Black Hills Railroad

The basic construction of the module is now complete.  All that's left to do is sand down the edges and make sure the end plates are as square as possible. The next step will be to lay track, wire the track, and build scenery around it.  Here are a couple of photographs of my progress: James Willmus James Willmus The sides are 1/8" hardboard, making a smooth fascia.  I'm cutting the fascia first and will then use that as a foam cutting guide for the terrain.  Already I had to make an accuracy compromise.  Since the modules are meant to be operated from the South side (these views are from the Northwest side) I had to cut the hill down slightly so the view of the trains aren't completely blocked. Thanks! --James

I've shelved the two display modules for a later date.  Their structures aren't quite as sturdy as I had hoped, although they will be great platforms in the future.  Instead, I have jumped ahead to creating a train layout using modules.  My first project is going to be the town of Mystic. Photo by Otto Perry of Rapid City Black Hills and Western Engine #55 at the town of  Mystic.  Photo can be found at Denver Public Library Digital Collections Mystic was a small town that can fit, almost foot by foot, in 12 feet using HO (1:87) scale. Module 1 will start at the furthest western track of the RCBHW at the West end of Mystic (background in the photo above).  This module will include the 65 foot turntable, the 3 track yard ladder, and a couple of outbuildings as well as the terrain.  When operating, the "front" side of the modules will be the South side of the track. Judging by the photos, code 55 or code 70 rail will be used to represent track....

The Crouch Line, one of the crookedest railroads in the world and one of the longest lived short lines in the Black Hills.  Over 120 bridges were built in the 34 miles of mainline with turns so sharp some of the rails had to be custom bent to fit in the canyon. There were several towns along the mainline and this post will provide an overview of the towns, and railroad facilities at each town. Rapid City (mp 0): Rapid City is the largest town west of the Missouri River in South Dakota.  It was the western terminus for the Chicago Northwestern and the Milwaukee Road (although branch lines continued west of Rapid City for both railroads).  The Crouch Line's eastern terminus was Rapid City and the railroad used the shared locomotive facilities with the CNW. The tracks diverged from the CNW mainline and ran parallel to Jackson Blvd. running in a Southwestern direction towards the mouth of Dark Canyon where Rapid Creek spills into the floodplain of Rapid Valley. Hise...

Presented by Rick Mills during Railroad Days 2017 at the Historic Prairie Village, this lecture covered many topics about the history of railroads in South Dakota.  This Youtube video is an edited, shorter version of that lecture. As the director of the South Dakota State Railroad Museum, Rick Mills has the task of educating people about South Dakota's railroad history. One form that education takes is through lectures, talks, and presentations at various events around the state.  If you are in the area, stop by the South Dakota State Railroad Museum for more information about railroad history.  Also don't forget to look up the museum's website for hours and dates of operations, upcoming events, new exhibits, and much more! James Willmus

Railroad Days happens every July.  Do to moving a couple of times since the 1st of July, I have only just been able to make the video about the Prairie Village Herman and Lake Madison Railroad. Please enjoy the video and don't forget to check out the Prairie Village website James

I am in the process of designing my first train layout depicting the Black Hills.  This is not my first layout, however, and so I would like to share with you some things that I would consider to be hard rules of layout design.  Do you have to follow them?  Of course not, it's your railroad.  But if you plan on creating a train layout that is realistic and easy to operate, please consider the following: Efficient track planning .  Railroads used the fewest number of turnouts possible to get the trains where they needed to go.  Some people may like spaghetti bowl layouts packed with as much track as possible, but it's far from realistic. A track plan that uses the fewest number of turnouts to get the job done saves a lot of money.  The bigger the layout, the more savings.  Rather than having a bunch of one car industries on separate switch tracks, combine all the industries to one track.  This makes switching more interesting during operati...

On the Great Plains, blood runs deep.  My family, both my mother's side and my father's side, been in the Midwest since the conclusion of the Civil War. My father's family came from Germany and Poland in the 1880's, initially settling along the Minnesota River outside St. Paul.  My great grandparents moved into St. Paul to take advantage of the rapidly growing economy in the region and they bought up large tracts of land which eventually became the town of Roseville, a suburb community sandwiched between Minneapolis and St. Paul north of Pig's Eye and the mill district.  Back then land was cheap and plentiful, but now it is scarce and expensive.  Over the course of three generations, my father's family has played an influencing hand in the Roseville area.  Even in present day, one of my Uncle's serves on the City Council.  This side of the family undoubtedly needed the railroad to bring in new homeowners and help build the economy of the Twin Cities of Mi...