My family went out west for two weeks about 6 years ago and spent the night in Cheyenne. We went in the museum to look around, eventually winding up upstairs. After a short time up there, individual things started to look familiar to me. When I figured out why, I was blown away! I was standing in the same room with a layout I’d read countless “up clear creek on the narrow gauge” articles about in Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette magazine. And I had no idea it was even here! Very neat back story to this layout, and I’m so glad it’s been rescued!
Nicely done SIR. My wife and I were heading back here to CA from SD and passed through Cheyenne in August of '22. We didn't know about the Depot and probably wouldn't have stopped anyway as we both were sicker than dogs having - we later found out - contracted Covid while at a family wedding in Jackson, Wy. So, thank you for this presentation of, yes, a remarkable work of art. I'm sitting here at my desk creating target signals for the Monterey & Salinas Valley Railroad Museum's (Salinas, CA) HO layout. I have 40 to assemble for our lower deck, so I'm binge watching anything to do with D&RGW while I work. My home - newly in progress - layout is the Arkansas River Route from Pueblo to Tennessee Pass. I love how Harry made so much of depth as my scenes won't be any deeper than 18 to 24 inches for towns and cities and 12 to 16 inches along the rest of the double decked run. So, thank you for this visit! I needed the inspiration!
Thank you for the kind words. The Cheyenne depot is definitely worth the visit if you are in the area. Harry Brunk's layout is Amazing. Another great layout that is on a whole another level which is in Greely, CO. is the Colorado Railroad Museum. I am sorry about getting Covid and Hope that you have recovered from it. I survived it four times. That is great with your work on the Monterey & Salinas Valley Railroad Museum HO layout, and it is coming along nicely. You have quite the job ahead of you getting 40 of them up and going. You got this. That is really great that you are making a D&RGW route. Please post some progress videos as you gain progress with it. If you get the chance the Sacramento railway museum is definitely worth the visit. The new model railroad display there are amazing. You can never go wrong seeing the Hon3 San Juan Central. Again, thank you for the kind words and happy holidays to you. Happy model railroading. th-cam.com/video/517kVM_m-28/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for the tour. As a previous comment mentioned it would be nice to see some close ups of some of the models. I wasn't aware that Harry scratch built any locos. Did a wee bit of HOn3 way back in the late 60's and late 70's. USAF kept me occupied in-between. Then a now ex wife bought me a standard gauge loco instead of the narrow gauge I wanted. I have been in the wrong gauge ever since!!!!
Thank you for sharing this video. Very impressive. First time I realize how large it is. Indeed a life time committment for Harry Brunk to achieve such a great representation of the Clear Creek area
chap. At first I thought you had been Running to get to the place and that's why you were puffing, then i realized by the way you moved the camera that it was your normal breathing. Don't take this the wrong way, but you really need to get that weight under control, else you won't get to be one of those old guys at the club. I too have problems with weight, and to deal with it (because you can never stop dealing with it) I get out, walk the right of way, do trips out to places and make sure I exercise, ride or walk to the shops instead of taking he car. Yoga, martial arts and swimming are also very good help. Second, don't rush your videos, you raced past everything because you have seen it before, most of have not, I have seen a few pictures in a NG&SLG issue from a few years ago (i remember the picture of the guys mobile home it was in). As you video, learn to shift your weight like you would if you were being a Ninja across the floor, shift the weight from one leg to the other without noticeable shift. Practice around your home, bend the legs a little more, and much deeper breaths, big guys can move quietly but it takes conscious effort and about 2 years practice, The more muscle you develop in your legs, the more you walk, the easier it is to burn off. If you can, I would like to see a more slower paced video of this famous layout when someone is there running it, and a lot more up close look of the guys models. Change angles so the glass reflection isn't such a problem. Good subject matter though love to see more of this layout.
@@jeromecress8271 It worried me. I have lost a few good friends from the hobby recently due to avoidable health problems at the local club, and its a problem I to have had to deal with, As I am also a chef by trade, so there is always something good to eat at my place (and work). I have been messing with some of a couple of more difficult HOn3 brass models today, and got them both running, but on saying that, I stopped every few hours or so, did 25 minutes of exercises, and drank filtered water, and a few snacks (grapes and cheese for lunch, some buttered raisin toast for breakfast). When you crave sugar, reach for fruit instead, don't cut out animal fat, (its what our brains are made of) but cut back on the carbs, bodies will burn fat for fuel before they burn carbs, The other thing bodies can do is crave micro nutrients, rare and common minerals, vitamins, enzymes as well, so it pays to supplement with minerals. Boron, Zinc, Magnesium for example as they are lacking from most of the worlds soils, so we don't get as much in our food grown in them. Keep up on it, I would like to still be seeing your videos many years from now.
