Exploring the Model Railroad Design of Elk Meadow

Continuing our journey along the main line of the C&S Railway, we head north up the Elk Mountain Timber Company Railway into the region of the Elk Meadow range, where we pass through some of this model railroad design’s most spectacular scenic features. We’ll travel higher and higher into the Rocky Mountains and traverse such terrain as Antelope Notch and the High Bridge to reach Camp 4, located just above Ruby Junction. As we go beyond Elk Meadow we’ll find ourselves in Lake Irwin and discover what we’re led to believe was once a prolific logging community in the town of Irwin.

Inspecting the model railroad design of Elk Meadow

The layout for the Elk Mountain Timber Co. portion of our railway is a highly intricate model railroad design done in On30 scale, which is similar to On2.5 scale but runs on HO scale tracks. The train we’ll use to scale the mountains up toward Camp 4 is Engine 15, a small Heisler that’s made to tow flats which carry our logs from the mountain top back down to Lake Irwin and its saw mill.

In this video, you’ll watch as Engine 15 chugs through our On30 scale model railroad design, up the Elk Mountain Timber Company Railway toward Ruby Junction. You’ll observe some of our favorite model railroad design features on this particular railway as Engine 15 whistles off from station and attacks the mountain’s steep grade, through scratch-built Peterson Tunnel, past Mosley Ridge, over a kit-built high bridge and into its final resting place at Camp 4.

Thanks to a long day of work loading lumber for the 15-man crew at Camp 4, Engine 15 gets to enjoy a long layover before it has to make its way back down the mountainside. Tune in to find out what else lay in store for Engine 15 and its crew as it makes its journey through Elk Meadow!