[blackburn49]

I had indicated in a previous post that when I decided how to proceed in the coming year, you here at MLS would be the first to know. I have been watching the economic news on FoxNews and I must say it is not too good. In fact, were I living stateside I would be battening down the hatches. I think we are all in for a rough ride. However, I don't quite see the same thing for this part of Alaska. The State of Alaska formed a quasi-public entity called the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority which has announed its intention to construct a 20 or 24 inch "bullet line" from the Palmer area (where there is an extensive gas line network connected to Anchorage), thence to Glennallen, then north to Delta Junction and on to Fairbanks where it is anticipated to meet a new gasline that is committed to be constructed from the North Slope through Fairbanks, Delta Junction and then down the Alcan Highway enroute to Calgary and then the mid-West. What all this means is that we are looking at considerable construcition activity in this area, which is only 14 miles from the proposed gas line at the point where it meets Glennallen heading west to Anchorage. Additionally, although we anticipate a drop in tourism, the big tour companies, including Princess, have managed to obtain respectable bookings by aggressively lowering the tour prices into Alaska to very inviting levels. The local Princess Hotel management has tentatively agreed to work with me toward developing tours here at the Copper Rail Depot centering on my large-scale model railroad.

With all this in mind, I am proceeding with my original plans for expansion of my existing line roughly another 450 feet which will enable me to run the multiple consists I have been acquiring and putting together for my current LS project. Details on the plans will follow.

 

[SteveC]

Ron

It's good to hear from you, and that things are not looking a dire as they might. Nice to hear that Alaska still seems to entertain and nourish that pioneer and free enterprise spirit. You know, the one that says if your looking for help start the search at the end of your arms, where your hands reside.

 

[blackburn49]

Posted By SteveC on 02/17/2009 6:10 PM
Ron

It's good to hear from you, and that things are not looking a dire as they might. Nice to hear that Alaska still seems to entertain and nourish that pioneer and free enterprise spirit. You know, the one that says if your looking for help start the search at the end of your arms, where your hands reside.

That's how it has to be if one is to live up here. It is certainly promising to be an interesting year. "May you live in interesting times." No kidding. I think we just made it.

 

[R.W. Marty]

I don't know,
Wife and I booked an Alaskan Cruise for late May back near the first of the year and they were already almost sold out for the weeks we were looking at.
The Travel Agent said there has hardly been any slow down in the cruise business. But like you said, the low prices being offered are very attractive.
Later
Rick Marty

 

[blackburn49]

Posted By R.W. Marty on 02/17/2009 8:18 PM
I don't know,
Wife and I booked an Alaskan Cruise for late May back near the first of the year and they were already almost sold out for the weeks we were looking at.
The Travel Agent said there has hardly been any slow down in the cruise business. But like you said, the low prices being offered are very attractive.
Later
Rick Marty

That's good to learn. If things work out I will be running trains here on a regularly scheduled basis twice a day probably three or four days a week depending on the Princess Tours bus schedule. This is something that has never happened before. I have gone weeks without running any of the trains any distance in the summer. I look forward to this.

 

[R.W. Marty]

Ron,
Sounds like it could be a lot of fun as well as a lucrative venture, but remember lucrative ventures are usually paid for by a lot of hard work.
But, in the case of running model trains the work is a lot of the fun. I wish you all the best of luck with this. I would like to see your layout but unfortunately Skagway is as far as we go this trip.
Later
Rick Marty

 

[blackburn49]

Posted By R.W. Marty on 02/17/2009 10:31 PM
Ron,
Sounds like it could be a lot of fun as well as a lucrative venture, but remember lucrative ventures are usually paid for by a lot of hard work.
But, in the case of running model trains the work is a lot of the fun. I wish you all the best of luck with this. I would like to see your layout but unfortunately Skagway is as far as we go this trip.
Later
Rick Marty

I have had the pleasure of doing "shows" for tourists in the past. It is a real kick! There is a great deal of preparation of course. I will be using this thread to show what I am adding this year, hopefully in time to start off the tourist season ready-to-go. There is not much money in it, but it definitely justifies (in my mind) all the money and effort I have put into this large-scale layout.

 

[Torby]

I was rather afraid the new administration would order Alaska evacuated.

