Whoa! I completely missed this thread. Sorry about that.
Thanks for the kind comments about the old D&RGW Platte Canyon Sub and my photos. Trip down memory lane, you say? Well, let's get this thing fired up and roll.
The deciding factors of taking the railroad down were several, but mostly my son grew up and there has been much water under the bridge career wise since those days. I drifted away working a job that was heavily involved in local iron, steel, mining and railroad historic preservation. Doors opened that I would have never dreamed of in regard to access to historic materials. It was fun but came to an end and I moved on to a teaching job. In short, I've been blessed and living the dream but my mind wasn't on the model railroad anymore. Other pursuits such as hiking, biking, hunting, and camping were also taking my time. It was with much soul searching that I finally removed the layout...
For anyone that may be interested in my photos or real trains and industrial ruins, check here.
Eric's Pics
Now, and its not far under the surface, I've loved trains since I was a kid and still do! I also love history regarding iron, steel, mining, railroads and Americana in general. A few weeks back I checked in here on a whim. Since then, thoughts of a new railroad are being mulled over. There are many things to consider but another D&RG(W) themed railroad are a very high probability. I'm considering things like the Silverton Northern, Colorado Midland to potentially interchange with the D&RG(W). Thoughts or dual scale, forced perspective scenes, facia cutaway underground mine scenes, etc are dancing around in my mind.
BTW, I was really wrapped around the axle with photography back in the day. In later years there were many times I considered selling my photography kit but resisted the temptation. That may be a good decision in the end as I'd like to do another Colorado trip soon and really get heavy on the photography there. Obviously, a future model railroad will also need photographs! Heck, maybe I'll update my older cameras, LOL.
A few pics from the D&RGW Platte Canyon Subdivision:
Sedalia Sunrise
Heading west to the mines
This was always one of my favorites. It was taken on a 20"x30" diorama I built, just for the heck of it. The photography was pretty advanced as the camera shutter was open for maybe 30 seconds (don't remember exactly) in a pitch black environment. This "burned in" the F3's headlight that a fast shutter wouldn't have picked up. The scene was then lit by an on camera Speedlite (flash) that was bounced off a ceiling reflector and two additional off-camera Speedlites to light the scene and hand painted backdrop's "sunset". Colored "gels" were used on the Speedlites. Fun stuff!
Thanks so much for your support and encouragement. It means a lot to me. Maybe one day there will be photos of a new, improved Rio Grande model railroad! We'll see.