@@jeromecress8271 Yeah I am still into Z scale a bit, but no layout at present, I do still like HO scale, but standard, HOn3, HOn30, and HOf. narrow gauges, I do buy and bash N scale engines for their mech''s and turn them into HOn30.. I don't run any specific railroads really, I like things about a lot of them, but I am into that character some other modelers can impart on their equipment. dusty aging, leaky and worn. Yes, I agree, always be careful not to fix what isn't broke, and take small bytes rather than turn brass engines into endless projects. These guys had been sitting in their boxes in a guys collection until i bought them around end of last year, I have putting couplers on them and oiling, greasing and test running (no paint as of yet). One is missing a head light casting, the previous owner removed it to light thee engine, and lost it in his junk pile i guess. The other I carefully drilled out the fixtures to light up once i get the LED's and resistors soldered up.
@@jeromecress8271 Yeah Z scale taught me a lot about track work, its so unforgiving. I have a little bit of HOf as well, which runs on Z scale, uses 3v DC, and magnets to stay on the track. its very over priced though and German Made (Busch Brand). Now tips for Z, first, spend some money on Lab magnification lamps on the swing arm, I got 2 of them, and they are a great investment for doing small stuff in any scale, but especially Z. I avoid DCC due to the fact its over priced, and can fail at any time, its a lot to ask for light control and sound, People can do it Z scale, but only recently has it been anymore than a 2 function chip. However to get the best out of your Z, you want a double header or more ( AZL is coming out with a 4 pack of F7s at the moment) and what i do is buy 2 of the same locomotive and brand, and run them together. when the track or wheels get a bit iffy, or running through complex track work, less likely to stall because one unit will pull or push the other one to where it can pick up again. If both stop working, time for a wheel and a track cleaning. I noticed this problem with the Busch engines as well, run them in pairs. Even the Busch Turnouts stall their own engines (they have some complicated wiring for their turnouts as well I don't like, requiring a module to control polarity of frog). Also avoid certain brand combinations, don't run Marklin track with a Rokuhanu power pack, as locos on marklin track sometimes create tiny shorts when crossing slip switches or normal turnouts. A normal Marklin power pack will ignore this, the Rokuhanu power pack will safety cut out power stalling the loco. I found the marklin steam engines were bad for this. Though its not to easy to find at the moment, get metal wheels for micro trains cars and carriages. Fox Valley were doing a bunch of them (and in N scale) really good quality, but I know there is a lot of back ordering going on at the moment. I know 33' are hard to find, but you can find the 36' wheel sets, and most people won't know the difference in them at that scale. you can run longer trains, and get less coupler bounce Alternatively to stop coupler bounce, you can use AZL trucks (which come with metal wheels). Choice of track, choose one and stick to it, I personally don't like the set track from Rokuhanu or Microtrains, And Peco only makes flex track in european standard (suits marklin track work), I haven't tried Atlas's switches or flex yet. my last layout was a combination of Marklin turnouts (modified with extra jump wires to keep the points live after ballasting) and micro trains flex track. I really like their flex track, very realistic looking. When i do the next Z layout, I am planning on using their flex and hand laying my own points (i have done hand made switches in HO, HOn3, HOn30 so it shouldn't be much of a challenge) Lot of people have done it with great results. If you have the money though, stick to either Micro trains or Rokuhanu set track, do a good weathering/paint job on the set track before and after laying it, and it looks ok and runs great. the other thing with Z track is to look at it horizontal as you lay it. to much pressure spiking the track down creates "dips" and this is an issue with it forcing the rail inwards narrowing the gauge. Ballasting and white glue can get into gaps creating shorts (why i soldered the last layouts track work together, except at the isolation joins) especially with points/switches. cleaning up the rail after ballasting is also a project in itself, and this is where your magnification lamps are of great help. I can mount mine on my layout and go over an area of track in close detail, remove any thing i can't feel with my finger tips. once you get used to doing track work in Z you will get really picky with your track work in larger gauges, even though they are more forgiving of gaps and gauge, and you end up with some really nice track work.
@@jeromecress8271 I never got a set of those, I have the MLT SD7's though , and a heavily converted one that is in a searails RS3 shell. (had to "shave" off a lot of the weight out of the frame) , I also have a pack of their F3/7's, and not one runs the same way/speed, all of them have their own personality. I kind of think MLT has dropped the ball after they lost their molds for engine manufacture, gotten a bit to scared and AZL has jumped ahead of them. I have my eye on getting a pair of GP38-2, they are quite cheap at the moment, and you can pick them up new for 100 us each on line which is a hell of a deal for Z scale.
