Leaving Las Vegas Reader Feedback
— by Bob Sprague
(click here)
What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas when it comes to the UP’s Caliente Subdivision. Here’s how to model this Class 1 subdivision in a 9 x 11 spare room – in HO!
T
hey say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But when a crew change happens in Vegas – on the busy Union Pacific Los Angeles to Salt Lake City main line – it means that a long freight headed by bright yellow-and-gray SD-70Ms or C449Ws is about to leave Vegas far behind. The UP’s Caliente Subdivision begins just south of town and runs northeast (timetable east) to Milford, Utah. Traffic is heavy and varied. Double stacks, auto racks, coal, and general merchandise consists traverse the line at the rate of about one per hour. Most have three or more road diesels at the head end, testimony to the tough grades in both directions. Foreign power may appear, including an occasional BNSF train taking advantage of trackage rights. After passing through the shadows of the big casinos, and a relatively straight shot across the valley, eastbound trains encounter a stiff grade, climbing and twisting their way 500 vertical feet in less than 10 miles. This geography makes it possible to squeeze a satisfying HO scale representation of the Caliente Sub into a 9 x 11 foot spare bedroom, where one to three operators can enjoy modern Class I railroading with some industrial switching and a branch line adding to the fun.
Prototype Action All UP freights take on new crews in Las Vegas, most at the UP yard offices near Charleston Avenue (Milepost 334.3). Though the tracks parallel the famous Strip, this is a different world: the tripletrack mainline runs past industrial buildings, sleazy nightclubs, and dusty storage lots.
Figure 1: UP 5334 at Apex with a train of windmill towers. Photo: Ken Kuehne. Page 33 • Issue 6 • Mar/Apr 2010 • Leaving Las Vegas, page 1
As trains head north from the city, the mainline narrows to two, and then one track. It remains CTC territory, single track with sidings, for most of its remaining length. At Valley (Milepost 343.5) there is a small yard serving a container port, auto
Tell a friend ...
Contents
Index