HO Scale Station Sign

Gearing up to to start an HO scale layout loosely based on the MB Line with my brother.  So I see this blog serving a different purpose in the next several years.  My goal is to use this blog to post our progress on how it will be coming together.  Or maybe I start a new one.  This station sign I guess is a start to what will come.  I have already built the Douglas Depot and one trestle.  We have about a 25'x50' space that will house this layout.  We are ready for the adventure and share with our kids the enjoyment of model railroading.  

Difference of 75 years

Bridge #11 then and now.

Rock cut between bridges #25 and #26 looking on the down grade.  Early morning photo taken on 12-28-13 with a GoPro 3 black edition camera.

Douglas in 1956

Spring runoff in the spring of 1956 running under the US 2 bridge in Douglas.  Box cars litter the siding on the right.  Looking north up Douglas Creek.  Harold Badten Collection.

Blown-up picture of the railroad.

Mansfield Depot Drawing

July 1917 GNRY drawing showing some proposed work to be done within the depot at Mansfield.

Alstown in 1984

Waterville native David Loebsack hangs off the side of BN GP-9 #1805 in Alstown in the early spring of '84.  David never worked for the railroad.  The BN crew let him pose on the train while his cousin Alan Loebsack took the picture from atop of boxcars parked on the siding.

Crossing @ Supplee

At Supplee the remaining rails that cross Rd F NW are covered by asphalt now.  Looking northeast towards the direction of Withrow.  May 2010 photo. 

April 1, 2006 photo of the grade between bridges #16 and #17.  Looking on the up grade with the road bed just to the right of center.  The picture is taken where the west end of bridge #16 abutments were.

Proposed Spur at Mansfield

Plans for a proposed  450' spur to serve the Columbia Valley Lumber Co.  Plans are dated August 25, 1923.  Here is a drawing showing it completed in December of that year.

Douglas Falls Area in 1983

Having just exited the tunnel, this short train is on the up grade headed for Alstown.  The Douglas Falls are to the right of the train.  The falls are a fun destination for people during the summer months.  Oct 28, 1983 photo by the late John P. Henderson.  Here are some more pictures of this area the same day Picture 1, Picture 2, Picture 3

Hi-Rail on the MB Line

BN Hi-Rail parked on the down grade at a rock cut just south of bridge #36.  Photo from the Chuck Shrawn Collection.  Here is a picture of bridge #36. 

Aerial of the location.  These bridges are south of Alstown about a mile. 

Withrow Depot

C. 1909 picture of the Withrow Depot superimposed on a 2010 picture with the same view.  

Tunnel

c. 1908 ROW drawing of bridge #8 and tunnel at Douglas Creek Falls area.  Bridge #8 was removed during the 1920's.  According to the plans a road went underneath the bridge.  North is in the direction of the upper right corner.  Here is a picture of the south portal and of the north portal entrances.  

Mansfield Wye

1968 GN drawing showing the wye in Mansfield.  2013 aerial underneath.  North is in the direction of the upper right corner.  Here is a shot looking back towards the grain elevators from the position of the northeast leg of the wye. 

Standard Oil Spur at Mansfield

1916 drawing showing the proposed Standard Oil Spur being installed at the end of the southwest leg of the wye.  Today the site is occupied by Coleman Services LLC out of Lewiston, ID a fuel Company.

Mansfield Siding

1923 drawing showing the proposed spur track for the Columbia Valley Lumber Co.

1948 drawing overlaid on aerial 

Touhey Siding

1968 GN drawing superimposed on a 2013 aerial showing the entire Touhey Siding.

Blow-up of the southern end of the siding.

Blow-up of the northern end of the siding.

Blow-up of bridge #42 at the northern end of the siding.  This bridge crossed over a county dirt road.

Withrow Siding

1938 drawing of the western end of the Withrow Siding.  Overlaid on a 2013 aerial .

1915 drawing showing the depot area.

1918 drawing of a proposed Standard Oil Co. Spur with current aerial.  Located at the eastern end of the siding.

Supplee Siding

1921 GN drawing ovelaid on a current aerial of Supplee.  North is in the direction of the upper right corner.  Here is a picture looking down the tracks.

Bridges #18, #19, #20, #21, #22 and #23

Another GN ROW drawing overlaid on a current aerial.  This is where Duffy Creek dumps into Douglas Creek.  Bridges 18 and 19 eliminated after the flood of 1948.  Duffy Creek comes in at the top middle of the image.  Here are some pictures of  Bridges #18, #19, #21, and #22.  Here are a couple images showing the altered alignment at bridges 18 and 19 after they were removed.

Bridges 14, 15, 16 and 17

Great Northern Railway Right-of-Way drawing (c. 1907-1908) overlaid on a current aerial in Douglas Creek.  Here are some pictures of each of these bridges.  #14, #15, #16 and #17.  

Bridge #41

2013 aerial showing where bridge #41 was in relationship to Withrow.

1949 aerial of bridge draped over a current aerial.  It crossed over a draw called the Dutch Henry.  The dark color on the north side of the bridge is a shadow being cast from the structure.

2010 photo standing on the west side of the Dutch Henry Draw looking east.

What remains of the bridge today.

Panoramic photo standing at the bottom of the draw looking south at what would have been the north side of the bridge.

Douglas Siding

1937 drawing showing only the area of the depot.  The paved road you see is the N. Douglas Rd about a 1/4 mile north of Highway 2 

1940 Great Northern Track Plan of Douglas showing the entire siding.  The following drawings below are blow-ups of this sheet for better viewing.  Enjoy.

1 of 4

2 of 4

3 of 4

4 of 4

Skykomish Historical Society provided drawings.

Alstown Siding

1914 track plan laid over a Google Earth Aerial

McCue Siding

1920 drawing draped on top of an areial of McCue.  North is in the direction of the bottom right corner.  You can see bridge #10 on the far left.  This bridge spanned water that came out of McCue Spring that flowed out of Pegg Canyon.

Great Northern Railway drawings dated 1961.  Below is the same plan blown-up in three sections for better veiwing.

East end of siding

Middle portion

Western end of siding.

2009 photo looking west down the main line.  Bridge #10 is behind me about 100 ft. and the public crossing is just ahead of me.  The siding was offset to the left of the gravel road about 50'.

Palisades Siding

Another superimposed GN Track Plan on top of an aerial of Palisades Wa.  In the drawing you can see the location of bridge #7 and the depot.  Here is a picture of bridge #7 looking east.

Bridges #3, 4, 5 and 6

Superimposed image showing where bridge #3 and #4 used to lay along the line.  These structures were at mile post 12.5 where the tracks crossed Palisades Rd.  Picture of a train crossing bridge #3 just before it will cross Palisades Rd heading north up Moses Coulee.

Bridges #5 and #6 were located about mile post 14.  Palisades Siding was at mile post 15.5.  You can tell how much the creek has changed course from when the drawings were made over 100 years ago.  The creek used to meander east under Palisades Rd and then cross back west again.  Now the creek only goes on the west side of the road.  Here is a train passing over bridge #6 for the last time in 1985.