Paul Deis: D&P Mountain Railroad

October 8, 2010

The D&P Mountain Railroad is Paul's freelanced Fn3 (1:20.3 scale) garden railroad. This is a U-shaped design around 3-1/2 sides of house. The mainline is planned for 600 feet. The first phase of construction is complete with a 350 foot mainline and 150 feet of sidings and industry spurs. The maximum grade is four percent with 10-foot minimum diameter curves. Entire railroad is raised off the ground.

The D&P Mountain Railroad is based on Colorado mountain railroading with mining and lumber operations in the 1940s era. This is narrow gauge steam railroading in a heavily forested layout. Over 120 dwarf Alberta Spruce trees planted so far along with other dwarf vegetation. There is a seventy-foot real stream with waterfalls ending in log pond for saw mill.

The emphasis is on short line operations with the provision for continuous running. Six 2-person crews will eventually handle operations. The current layout supports two 2-person crews. Locomotives are battery powered with radio control, QSI sound decoders and Airwire throttles. Staging is planned in a 10 ft. x 10 ft. storage building.

Thanks to Paul for the photos.