I'm looking for ideas for modeling a rock slide detection fence typical of the late 1950s-1960s era. I am familiar with the article "Build a slide-detector fence to make your crews feel safer" in the April 1989 Model Railroader magazine.
For those who have (or recall) that article, it says that the prototype was on the former Northern Pacific line at Fish Creek, Montana. Was the type of rock slide detector fence modeled in that article in use in Northern Pacific days, or is it of a more modern design? The article seems a little unclear; the only prototype photo in the article shows a BN train.
In looking at the the Model Train Magazine Index
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I notice articles titled "Rock Slide Fences" and "Slide detector fences, 1948 RE&M Encyclopedia" in the March 2000 and December 1992 Mainline Modeler magazine, respectively. I am not familiar with those two articles. can anyone comment on them? How appropriate are those models for a late 1950s - 1960s era layout?
Any other suggestions on where to look for modeling ideas for a rock slide detector fence?
____ Mark Mathu The Green Bay Route:
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"I started out with nothing and I still have most of it."
"Mark Mathu" wrote in news:4603561d$0$4910$ snipped-for-privacy@roadrunner.com:
*snip*
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[850k]
This is a picture that I took while riding on the Royal Gorge railroad in Colorado. This may provide you with a few ideas of how they did it. The picture was taken in 2006.
On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 23:21:16 -0500, Mark Mathu posted in article ...
The 12/92 MM article is a Hundman ramble accompanied by three rather dark 1986 photos of a detector fence erected along the N&W near Bluefield, WV: "Ordinary farm fencing of the woven 'hog-tight' type is erected panel above panel on suitable poles to afford a yielding interceptor of rocks, ice, or soil which might fall from the cliffs to the tracks. Supported by messenger wire between poles, each of the vertical panels is fitted with circuit breakers at intervals, which open when any appreciable pressure is exerted against the fence." The poles in the photos appear to be "T" section steel fence posts that extend about 12-15 ft vertically, then bend at about 15-20 deg from vertical toward the track for another 3-5 ft. The mesh fencing is barely visible, the messenger wires are not.
The 3/00 MM article shows two UP designs as installed in Idaho and Montana, one very similar to that shown in the MR article and the other similar to the N&W fence. The UP sprung fence includes an additional sprung section above a ground-level section. Both UP styles are supported by round wooden poles; photos show the pole heights range from about 10 ft to about 30 ft. No photo dates are given.
I recall seeing both general types of detectors (sprung and non- sprung) on the GN's Oroville Branch (west side of Columbia River, north from Wenatchee to Chelan) in the 60s and 70s, at a few locations where rock joints on the cut (west) side dipped toward the tracks. Along much of that route detection wasn't necessary, because US97 is/was between the tracks and cliffs and caught most of the debris.
The GN used the non-sprung type in the 50s to detect slides/slumps adjacent to silt/clay cliffs in northwestern Seattle. Climbed it several times, never could break the circuit...
You could perhaps use wood dowels, magnet wire, and window screen. While the screen would be out of scale, this is one of those cases where "scale" at normal viewing distances might mean "invisible", and to just put up poles with no fencing would confuse people.
(It's similar to scale brick siding...it often has much more relief than 1:1 brick that isn't heavily weathered and doesn't have deeply raked joints, and the joints are quite wide...but truly 'scale' brick would just be a mottled brick-colored surface and this wouldn't really look right).
Cordially yours: Gerard P. President, a box of track and some L-girders.
OvC, thank you for taking the time to give this detailed summary of the articles. They seem to be in line with the type of slide detection fence. I'll look into getting copies of the two Mainline Modeler articles.
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