Railfan Day brings Rabbit Valley RR Equipment

The RV Railbus meets the Forney at Boulder Point.

The Ponderosa Lines welcomed a guest appearance from the Rabbit Valley last week, offering regular railfan trips and photo ops. A Rabbit Valley railbus and steam passenger train were featured in the midst of Ponderosa Lines favorites, including an SR&RL Forney, a Baldwin 10-wheeler, and the tireless C&S mogul.

An SR&RL passenger train takes the siding at Blumenthal to allow the faster RV train to pass.

The otherwise uneventful day was interrupted by a few close calls, including a head-on scare and a rocky railbus derailment at Viterbo that shook up a few passengers and added to the excitement. Such debacles are rare on the Ponderosa Lines, though officials attributed the issues to a shortage of railway employees. Dispatchers and yard masters were required to double up as engineers and conductors, making for the extra challenge of dispatching (and yelling frantically) from passing trains. Such is life on the Ponderosa Lines of northern Arizona!

Nearly a cornfield meet by the Rabbit Valley visitors.

Incident at Viterbo

The C&S Mogul leads a short freight down grade into Blumenthal.

Chasing the Forney

Following a nail-biting series of monsoonal thunderstorms sandwiching long bouts of drizzle, Flagstaff has dried out enough lately to allow for train running without major track cleaning efforts. It was a good test to see what the railroad could handle, including three extreme downpours with hail and the requisite lightning that treats ponderosa pine trees like match sticks (and, incidentally, knocked out our garage door opener, a problem still to be solved). Before the railroad's appearance in the back yard, I had always welcomed as much rain as we could get, given our consistent drought throughout the Southwest. Now I find myself torn, intently watching the right-of-way out the window to see how much ballast is floating away during a downpour. Even after all that, I re-ballasted a few sections and shored up some poorly contained areas last week, and the railroad is in great shape. Sections of it are even showing signs of being embedded into the landscape with an overgrown appearance, which is what I was hoping for in certain areas. Tonight provided a relaxing opportunity to run a couple of trains in a leisurely way before the sun went down. The action tonight featured the newest addition to the Ponderosa Lines' roster, an 0-4-4 Forney with its two-car set and an added G&RGW coach. The battery for the Forney's power is in the trailing passenger car behind the tender - a required feature due to my decision to rely on battery power rather than track wires. I am waiting for my first fusion generator, but for now I need to rely on traditional batteries. As for the sun, I noticed quickly that the lighting was great tonight, so I grabbed Linda's camera phone nearby and did some railfanning. Here are the shots.

Click on the photos for larger images. Click again on the larger images for the full-size photos, if you dare. The first image below is the actual map of the Ponderosa Lines Railway, as it now exists with place names.)

Above: Just beyond the trestle for Palmer Gulch

Above: Getting close to Viterbo in the late evening sun, making the final run back home to Paradise.

Above: Station Stop at Blumenthal, one of two passing sidings.

Above: Rolling up Angel's Flight, toward (the other) White Pass

Above: Exiting White Pass (the highest point on the line, hence the name), through the "forest".

First two-train meet at Blumenthal

With trackage laid all the way to the town of Blumenthal, it was time to do some railfanning on the Ponderosa Lines. The passing siding at Blumenthal allows trains to "turn" as well as pass one another upon arrival. Here are some photos of the action, the first time two trains have been dispatched to the mid-point town of Blumenthal in the same day. A new favorite for railfans along the line, you will see plenty of images of the line's longest trestle, over Palmer Gulch. The origin point for both trains is Boulder Point (you will see why Linda renamed the town of House Rock  to represent this place). As of late June, Boulder Point station includes a reverse loop, house track, and siding. Also, for two weekends we have adorned the right-of-way and vicinities with some scattered vegetation to actually represent the "garden" aspect of the "garden railroad". Most plants are native or regional varieties, or at least drought-tolerant plants of some kind. They range from various junipers and lavinder flowers to sedges, grasses, and penstimons. Still learning about plant names, but we are getting fairly familiar with the types of plants that do well here at 7,000 feet elevation. I have to admit that, although my true interest is designing railroads and laying track, it was like going to a candy store when we paid a visit to our local "Native Plant and Seed" company here in town to start deciding on some plants. We pretty much decided to call it quits after one wagon-full load of plants made its way to the car. Numerous rocks that appeared naturally in the yard (and through right-of-way excavations) considerably added to the landscaping scenes (with Linda's enjoyment of throwing them around to make them look "natural"...) So, as of late June, our garden railroad is looking like the term suggests. Much more than I had anticipated for this summer, yet plenty to do the next couple of years on the Ponderosa Lines! The plan is to complete the entire single-track main line this summer, to the "end" of the line at Paradise (please see previous post labeled "Concept and Maps".

First Excursions on Temporary Trackage

PLR News Release:
Whistles blew and throttles opened today on the Ponderosa Lines, as the first temporary trackage was opened for service. With only two restored passenger cars and a few freight cars for effect, the short trips provided a glimpse of the future for this upstart narrow gauge railroad in northern Arizona. Crews are now awaiting the summer season and the final withrawal of the snow here at 7,000 feet elevation. The PLR will one day reach Show Low to the east of Flagstaff, if all goes as planned. Revenue passengers -- mostly visitors to Flagstaff and Show Low -- will supplement some 21st century freight service on this long-abandoned 19th century right of way (fictitious). While relying on tourist dollars and overhauled narrow gauge equipment, PLR leaders envision landing a few contracts to haul small-growth timber from forest thinning efforts, and some local freight for new businesses related to windfarms and solar power. For now the train engineers and first passengers are enjoying a few short journeys out and back on PLR's first equipment (see photos below, click on photos for larger images.)