My family went out west for two weeks about 6 years ago and spent the night in Cheyenne. We went in the museum to look around, eventually winding up upstairs. After a short time up there, individual things started to look familiar to me. When I figured out why, I was blown away! I was standing in the same room with a layout I’d read countless “up clear creek on the narrow gauge” articles about in Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette magazine. And I had no idea it was even here! Very neat back story to this layout, and I’m so glad it’s been rescued!
Nicely done SIR. My wife and I were heading back here to CA from SD and passed through Cheyenne in August of '22. We didn't know about the Depot and probably wouldn't have stopped anyway as we both were sicker than dogs having - we later found out - contracted Covid while at a family wedding in Jackson, Wy. So, thank you for this presentation of, yes, a remarkable work of art. I'm sitting here at my desk creating target signals for the Monterey & Salinas Valley Railroad Museum's (Salinas, CA) HO layout. I have 40 to assemble for our lower deck, so I'm binge watching anything to do with D&RGW while I work. My home - newly in progress - layout is the Arkansas River Route from Pueblo to Tennessee Pass. I love how Harry made so much of depth as my scenes won't be any deeper than 18 to 24 inches for towns and cities and 12 to 16 inches along the rest of the double decked run. So, thank you for this visit! I needed the inspiration!
Thank you for the kind words. The Cheyenne depot is definitely worth the visit if you are in the area. Harry Brunk's layout is Amazing. Another great layout that is on a whole another level which is in Greely, CO. is the Colorado Railroad Museum. I am sorry about getting Covid and Hope that you have recovered from it. I survived it four times. That is great with your work on the Monterey & Salinas Valley Railroad Museum HO layout, and it is coming along nicely. You have quite the job ahead of you getting 40 of them up and going. You got this. That is really great that you are making a D&RGW route. Please post some progress videos as you gain progress with it. If you get the chance the Sacramento railway museum is definitely worth the visit. The new model railroad display there are amazing. You can never go wrong seeing the Hon3 San Juan Central. Again, thank you for the kind words and happy holidays to you. Happy model railroading. th-cam.com/video/517kVM_m-28/w-d-xo.html
I just came across this video ... Subscribed!!!
Thank you for joining Large Person Wanderings. If you are ever in the area the Cheyenne Depot is definitely worth the visit. Have a good weekend.
Thanks for the tour. As a previous comment mentioned it would be nice to see some close ups of some of the models. I wasn't aware that Harry scratch built any locos. Did a wee bit of HOn3 way back in the late 60's and late 70's. USAF kept me occupied in-between. Then a now ex wife bought me a standard gauge loco instead of the narrow gauge I wanted. I have been in the wrong gauge ever since!!!!
Thank you for sharing this video. Very impressive. First time I realize how large it is. Indeed a life time committment for Harry Brunk to achieve such a great representation of the Clear Creek area
Do they run the trains or static only?
chap. At first I thought you had been Running to get to the place and that's why you were puffing, then i realized by the way you moved the camera that it was your normal breathing. Don't take this the wrong way, but you really need to get that weight under control, else you won't get to be one of those old guys at the club. I too have problems with weight, and to deal with it (because you can never stop dealing with it) I get out, walk the right of way, do trips out to places and make sure I exercise, ride or walk to the shops instead of taking he car. Yoga, martial arts and swimming are also very good help.
Second, don't rush your videos, you raced past everything because you have seen it before, most of have not, I have seen a few pictures in a NG&SLG issue from a few years ago (i remember the picture of the guys mobile home it was in). As you video, learn to shift your weight like you would if you were being a Ninja across the floor, shift the weight from one leg to the other without noticeable shift. Practice around your home, bend the legs a little more, and much deeper breaths, big guys can move quietly but it takes conscious effort and about 2 years practice, The more muscle you develop in your legs, the more you walk, the easier it is to burn off.
If you can, I would like to see a more slower paced video of this famous layout when someone is there running it, and a lot more up close look of the guys models. Change angles so the glass reflection isn't such a problem. Good subject matter though love to see more of this layout.
@@jeromecress8271 It worried me. I have lost a few good friends from the hobby recently due to avoidable health problems at the local club, and its a problem I to have had to deal with, As I am also a chef by trade, so there is always something good to eat at my place (and work). I have been messing with some of a couple of more difficult HOn3 brass models today, and got them both running, but on saying that, I stopped every few hours or so, did 25 minutes of exercises, and drank filtered water, and a few snacks (grapes and cheese for lunch, some buttered raisin toast for breakfast). When you crave sugar, reach for fruit instead, don't cut out animal fat, (its what our brains are made of) but cut back on the carbs, bodies will burn fat for fuel before they burn carbs, The other thing bodies can do is crave micro nutrients, rare and common minerals, vitamins, enzymes as well, so it pays to supplement with minerals. Boron, Zinc, Magnesium for example as they are lacking from most of the worlds soils, so we don't get as much in our food grown in them. Keep up on it, I would like to still be seeing your videos many years from now.
