Exploring a Custom Model Railroad of C&S Railway

Throughout the United States and particularly west of the Mississippi, you’ll find some of the most remarkable feats of railroad engineering. Builders of railroads such as the D&RGW and C&S Railways in Colorado had to surmount incredible challenges in order to ultimately traverse the unique landscape of the American west and tap its copious resources.

Thus, it should come as no surprise that many modelers have chosen to create their own custom model railroad based on these glorious industrial feats. In the case of Bill and Mary Miller, the goal was to find something original to recreate, and they accomplished this with their custom model railroad of the Ohio Creek Extension, one of the last operational sections of C&S Railway. Before we zoom in on each leg of their extensive model, we want to cover some of the history of C&S Railway and take a quick look at what went into the nearly 20-year construction of this expertly crafted custom model railroad.

Using creative license on a custom model railroad

In order to fully understand the complexity behind the process of constructing a custom model railroad, it’s important to first learn the history of the railroad upon which it was designed. C&S Railway is a railroad full of stories, so in this video Bill Miller walks you through a brief overview of the C&S, and particularly the Ohio Creek Extension that they created in their custom model railroad. He first talks about the Ohio Creek Extension’s origins in Colorado, and discusses how it was utilized for many of the region’s industrial operations.

Bill then teaches you a bit about how you can use modeler’s license to make your custom model railroad unique and finish a job that was already started. This custom model railroad in particular is a special case in that its design and function were constantly evolved over the course of its two-decade construction. You’ll learn about how the builders shifted its method of operation to timetable train order and its means of communication to an era-appropriate phone system. Bill and Mary’s custom model railroad is a perfect example of how to use modeler’s license to take your railroad to a whole new level!