The Rio Grande Southern - Bill "Sn3" Scobie's "Jewel in the Crown"

Bill "Sn3" Scobie asked the boys of the Friday Night Group to return once again to put his railroad through the demands of a true operating session...and what a session it was! You see, Bill was really excited the last time we came as he was able to witness his layout "come to life" with a group of seasoned operators at the helm!

The pics I will share in this posting are in no particular order and do not follow the sequence of operations from the evening due to the fact that I wanted to run trains as well as act as the "Official rail photographer" of the Rio Grande Southern! (You can't help but want to get behind the throttle of one of Bill's beautiful steamers!)

This first photograph depicts many of Bill's modelling talents from locomotive painting, bridge construction, kit building and he's not too shabby at scenery as well! :-)

One thing is for sure, Bill's layout is expansive and can "gobble up" a group of visitors in no time at all. In fact, the buddy you arrive with may not even see you again until its time to sit down for refreshments at the end of the session!

The second and third pictures show a helper locomotive awaiting its role and beginning the job. This was not the train I ran...rather one I was able to photograph later in the session.

As soon as I arrived, Bill handed me a throttle (Lenz system) with a giant smile on his face. "Here Mike, the next train out at the bottom requires helper service up to the summit of the line and I'm sure you'll enjoy this experience."

How can you not help but enjoy this experience...why, I was thrilled! Imagine assisting a train from the "hind end" as "pusher" while a separate engineer hauls the train up grade in the head end locomotive! "I'm there!"

The Mueller man was engineer up front with Mr. Craig as conductor. We started out slowly on the level and within a short time we were ascending the grade with the precision of two surgeons. Lennon and McCartney couldn't have written a better tune! I watched the consist ahead of me very carefully. Too much pull on the part of the headend could break a coupler pin and too much push from the rear could result in the accordianing of our train...well....let's not go there!

A good 40 or so minutes later, we reached the summit. On the road up, I assisted with the switch out of traffic at a mine near a siding. This "tandeming" of jobs was really exciting. Upon arrival at Trout Lake, my assistance was once again required with switching chores before I was uncoupled and allowed to run light downhill. On the way down, I stopped in a siding to await a passenger train then proceeded all the way back home.

I must admit that running "true" helper service in steam days is the "zenith" of model railroad operations!

The image above was taken long after I cut off from the train. That's Mueller and Craig on board their locomotive somewhere high in the hills of Colorado.

There are no pics of my run as I was too busy aboard the pusher engine. When I completed the job, I hired a helicopter from a local firm and the pilot, a Mr. Rob Kasakoff, an ardent railfan himself, knew all the spots to fly me to for some spectacular shots along the line. Follow along for the ride.

That's Placerville at an elevation of just over 7000 feet. Pilot Rob hovered the chopper just above the river to allow for this nice shot of the station.

Bill's locomotive in green, black and silver is a beauty to behold! I managed to lens a few trains and other interesting items at this somewhat busy location along the route.

We landed the chopper and headed for a bite to eat. Luckily no trains came by while we were chownig down, but just as we returned to the chopper we could hear another short passenger train coming our way. Rob lifted off from the ground, hovered over the river again and allowed me to take this shot of the Placerville station from the other end of the platform.

The yellow reefer and the truck in the background certainly add a splash of colour to the scene!

Rob flew me off high into the hills of Colorado where I was able to garner some great bridge shots. The trestles in these parts are fabulous. While modern day engineers would say a trestle can't be constructed "this way" the Rio Grande Southern has proven them wrong...and these trestles have withstood the test of time!

My apologies if the shot seems far off, but I asked Rob not to take any risks in getting too close to the cliffsides.

Bill tells us he began the layout 20 years ago and that he has another twenty more to go before it gets to anything nearing completion. Well, in my books, it's almost there. Scenery covers the majority of the model railroad. Sure, Bill says that he has tons more trees to create and more rockwork needs to be done. And, besides, he enjoys helping his buddies with their railroads as well.

We've capture the next few shots at the mine location partway up the grade to the summit. Here is where helper service assists with the switching on the uphill climb. Trains descending the grade can conduct these operations at the mine without any assistance as the switch is a trailing one for trains operating downgrade.

Engineer Meek is at the controls of this short passenger train.

Rob and I hung around the mine for awhile and we were fortunate to spot another train coming downgrade. I timed it right to frame the locomotive between the red cliffs and the structures to the right.

Indeed, the red colours of this area predominate the scenes. This train will pass the white structure you see on the right, cross a dirt road and slow for the long trestle ahead.

I asked Rob to fly me back down to Placerville as I had heard rumours that we might spot some interesting railroad equipment there later in the day. On the way down the valley we spot a train passing in the shadows of a gorgeous water tower. Knowing that it will have to stop to take on water, Rob hovers the chopper high enough over the telegraph wires, and I'm able to snap this lovely shot of the train framed between the tower and the trees.

Bill makes his trees using a variety of methods from bottle-brush techniques to flowers from shrubs in the garden. The green of the trees works with the yellow reefer to make a rather colouful shot.


"What's that thing doing down there!" Rob shouts into the radio as he banks the copter down for a closer look.

"Wow! A diesel!" I answer back. "Who'd a thunk!"

Indeed, one lone diesel was spotted on the entire day of "copter-fanning" the Rio Grande Southern.

It was sitting idle on a track in front of the enginehouse near the large facility where it earns its keep.

I just had to jump down from the chopper for this "ground level" shot of the "little diesel that could!"


And we thought that little diesel was a surprise. Check out what was in store for us when we arrived back at Placerville!

"Holy Mackinaw, Batman!" Rob was heard to wail over the radio. "Would you check out that little puppy down there, Mike!

"Yessirree...I could use one of them to plow out my driveway after a cold Canadian Front hits!"

"Hey Mike, snap a shot of that bus in the parking lot too!" Rob shouted. It seems Rob loves pictures of anything mechanical.


Let's meet the master modeller behind this awesome empire. Yes, that's Bill, the man himself acting as the "sun in the sky" over Colorado. Better that than havin' him "pull a moon", we'd all agree!

Bill drove buses for a living here in Ottawa...and, now that he's retired, he's got more time on his hands to complete his layout.

Bill, on behalf of the Friday Night Boys, a great note of appreciation goes your way for having us, once again.

Well, Bill, judging by what you have here, your Rio Grande Southern is the region's "Jewel in the Crown!"

Cheers, Mike