@@jeromecress8271 Yeah I am still into Z scale a bit, but no layout at present, I do still like HO scale, but standard, HOn3, HOn30, and HOf. narrow gauges, I do buy and bash N scale engines for their mech''s and turn them into HOn30.. I don't run any specific railroads really, I like things about a lot of them, but I am into that character some other modelers can impart on their equipment. dusty aging, leaky and worn. Yes, I agree, always be careful not to fix what isn't broke, and take small bytes rather than turn brass engines into endless projects. These guys had been sitting in their boxes in a guys collection until i bought them around end of last year, I have putting couplers on them and oiling, greasing and test running (no paint as of yet). One is missing a head light casting, the previous owner removed it to light thee engine, and lost it in his junk pile i guess. The other I carefully drilled out the fixtures to light up once i get the LED's and resistors soldered up.
@@jeromecress8271 Yeah Z scale taught me a lot about track work, its so unforgiving. I have a little bit of HOf as well, which runs on Z scale, uses 3v DC, and magnets to stay on the track. its very over priced though and German Made (Busch Brand).
Now tips for Z, first, spend some money on Lab magnification lamps on the swing arm, I got 2 of them, and they are a great investment for doing small stuff in any scale, but especially Z. I avoid DCC due to the fact its over priced, and can fail at any time, its a lot to ask for light control and sound, People can do it Z scale, but only recently has it been anymore than a 2 function chip. However to get the best out of your Z, you want a double header or more ( AZL is coming out with a 4 pack of F7s at the moment) and what i do is buy 2 of the same locomotive and brand, and run them together. when the track or wheels get a bit iffy, or running through complex track work, less likely to stall because one unit will pull or push the other one to where it can pick up again. If both stop working, time for a wheel and a track cleaning.
I noticed this problem with the Busch engines as well, run them in pairs. Even the Busch Turnouts stall their own engines (they have some complicated wiring for their turnouts as well I don't like, requiring a module to control polarity of frog). Also avoid certain brand combinations, don't run Marklin track with a Rokuhanu power pack, as locos on marklin track sometimes create tiny shorts when crossing slip switches or normal turnouts. A normal Marklin power pack will ignore this, the Rokuhanu power pack will safety cut out power stalling the loco. I found the marklin steam engines were bad for this.
Though its not to easy to find at the moment, get metal wheels for micro trains cars and carriages. Fox Valley were doing a bunch of them (and in N scale) really good quality, but I know there is a lot of back ordering going on at the moment. I know 33' are hard to find, but you can find the 36' wheel sets, and most people won't know the difference in them at that scale. you can run longer trains, and get less coupler bounce Alternatively to stop coupler bounce, you can use AZL trucks (which come with metal wheels).
Choice of track, choose one and stick to it, I personally don't like the set track from Rokuhanu or Microtrains, And Peco only makes flex track in european standard (suits marklin track work), I haven't tried Atlas's switches or flex yet. my last layout was a combination of Marklin turnouts (modified with extra jump wires to keep the points live after ballasting) and micro trains flex track. I really like their flex track, very realistic looking. When i do the next Z layout, I am planning on using their flex and hand laying my own points (i have done hand made switches in HO, HOn3, HOn30 so it shouldn't be much of a challenge) Lot of people have done it with great results. If you have the money though, stick to either Micro trains or Rokuhanu set track, do a good weathering/paint job on the set track before and after laying it, and it looks ok and runs great. the other thing with Z track is to look at it horizontal as you lay it. to much pressure spiking the track down creates "dips" and this is an issue with it forcing the rail inwards narrowing the gauge. Ballasting and white glue can get into gaps creating shorts (why i soldered the last layouts track work together, except at the isolation joins) especially with points/switches. cleaning up the rail after ballasting is also a project in itself, and this is where your magnification lamps are of great help. I can mount mine on my layout and go over an area of track in close detail, remove any thing i can't feel with my finger tips.
once you get used to doing track work in Z you will get really picky with your track work in larger gauges, even though they are more forgiving of gaps and gauge, and you end up with some really nice track work.
@@jeromecress8271 I never got a set of those, I have the MLT SD7's though , and a heavily converted one that is in a searails RS3 shell. (had to "shave" off a lot of the weight out of the frame) , I also have a pack of their F3/7's, and not one runs the same way/speed, all of them have their own personality. I kind of think MLT has dropped the ball after they lost their molds for engine manufacture, gotten a bit to scared and AZL has jumped ahead of them. I have my eye on getting a pair of GP38-2, they are quite cheap at the moment, and you can pick them up new for 100 us each on line which is a hell of a deal for Z scale.