The upper level of my two-level layout is all narrow gauge, depicting a portion of the former Denver & Rio Grande Western’s Fourth Division line in southwestern Colorado and northern New Mexico.
Home Layout - Upper Level
The upper level of my two-level layout is all narrow gauge, depicting a portion of the former Denver & Rio Grande Western’s Fourth Division line in southwestern Colorado and northern New Mexico.
Upper Level Design
The layout is shaped like a “C” in a 13’ x 16’ room, with the entrance to the room at the bottom right and a small workbench at the bottom left. Connecting the tracks on the upper and lower levels is a four and a half turn helix. On the upper level, a second but shorter helix raises the track level from Toltec at 48” to Tanglefoot Curve and Cumbres Pass at 63”, the highest point on the layout.
Toltec Mining District
Toltec Mining District is a fictitious mining town on the upper level, named after an unpopulated location on today’s Cumbres & Toltec Scenic RR. When finished, Toltec will feature a mine and mill complex, a small town with a hotel, depot, businesses, homes, and a red light district. Look for photos of progress here in the future.
Cumbres Pass
Cumbres Pass was the highest point on the Fourth Division of the D&RGW, at 10,015’, and it dominated all railroad operations. As the line was originally laid out in 1880, the east approach was kept to a “manageable” 1.6% grade for the small locomotives of the period – by winding around and about, along cliffs and through high mountain meadows. Tanglefoot Curve, just east of the pass in a beautiful meadow, was a good example of lots of track to gain a few feet of elevation. On the west side, the circuitous option was not possible, so it was a steep 4% grade from Chama to the top of the pass, requiring multiple locomotives (“helpers”). On top of the pass were two passing tracks, a water column, depot, section house, a wye for turning helper engines, and a snowshed over much of the wye. Of course, the winters at Cumbres were very challenging, with derailments and epic snowstorms which required the rotary snowplows to keep the line open, as much as possible.
My version of Cumbres Pass, the highest point on the layout at 63”, includes a passing siding, water column, depot, wye with the snowshed, and Tanglefoot Curve. Also included is a freelanced spur for a future cattle pen.
 A westbound rounds Tanglefoot Curve on its final approach to Cumbres Pass. I included the trestle, filled in years ago on the actual railroad, as a point of interest which provides a different viewing perspective of the pass, out of view to the left. |  An oil train has just conquered the climb from Chama and is now headed downgrade to the refinery at Alamosa on the lower level. On the passing track, a westbound waits for clearance to descend to Chama. |  An eastbound has crested the hill and glides past the Cumbres depot. The coal shed was scratchbuilt. |
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 Two Mudhens, D&RGW Class K-27s numbers 459 and 461, at Cumbres Pass. |  Number 453 leads a westbound across Cumbres Pass. The snowshed over the wye in the background was scratchbuilt, board-by-board; the depot is an American Model Builders kit. |
Chama
Chama NM was an important division point and helper terminal on the west side of Cumbres Pass, featuring a depot, an iconic engine terminal, a few warehouses, and an oil loading dock for the nearby “Gramps” oil field. Today, Chama looks much like it did decades ago, and is the western terminus of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad.
My model of Chama was the original portion of the layout, built as a module with the Mudhens modular club in the mid-1980s. A few years later, it was incorporated into this layout by sitting on the upper level benchwork. A removable corner section permitted Chama to be removed and taken to shows and conventions as part of the Mudhens modular display. Some of the town structures have yet to be built, but most of the railroad-related structures are complete.
 Here a short westbound freight rounds the curve and enters the Chama yard, passing the oil dock and water tank. Both structures are kits. |  A string of tank cars are being loaded at the Chama oil dock. These cars are destined for the refinery at Alamosa. |  Looking down the main, K-27 461 is ready to take on coal and sand. The warehouse and depot were both scratchbuilt from plans. |
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 This view shows the depot, sand house, coal tipple, and a portion of the turntable pit. The scratchbuilt depot was shortened by 25’ to fit the available space. |  A view of the 4 stall scratchbuilt engine house at Chama; K-27 453 sits over the ashpit while 459 switches cars in the yard |  A view from the roof of the water tank shows the warehouse, depot, and engine facilities at Chama. All the track at Chama is handlaid using code 55 rail. |
The Climb from Chama to Cumbres Pass
I modeled the steep grade from Chama to Cumbres as a 2.5% grade – not as steep as the actual grade – but more practical for HO scale engines, which can pull only about 6 or 7 cars. As on the real railroad, the longer trains needed a second locomotive or helper, usually in the middle or at the end of the train, because the bridges could support only one loco at a time. The line climbs through a rock cut (the “narrows”), over Lobato trestle, and around Windy Point to Cumbres Pass. Click here to see helper locomotives in action.
 A pipe and oil train crosses Lobato trestle on the climb to Cumbres Pass, with K-27 #453 as the rear helper. On the lower track, westbound K-28 #476 departs Monero with the San Juan, heading for Durango. |  An eastbound freight passes Windy Point and the water column at Cumbres, while the rear helper continues to push toward the crest. |
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Monero
Monero NM, a small community 12 miles west of Chama, featured a depot and coal tipple for a nearby mine. Nearby, oddly enough, the railroad crossed the Continental Divide in rather undramatic fashion between Chama and Monero, not at Cumbres Pass as one might guess. On this layout, I was able to model Monero with only the coal chute because the space was quite limited.
 Westbound K-27 #453 passes the coal bin at Monero on its way to Durango staging. |  An eastbound freight, led by #453, a K-27 class “Mudhen”, approaches Monero. Lobato trestle, spanning Wolf Creek, is in the background. |
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Durango (staging)
Durango, at the western end of the D&RGW’s 4th Division in southwest Colorado, was a key junction point for the narrow gauge. Here, branch lines radiated south to the natural gas fields near Farmington NM, north to the Silverton mining region, and west to the connection with the Rio Grande Southern RR. Today, it is well known for another narrow gauge tourist line, the Durango & Silverton RR.
Unfortunately, I did not have space to model this fascinating location, but Durango is represented by a hidden reverse loop with a passing/staging track. This is located under my Cumbres Pass scene.
