On Thursday, July 2nd, 2015, a crew of six began dismantling the Springdale, Cedar Ridge & Geronimo City O-scale model railroad. The layout had its beginnings in the late 1980's, but major work occurred from 1995-2007. It began with O27 track and radiuses, and as the layout was expanded, larger radius and heavier-classed track was added. It was fully scenic'd, and had several distinct areas connected by railroads. There was an industrial area with engine house, a small classification yard, a two-level city area (Springdale) and a church on a hill. Springdale was served by a trolley which traversed a handmade trestle over the valley. Beyond the city was a large farm area, which flowed into a forested area and the small town of Cedar Ridge. A lake and large mountain added to the allure of this area, and was supported by a campground for visitors. Cedar Ridge also hosted lumber and mining operations. The next area was Geronimo City, with a large passenger station and city park among the town. Outside of town was a desert with large, natural sandstone monuments for the trains to navigate through and around. This was all powered by various transformers and a network of wires. Scenic murals were placed along the basement walls to give the train set a sense of depth. The layout, which took many years to build and develop was designed, constructed, financed, populated, scenic'd, and maintained by myself and my father, mother, and occasionally, sister. It was a lot of fun to build and operate, and was viewed by many visitors over the years. A big thank you to my folks for allowing me to use about half of their basement for the train set for a few decades!
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| SDCR&GC Railroad (well, half of it at least) |
On the first deconstruction day, the crew consisted of my bride, parents, my uncle and aunt, and myself. Day 1 involved removing everything from the layout that I plan to re-use on future layouts. The following Sunday, we dismantled the tables and murals and transported them outside, where I gave them to another family that is starting their own train layouts. It was sad to see it go, but that is an inherent part of this hobby. The remainder of the train set was packed into our Yukon by my masterful wife, and it is now safely stored in Billings. It is great to know that others will continue using the layout structure, and I'll be able to re-use a boatload of stuff from the original layout!
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| Bride, mother, and father packing/removing |
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| Uncle and Aunt working on tracks and details |
In 2007, I filmed a 30-minute video of the SDCR&GC railroad in action, so we'll always have a memory of the sights and sounds of the layout.
Thank you to the construction and de-construction teams, and as always, thank you to my very understanding wife!
Keep those rails shiny ~
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| Geronimo City, cut into thirds |
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| Much of the layout is now outside, awaiting its new owners |
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| This sign is no longer accurate! But, as you saw in a previous post, it has a new home |
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| The layout is off to its new home in Rockford |
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| My parents, bride, and I stand where the mighty layout used to be. I'm holding my first train, gifted to me by my Uncle |
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