The GAUX Dispatcher

Extreme Model Railroading Spawns Endless Daydreams

I’ve been a railroad hobbyist my entire life. I started with HO scale model railroads as a child and into my teen and young adult years. Model trains provided a platform from which countless hours of mental wandering produced one master plan after another; most of which required a full-basement or (even better) a separate building.

What kid (and some adults) doesn’t design one of these to take-over the house?

As I got older, and more responsible for myself, I began to realize that certain obstacles would prohibit me from achieving my model railroading dreams; like funding and physical space just to name a couple. Gradually, I accepted that grandiose model layouts were beyond the reach of most moderate-means hobbyists… but still, my dreams remained free of any restrictions.

Later in life (see the ABOUT page), I briefly became involved with railroading professionally, and then I discovered virtual scale model railroading; railsims. Simulated railroading fulfills an amazing percentage of my addiction to the things, making my beloved model daydreams rare event.

And then, one day I saw this…

Robert Schwoerer’s CSX #9036 is 10′ long, weighs 1000 pounds and runs on a 16hp V-twin gas engine.
It uses a hydrostatic drive system to power all 12 6″ drive wheels and can pull more than 100 cars.

Mind you, I’ve been familiar with large-scale live steam railroading for a long time. I find them impressive and fascinating, but I have always been more appreciative of contemporary diesels.

Seeing this photo of a massive (1000Lb/455Kg) model GE Dash-9 locomotive immediately sent me back to a time when virtually every moment was spent daydreaming about the “master plan.”

This locomotive was built by Mountain Car Company of Salem, Virginia. It features a 16hp V-twin gas engine, hydrostatic drive to all 6 axles and even has an option for air brakes. There are options for wired or remote control. I have seen claims that this unit will pull as many as 100 cars, but the manufacturer has tested it up to 48 cars (6000Lb/2727Kg) on a 4% grade on a 98f/37c day.

They also build a sweet EMD GP-30, and a complete line of passenger and freight rolling stock. There are even plans to produce an EMD SD-9, EMD SD-40-2 and more GP units. Look [HERE] for a complete catalog.

It is true that this kind of extreme model railroading has the same obstacles as any other, but on a proportionally larger scale. Just one locomotive like the one shown here can set you back almost $20,000 US, including options and shipping. Of course, you will still need rolling stock, track, a decent chunk of land… and that nifty van to haul it around and show it off.

Given that this branch of the hobby is so much farther from my reach than others, why spend so much time thinking about it? Two reasons:

1) Because the sight of this one locomotive has opened-up new, unexplored territory of the imagination.

2) Quite simply because I find it ultimately cool.

So tonight, like most nights lately, I will lie in my bed and engineer plans for that 1/8 scale railroad empire. I will include a modest fleet of locomotives and plenty of rolling stock for passenger and freight operations. I will lay track that is both interesting in layout and functional for operation. I will offer facilities for entertaining visitors and challenging friends at operating sessions. There will be plenty of scenery; trackside objects, scale industry and towns…

I could go on and on, but by this time I’ve already fallen asleep, and will look forward to continuing plans at bedtime tomorrow night.

After all, one should be prepared… just in case the lottery pays off.