Touring the Tuolumne Forks Railroad

In this video we tour Bob Brown’s Tuolumne Forks model railroad. The tour begins at the Lake Tahoe Railway and Navigation Company headquarters in the town of Workshop. An X Denver and Rio Grande Western 28-O Number 15 train interchanges with a standard gauge line bringing in tourists and supplies to the Tuolumne Forks area.

Just outside Workshop is Chinatown with signs written by a Chinese acquaintance of Brown in true Chinese characters. The train passes by a dilapidated garage that was not rebuilt following a California earthquake. The 28-O passes the Tuolumne Forks’ Lumber Company’s saw mills on its way to Tuolumne Town. Tuolumne is a Sierra mountain town with businesses catering to the loggers and miners.

The Number 15 train then heads to an undeveloped area of the layout. The Lake Tahoe Resort is the main for all the passenger lines. As the train continues into mining country it passes the Tahoe Inn on the way to the town of Lake Side. The train passes by the Grant Central Gold Mine then returns to Workshop through a hidden track. Above the return loop is the logging branch. A 13 ton two truck train brings a string of log bunk cars into the log loader.

A Tuolumne Forks Class-B Climax leaves Workshop with equipment. Here the Tuolumne Forks and the Lake Tahoe Railway share some track. Finally, the climax will set out a tank car full of pine at the boat works.