The Spring Lake RR was started around 1885 to run from Pittsburgh PA to Salamanca NY as a 3 ft narrow guage. Somewhere around 1905 it was standard guaged, and extended with 2 branches from Salamanca to Buffalo NY and Rochester NY, Primarily moving coal & lumber to Rochester, and steel to Buffalo, with local service provided for farmers to get their products to market. Around 1925, the line was purchased by the New York Central, with a provision that if it were ever to be abandoned, it would revert to the original owners. It ran well, and showed a modest profit up until around 1955, but then so did the parent NYC. The NYC got into trouble, merged with the Pennsylvania to form the Penn-Central, went bankrupt and became Conrail. Around 1975, Conrail opted to abandon the line. A watchful former owner then called on Conrail, and the line was delivered back to its original owner. Steam power was the way to go! Purchaseing locos that were scheduled for scrapping & restoring them gave the road quite a variety of power. Only when steamers could not be fornd did the owners purchase diesels, and becauce they felt a sense of history, painted them in the NYC lightening stripe scheme, but with the Spring Lake Name. I hope to start building the layout sometime in the next year or so - HO, of course 10 X 25 ft in its own building. Happy RR'ing
[This message has been edited by Tom H (edited 12-01-2000).]
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Tom, Cool scenerio!! If you would like to see and hear all about my CSW railroad go to my website at http//:www.jstrainstation.homestead.com The story of the CSW is there along with a lot of great pics. Of course the layout doesn't exist anymore, and the new SFSW is just getting started. The theme has not been set in stone for the new layout, but generally the line was built as an extension of the Santa FE to the southwest of Albuquerque, NM to serve the coal mines there and pick up some passenger traffic. The line extension took place in 1908. The layout is set in 1962, just before the line was abandoned (1965). Clearly by 1962 this was a nearly forgotton branch, although coal was still very important, things had slowed down. All of the motive power and rolling stock that the Santa Fe didn't sell or scrap showed up on the SFSW. So far that roster is a 2-8-2 steam engine, an RS-1, and three F units. There are other industries, I just don't know what they are yet!! Happy Modeling!! John
------------------ The Santa Fe and Southwestern, Chief of the Southwest!
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1939. The Depression is waning, but there are the rumblings of war in Europe. In the Rocky Mountains gold and silver have been replaced by black diamonds as the chief commodity and steel, manufactured goods, and people are being shipped all over the U.S. This is the first year that the,now,Denver& Rio Grande Western is finaly out of receivership and in the hands of people from the state of CO that actually care about their"Baby Road" and are not just trying to rape it for themselves. On the Pueblo/Salida Division and up over Tennesee Pass labor mallets,chalengers,and an assortment of heavy steam engines that are the pinicale of this type of locomotion. An era of prosperity is now being embarked upon unhindered by the chains of financial woe and mismanagement. Remember the Rio Grande!
Posts: 127 | From: Gunnison, CO, USA | Registered: Jul 2000
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Visit my Railroad web site at http://www.trainweb.org/dsrg/dsrg.htm You can view over 300 photos of my railroads construction in the Nevada desert
------------------ NVTiny Desert Springs & Rattler Gap Railroad http://www.trainweb.org/dsrg/dsrg.htm
Posts: 23 | From: Silver Springs, NV. USA | Registered: Jul 2000
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