&SL 200-class 2-6-6-0 mallet, but none exist in N. I do have several Tunnel Motors!
That's an awesome idea, expanding the layout with track on the bottom side!!! I can now double my HCD layout's size without taking up anymore room!
You are going to have a hard time getting trains to stay on the underside track unless you are located somewhere like Australia.
Funny thing, there's an English fella with an upside down layout! He put a strong magnet in every piece of rolling stock and engine and they stay over his head that way as they roll along! Wild! How close to the Spectrum 2-6-6-2 are they? It may be a worthwhile conversion!
Kinda like mag-lev, but in reverse! The trick is keeping the coal in the hoppers... Or you could just enter a tunnel, and pop out on the other side, after the layout rolls over.
I don't know, but the D&SL 200-class 2-6-6-0s were smaller compared to the Bachmann engine you suggested. They were built beginning in Oct 1908, and 55" drivers, about 83' across the pulling faces. It may be possible to use the Bachmann engine as a mechanism and 3D print a boiler to better match the prototype if the mechanism and drivers aren't too large.
I think I would go with fabbing a new boiler up from brass tube and add some excess weight. Sturdier than the 3D and heftier for added tractive effort. I will hunt up the Bman specs and/or measure mine up.
The Bman has 55" drivers! Yay! The engine is about 48" long plus tender, so it should be a good starting place, IMHO.
You could do a comparison from here. https://www.steamlocomotive.com/locobase.php?country=USA&wheel=2-6-6-2 The Bman has a USRA frame and wheelbase with the 55" drivers. It runs well, even if it needs a bit of weight added.
You bet! They do now, but in my era, they were only installed on the west slope of the divide west of Winter Park, primarily in Gore, Rock Creek and Egeria Canyons, out of my modeled area. The fences annunciated via the radio and the normal signal system, not independent signals. The slide fences you can see in this image were installed post 1991. A rockslide-caused derailment west of Tunnel 26 that year killed 2 of the crew, and prompted installation of rockslide detector fences on the east side of the divide. Now they're everywhere on the Moffat. The 2-6-6-0 200-class engines are not listed there, but I have access to data and photos that will help model it. That's a future project.
Interesting background info on the slide fences @HemiAdda2d and the loss of the two crewmen as a result of a slide. NS placed a bench and plaque in memory of an Asst. Foreman who lost his life when his hi-railer was swept down a mountainside by a mudslide in the Loops in western NC. Following heavy rains, he and another man were patrolling the line east of Black Mountain at 2 AM when their truck was swept away. Drewnoski was outside. The other man was in the truck and survived. I hiked the area and found the spot, seen with a terrific swath of mountainside completely gone.
So I rediscovered a video in my collection, one that has proven to be a valuable asset to reference material. It was recorded before 2003, before all the searchlights were retired and removed. Additionally, D&RGW pole lines, mileposts and other signage were still in place. The siding signal at east Crescent which no photos of which were located was in plain view, at least one side of it. I found a defect detector in in the modeled area that I'll have to add, and will re-watch it for flange greasers. Any experts here know how far line poles were from each other? I will need plenty of them, just need to figure out how far apart. In N, is there anything fine enough to use for scale lines for the poles? Anyone have a suggestion for double crossarm telegraph poles? I think I need 6+ insulators/arm, not the 4 on each arm.
So as some of you know, I designed and 3D printed crossarms for telegraph poles. I printed out about 100, figuring on some loss, breakage, etc. The first 4 were a massive lesson in patience! I don't know if the bluish green is too bold, too green, or what. It seems off to me. I built a simple jig, but the crossarms are a bit offset. I need to fine tune my technique to install the post. Craft store acrylic paints are what I used. More hotel room modeling, and I'm sure I'll develop better results with practice. I figured I would need about 40 poles.
