Category: Hanging Rock

Thunder Cam: Hanging Rock

 

Howdy Folks! Over the coming months, I will be documenting every scene on the layout in these short “Thunder Cam” videos. Each one features Thunder Mesa trains passing through scenes on a typical day (or night) of operations. Supplemental music and sounds have been added where appropriate, but all else is as it might appear on a visit to the layout. As new scenes are finished on the layout, these rails fan style videos will act as supplements to the builds and projects. The ultimate goal is to chronicle the entire layout over time.

This episode features the outlaw burg of Hanging Rock, home of Olson & Furlow’s Place and the Helengon Mine.

Enjoy!
Dave

A Visit to Olson & Furlow’s Place

 

Let's pay a visit to Olson & Furlow's place, my scratchbuilt structure inspired by the modeling of John Olson and Malcolm Furlow. We'll take a look back at how the building was originally assembled, then retrofit the interior with new details and LED lighting. Should be fun!

Thanks for tuning in, amigos!
Dave

The Helengon Mine Story

 

Saddle up fer Helengon, Amigos! It's the Helengon Mine Story this week as I explain the structures and operations in this wild and wooly corner of the Thunder Mesa On30 layout.

The Helengon Mine was created as a focal point during development of the Hanging Rock scene. It's made up of a head frame and hoist house on the cliffs above, Helengon Tunnel, and the Helengon Mine office built right into the cliffside. The name, "Helengon," is a tribute to John Allen's HOn3 Devil's Gulch & Helengon, and his name appears on the office wall as General Manager. The office is built up against a timber retaining wall, and is actually a model of a new scenic element that appeared along Big Thunder Trail at Disneyland when that entire area was remodeled during the Star Wars Galaxy's Edge construction. The Indiana Jones dog house is another Disneyland Easter Egg added just for fun. A paper model plan of the dog house can be downloaded for free here.

The head frame was based on drawings from the Mining and Engineering Journal of 1902, and the hoist house was freelanced to fit. Helengon Tunnel and its On3o spur is actually a relic from an earlier version of the Thunder Mesa track plan when a reverse loop was considered for this end of the layout. The loop was abandoned but the track through the Mesa remained, reimagined as Helengon Tunnel; a drift into the cliffside just big enough to set out some On30 ore cars in. Locomotives do not enter far beyond the tunnel entrance due to clearance issues and the risk of asphyxiation.

Just next door to Helengon Tunnel is Olson & Furlow's place. A saloon, store, and bawdy house all in one that somehow survives as the only commercial structure in this outlaw ridden burg. But more on that in a future post!


Thanks for following along, amigos. Registered users can leave questions and comments below so, please, join in the conversation!

All the best,
Dave

A Thunder Mesa Excursion Special

 

All aboard for a Grand Circle Tour thru Nature's Wonderland on this Thunder Mesa Excursion Special! Enjoy the sights and sounds along the way as we explore the Living Desert, Geyser Gulch, Rainbow Caverns, Natural Arch Bridge and more. Stops at Calico, Tumbleweed, Los Feliz Jct, and Rainbow Ridge. Apologies in advance for some unfinished scenery and empty excursion cars. Thunder Mesa is always a work in progress!


Thanks for following along, amigos. Registered users can leave questions and comments below so, please, join in the conversation!

All the best,
Dave

Evolution of a Scene: Hanging Rock

Here’s a video look at the evolution of the scene at Hanging Rock on my Thunder Mesa Mining Company model railroad. Hanging Rock is a former railroad construction camp that now serves as a haunt for outlaws. This is an area that has grown and changed over the last couple years and hopefully this will give some insights into the process. Enjoy!

Olson & Furlow’s Place Returns to Hanging Rock

TMMC Update - July 22, 2017

I didn't have much time to work on the new Thunder Mesa riverfront this week, but I did want to catch things up on the construction and migrations of the Olson & Furlow Saloon.

Built as a tribute to two of my favorite modelers, John Olson and Malcolm Furlow, the saloon was featured in my Model Railroad Hobbyist column from January, 2017: 10 Tips for Modeling Structures With Character. While the column delved mostly into the backstory and research behind the structure, I thought I'd take a little time here to show more about how it was actually built.

The scratchbuilt structure follows my own design and is made primarily of illustration board. The base is 1/4" thick MDF carved and painted to look like flagstone, the windows and doors are mostly Grandt Line details, and the main roof is covered in laser-cut paper shingles from Bar Mills. Click through the photos at left to see it come together step-by-step.

I built the structure at the same time that I was working on the scenery around Hanging Rock and the whole thing was designed to tuck up against the canyon wall. The idea being that this place was the last surviving remnant of an old railroad construction camp and had been scrounged together from various parts by its intrepid proprietors. In my 10 Tips article I wrote:

Deep in the canyons, about halfway down the line between San Lorenzo and Thunder Mesa is the whistle stop burg known as Hanging Rock. It's a lonesome place, once a stronghold for the Indians and now a haunt for outlaws. There, on a small rise between the mainline and a weed-grown siding, stands the Olson & Furlow establishment. Part saloon, part store, the old place has a character born from its bawdy history and seasoned by the harsh climate of the desert. The adobe casita that forms most of the ground floor probably dates from the 1850's, but nobody can say for sure. The place was abandoned when Olson and Furlow took it over in 1878 and added the upper wooden story. They were railroad men who came west with the construction gangs to help build the bridges at Horse Thief and Coyote Canyons. That was backbreaking work, and so, as the story goes, they decided to go freelance and open a saloon.

I always liked that backstory, but then, for some reason, I threw it all out the window and relocated the structure to Thunder Mesa town. I must have had a good reason at the time but for the life of me I can't remember it now.

Now, one thing has led to another, and with the plans for the new River Unit well under way, Olson & Furlow's has migrated back to its original location (and backstory) at Hanging Rock. The spot it briefly held down in Thunder Mesa town will now be home to some trackside livestock pens. Appropriate, I guess, since judging by their writings, both men were/are world-class bull shippers.

Moving the structure again also reminded me that it's not really finished. There are still a few interior details to add upstairs, and lighting to add throughout the model. It was originally built with these things in mind so adding them shouldn't be too difficult. And there's much more to add in Hanging Rock too. The plans I've drawn tell me there's a mine tipple there, as well as a small freight dock and a whistle-stop depot made from an old combination car. Then there's all of that slot-canyon scenery waiting to be finished and bridges to build over nearby Horse Thief Canyon.

I'm sure there will be more on all of that in some upcoming posts. For this week, thanks for checking in, friends. Adios for now!