Current Layout by Craig Wright

Layout Status:

active

Track Type:

Track Manufacturer:

Custom Trax

Rail Size:

code 100

Railroad(s) Modeled:

D&RGW, RGS

Notes:

Craig has two layouts. This one is the standard-gauge one (the other is Sn3; see the Sn3 portion of this Layouts section of the web site).

Videos:

The Super C highballs east

Fast-moving stock train

A pair of D&RGW SD40-2T "tunnel motors" passing a train led by D&RGW SD50, which was painted in the post-merger Southern Pacific "Speed" lettering.

A Division Point brass caboose brings up the rear of a D&RGW coal train.

UP SD70ACe Heritage unit #1989 crosses Price River at Castle Gate just west of Helper, Utah. A ubiquitous Rio Grande Tunnel Motor (SD40-2T) trails. The 1989 is a reworked Lionel SD70ACe. The pilot was removed from the trucks and screwed into the frame. The pilot openings were filled in and Kadee couplers installed. A light weathering was applied. The SD40-2T is an Overland Models brass import with added details and custom paint, and DCC sound and lights installed. The SP box car is an S Scale America model of an FMC double-door box car, which has also been lightly weathered. Track is code 100 by Custom Trax. The track ballast was special ordered (N-scale Woodland Scenics cinders) for the track to reflect the Rio Grande's use of slag and cinders from the Geneva Steel mill at Provo, Utah. The signals were produced by South Bend Signal Company (out of business) and are used to indicate turnout position only. The bridges are Central Valley HO-scale plate girders, and the bridge abutments are Chooch (also HO-scale). Scenery is hardshell gypsolite with dental plaster rock castings. The stream is EnviroTex Lite® shaded blue/green with Alclad paint. The photo was taken using a Samsung cellphone. Craig's photo appeared on the inside cover of the September 2022 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman in the NASG promotional ad campaign.

Coal traffic is on the move, way out west, behind modern diesel power on Craig Wright's layout. The consist is led by BN #5734, a Lionel U33C which Craig modified by replacing the hi-rail wheels with scale ones. Additionally, the front and rear pilots were removed from the trucks, and then glued and screwed to the frame. The coupler opening was filled in to represent a more prototypical configuration, and Kadee S-scale couplers were added. The Lionel Legacy system's electronics was removed and replaced with a SoundTraxx Tsunami decoder. Next in line is a brass Rio Grande SD50 by Overland Models which Craig super-detailed following an article in the February/March 1998 issue of S/Sn3 Modeling Guide. This locomotive was Craig's first S-scale purchase. The third locomotive is a brass Overland Models SD40T-2 which was detailed per the Rio Grande standards. All engines are equipped with a Tsunami DCC with full sound and lights. In the photo, the consist crosses over a scratch-built representation of the Santa Fe's bridge at Larkspur, Colorado. Craig followed the prototype's use of multiple materials supporting the bridge; concrete piers, and steel and timber trestle pilings. Craig used modeler's license and moved the bridge farther west to his version of the appropriately-named Westwater, Utah. This photo appears on the inside cover of the April 2024 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman magazine in the NASG promotional ad campaign.