 

[blackburn49]

It was not until I found a copy of this 1928 Washington map that I realized that more than one railroad ran through my target area of Roslyn, which was later expanded to include Cle Elum as a result of this discovery. Until then I knew nothing of the Milwaukee Road. Click map for larger version: Relative location of Rolsyn and Cle Elum, Washington on the abandoned Milwaukee Road line:

 

[blackburn49]

At the time I was looking for the Northern Pacific railroad station at either Roslyn or Cle Elum--preferably the Roslyn one--as a prototype for a station model for my expanded layout. I never did find a picture of the Roslyn one, although there were two false identifications of an old warehouse at Roslyn as being the depot. The building still stand and is still identified as such, but that is wrong. No depot stands at Roslyn and I never founda picture to indicate that one ever did. There were some pictures of the NP depot at Cle Elum, but these were somewhat indistinct. These are the first two I was able to find:

If the lower picture also represents the NP depot at Cle Elum as it was identified at the time, the depot had been modified. In any case, neither picture shows much in the way of detail--not enough to build a model.

 

[blackburn49]

Below is the section of the map I have displayed before which showed that a depot should have existed at Roslyn:

In a careful examination of this early picture of Roslyn there does indeed appear to be a building at the locationshown above (look at the far end of the curve to the left). Could THAT be the elusive NP Rolsyn depot? In any case. I found no distinct pictures of the structure. Thus the Roslyn depot search was a dead-end. Given the distinct lack of information on the Roslyn depot, I would have to look elsewhere if I wanted a prototype for this area.

 

[blackburn49]

Back to Cle Elum: I continued my pursuit of NP depot photos, yielding these additional ones:

The lower two are certainly interesting as train photos, but fail to add much in the way of structural detail:
NOTE: YOU MAY CLICK ONTO EITHER OF THESE PHOTOS FOR A LARGER IMAGE:

The automobiles parked at the Cle Elum depot place this photo of the NP heavyweights somewhere in the mid-1950s. These are photos I realized I could almost duplicate in my model, but I still needed more detail on the depot structure.

 

[blackburn49]

Here is a map I was able to assemble showing the relative location of the coal mines to the NP coal branch line that ran from Cle Elum on the main line through Roslyn to Ronald where the most northerly coal mine--#3--was located. You can click onto the picture to see the webpage which provided the information for this map and more. Those mile numbers in red are access points to historic sites along the trail such as mine trails or the locations for old structures that are now mostly gone.
I am not modelling this area but am using elements of Roslyn and Cle Elum as a basis for my nearly-completed large scale model of fictional Cicely. Those elements include a coal mine and items that are railroad-related as well as selected historic structures which relate to the filming of the television series "Northern Exposure."

 

[blackburn49]

Among the items that showed up in my search of railroad-related items for Cle Elum-Roslyn were these two Northern Pacific profiles. Although they yielded no practical information as to the depot at Roslyn, they were definitely interesting.
The Roslyn Branch line one (top) is clickable to a larger size. The lower one shows the not-to-scale layout of the Cle Elum yard. This yard layout may prove somewhat useful as I complete the layout as you will see.

The Cle Elum yard layout includes the wye at Cle Elum which still exists in part. I walked this wye which was once the center of rail actiivity in the area. Now there are no structures there at all and even most of the rail is now gone.

 

[blackburn49]

Posted By blackburn49 on 02/18/2009 11:13 AM
Back to Cle Elum: I continued my pursuit of NP depot photos, yielding these additional ones: I just completed scanning my personal copies of the two Cle Elum yard photos, including the one above and creating links to the larger images in the referenced post.
I call you attention to THIS one because you can see the beginning of the east end of the wye to Roslyn in this photo, which means that the depot was located within the wye itself.
The larger images reveal some fascinating detail. Be sure to go back to the referenced post and click on to the larger images. --Ron

 

[blackburn49]

Posted By blackburn49 on 02/18/2009 11:13 AM


These are the most-detailed photos I could find of the Cle Elum yard, but even the one with the closest shot of the NP depot reveals very little. And, of course, the depot itself is gone. So both NP depots in the area remain elusive. It was clear that I would have to look elsewhere for a depot prototype. Detail of the NP depot from the above shot:

 

[markoles]

Ron,

Looks like you not only had a lot of visitors, but might have sold a pint or two at the same time!!

In the photos, it appears to be some sort of fan trip. I am just guessing because of the number of people milling about on the tracks especially near the locomotive.

 

[Rod Hayward]

Interesting as always Ron, thanks

 

[blackburn49]

Remants of the Roslyn Branch wye at Cle Elum showing the existing track on the west end:

CLICK ANY OF THE BELOW FOR A LARGER IMAGE:

 

[blackburn49]

End of track on the west side of the wye: Looking south and then north: View of the depot area looking south from the north end of the wye:
ALL of these images including the aerial are clickable to a larger size.

Rolsyn to Cle Elum NP Branch line including the wye