More pictures....another recreation of "Clearwater"

The first Milwaukee Road "Clearwater MT" layout lasted about eight years, and then it was succeeded by version number two.  This covered three walls of a spare bedroom.  I had staging tracks at each end of the layout, so this was even more "proto-freelanced."  Let me explain.

It was sometime in the 1980's that TRAINS magazine ran an article about the Milwaukee Road's possible connection between the end of the Clearwater Branch and I believe Great Falls.  The two page spread went into some detail about the feasibility studies and included a map of the proposed "cut-off."  At least I think it was TRAINS...

Anyway, by now I had LOTS of Milwaukee rolling stock, and I wanted to have a layout that was an "intermediate placeholder" on a more or less "through" route.  Not the main line between CHI and TAC mind you, just a bit more "heavy duty" than the old branch that the first layout had represented.  And so just about everything was recycled, rebuilt, repainted or improved upon for this version.  I ran six axle second generation power on some trains, and I had a siding that was long enough to stage a "meet" and have two or three units and a twelve car train and caboose get in the clear. So, with staging at both ends, the train orders now included "meet" orders.  Oh, I still have those sets of "fulfilled" clearance cards and orders from both of these layouts stashed away today.   Enjoy the views!

 Once again, a highway coming into Clearwater served as a focal point and meandered its way from one end of the twelve- or thirteen-foot long wall.  Looks like that DC driver has cleared the tracks and is no doubt looking at "the hooker" that is standing out in front of "Hoopey's Bar." But it looks like she already has a potential client.  Couple of trucks are parked over at the Triangle Café (Suydam), eating that awful food.  Is that a "hippie kitbash" on that pick-up truck there?  Gas station at the extreme left center.  The road sign I showing the way to Great Falls (straight ahead), and to Missoula (hang a left!).  The scratchbuilt corner grocery store with apartments above has been reworked a bit from the previous layout.  Up against the backdrop is the Farmer's Co-Op, that old Suydam kit from the previous layout, updated and detailed (note the radio antennas) and three grain bins.  What are they made out of? Contact lens wetting and soaking solution plastic bottles with the flip top opening cut off, and seam lines scribed into them! Easy to see that now, right? 

Oops, this should have been the first picture in this group. In the foreground, the highway to Missoula from downtown Clearwater takes off and is used as a disguise for the escape to the left side staging track.  Purina Chows has been updated and changed a bit, and that radio station is still begging for listeners. You can see the "west siding switch" striped stand and target next to the "Smoky Bear" sign.

 

Here's a closer view of Purina.  It's a different day with a grain box car spotted.  Since the previous layout, it added a gas / diesel pump out front, and took the Chevron business with it.  Gas prices are higher, too. 1989-ish.  The track inspector has cleared onto the spur - maybe a train is due?



Here's an even closer view of Purina. The backdrop looked much better when you didn't see those awful clouds I tried. They found some better looking numbers for the pump prices. 

Someone must be returning from a day at one of the great fishing locations, and some local yokel has parked their car facing the wrong way while they grab some overpriced goods at the A-1 Market.  Looks like the Co-Op has a little business with a station wagon getting a few bags of something.  At the right is the church.  Never got a sign.

Told ya last time that the station got re-roofed.  Here 'tis.  Still loading that station wagon at the Co-Op.  As you probably surmised, I once again handlaid all the track and custom built each switch for the situation.  I think Code 70 on the main, and then 55 on the siding and on the auxiliary tracks here too.  

 

 

Extra 5601 East is pulling to a stop at the depot, betting it's the local.  And there's a few cars to move around. There's the old barite building from the previous pike, now is known as "Al's Aggregates." That chip hopper predated the Walthers' models, just added extensions to an MDC Roundhouse gondola.  It worked. Notice that the railroad has a nice sign for the re-roofed depot.  I wonder how many times speeding cars missed that jiggle in the road and ended up "on company property?"

 

 The larger space in the spare bedroom allowed me to really stretch the railroad out thru town. The road that ducks behind the depot comes out to that gravel parking lot at Union Ice.  Yep, another vintage Suydam kit that was new since the first Clearwater layout.  In the upper right is the local Chevron Bulk Plant.  The building itself was scratchbuilt, and the old orange juice cans from the earlier layout got worked over and two more added for storage tanks.  The old metal buildings that had been a "sawmill" on the older layout were repurposed into a larger business, "Devlin Builder's Supply."  They handled just about everything and was the Sunoco dealer too.  Unloading that coal hopper will be fun.   



Close up of the Ice House and Ollie Svengaard and Sons. 

 

Looks as if Ollie and one of his sons are straightening out the loading dock, probably killing time until that tank car is pumped dry and they're supplied again.  Ollie's building is somewhere else now, sold on EBay a couple of years ago. At the lower right you can see the start of a long curved wooden trestle that took the track towards staging on the "east" end of the layout, i.e., towards Bonner Jct.  I never got around to working much on the "canyon" that it spanned (it was an actual three foot long scratchbuilt bridge), and it proved to be as close to mainline MILW ROAD modeling as I got, with the track going directly into a tunnel after the bridge, my attempt at that famous "steel bridge to tunnel on flat rock outcropping" location in the electrified zone that I can't recall the name of right now.   

 

 The next layout was built when BNSF moved us to Fort Worth TX in 1997, and reflected a change in Milwaukee Road location for the setting.  Pictures and story to follow later on.