New acquistions on the Orphan Valley Railway - Estrella & Sonora Grande RR #23

There was much activity and excitement on the Orphan Valley Railway this week with the arrival of the re-acquisitioned Estrella & Sonora Grande RR #23 Davenport and 6 ore wagons shipped over from the US. 
Shay number 4 spent the week hauling the loco and wagons up to Orphan Valley heights to be then unloaded by the work crew. The crew quickly came to terms with the link and pin couplers. Here are shots of the unloading process. Click on the photos for a larger image.

All the Edwards family are out to help with and view the unloading.

Steady progress as the last ore wagon is prepared to be unloaded.

W.R Edwards gives the OK to the davenport engineer Atkin, who has moved from the states to work with his favorite loco in the quarry. W.R. is slowly coming to terms with the deep, broad Arizona accent, and can't quite get over how broad his cowboy hat is. The other boys reckon it will be a great asset in the bright Aussie sun.

The last wagon is off and the boys are ready to hook up the pin and link coupler. They are very impressed with the slow, smooth running of the Davenport.

The engineers younger brother Barret has moved over with him, to make a new life in Australia.

The train is complete, ready to head off to the quarry. Young Joel Edwards is just home from school, and keen to give a helping hand.

 A big thank you to the Estrella & Sonora Grande RR and in particular Verne Ninner, who made possible the purchase of this rolling stock for service on the Orphan Valley Railway. The history of the  Estrella & Sonora Grande RR #23 can be viewed at: 
http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/12782
and the personal site of the  Estrella & Sonora Grande RR
There are changes taking place with the Estrella & Sonora Grande RR, with it turning into theThe Arroyo Verde and Western Railroad

New years Fun

 Christmas does bring some surprises.

Has been a while since last posting, but Christmas always brings some new surprises. Here are a few fun shots of a speedway outfit  that my brother prepared for me. These are 1:87 models displayed on my On30 module (hence some of the details are not to scale.) Tim also made the wheat truck. The speedway setup is reminiscent of speedwaying in the 60's and 70's, when stock cars were open and pretty basic. The character of those times and styles have been perfectly captured..thanks Tim!

 Here we find the crew winding up out of the Orphan Valley on their way to a speedway meet, followed by the grader, also headed to the speedway track.  The farmer should just have enough time to get home, shower and return for the meet later on in the evening with his family.

 

A wrong turn over the railway line has meant a slight delay as they wait for a 44 class led freight to make its way across the valley heights.