Structures Within the Tuolumne Forks Railroad

Tuolumne Forks is a O&3 freelanced narrow gauge logging and mining railroad. Bob Brown is the editor and publisher of the Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazette.This layout combines mining and logging with a tourist line. The operation follows the Lake Tahoe Railway and Navigation Company’s transport of tourists from Workshop to the Lake Tahoe Resort. The railroad is famous among narrow gauge enthusiasts like Bob Brown.

The two thirds of the structures found within the Tuolumne Forks Railroad model are kits. Bob used kits by Tom York, Chooch, and trains of Texas for this layout. He mostly used kits not only because he could not possibly replicate the structure as nicely as the manufactures created them, but he also gets kits to use for a review in the magazine. With the wooden buildings within Tuolumne Forks Railroad, Bob scratch-built those.

Kits or scratch-build? Kits are more simple and scratch-builds are more complex. How you build depends on which type of structure you would want to use.

Watch more from Allen Keller’s Great Model Railroads series in the Model Railroad Academy archives.