The Sillyness is About to Be Unleashed

I posted a week ago that I realized I was about 8 inches too long on my module design to fit in my car.  This, of course, came after the video I recorded talking about how measuring to ensure fit was important.  At least I caught this before I cut any wood.

One of the challenges I've faced so far is that my module should be of a Colorado narrow gauge line, but up until now I haven't really "gotten into" any of them enough that I could foresee myself actually finishing the module.  I've spent a handful of evenings over the past week pouring over photos and reading captions for hundreds of narrow gauge locations across Colorado.  None were standing out.

As I was headed out the door for work this morning I remembered a book I had bought a few years ago.  This book is notable because it was my first exposure to narrow gauge.  As a boy at the time,  I didn't understand what narrow gauge was, but I certainly liked the pictures.  The book was published on a series of articles that appeared in Model Railroader magazine in 1983.  It was none other than the legendary San Juan Central.

This is actually the 3rd publishing, 25th anniv. edition

No doubt no other layout has been near as influential on coaxing people to narrow gauge.  Additionally, no other narrow gauge layout has probably inspired so many "starters" with little follow through.  And who can blame those people?  Browsing the full page glossy photos it would inspire even those formerly uninterested in model railroading to plop down some cash on a Blackstone C-19 and grab their saw.

Having grown up idolizing this railroad I, along with hundreds others, have always envisioned that one day I would build it, if only to fill a corner of the basement as a piece of nostalgia.  The inclination that hit me on the way to work this morning was this very silly thought:  Instead of building a module that represents a real-world prototype, build a module that is based on the "prototype" of the San Juan Central.

Yes, a reproduction of a model railroad.  I dug through a box marked "Hobby Books" until I found the title I was looking for.  Examining the track plan I noticed something quite interesting:  The San Juan Central is made up of 3 portions, and the Montrose Terminal portion looked close to the dimensions I was planning for.

Sifting out a ruler later this evening I measured based on the scale provided.  A perfect fit with 6 inches to spare laterally.  So here we are, with a tad bit of "straightening out" in order to meet the track connection requirements, the Montrose Termianl re-born as an HOn3 freemo module:

You know you want to build one too

I believe I will be cutting wood tomorrow.  :)