# Modeling an Abandoned track with locomotive on it



## grudatom (Nov 14, 2018)

im collecting ideas on how to model an abandoned track with an abandoned train on it.

I have an old off brand train that doesn't work anymore, and was told it wasn't worth fixing so I want to use it as an abandoned loco

Thanks!


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

It's an unlikely scenario. The scrap would be worth recovering the locomotive for its value. If anything, I'd mangle it some and have it over on its side, rusted, with growth around it, representing a line abandoned perhaps because of what the wreck show...a place that's simply not worth the costs of rebuilding all the time.


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## grudatom (Nov 14, 2018)

be it unlikely as it is in my pretend world i would love to have something like that. there are 3 broken down diesel switchers on a narrow gauge track near me that gave the original inspiration


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

If you are familiar with reddit, check out https://www.reddit.com/r/rustyrails/
This group features pictures of abandoned equipment including locomotives. The pictures will give great ideas on how things rust away, how weeds and trash will collect around them, and how some of the more valuable bits may be stripped before the equipment is permanently parked. I've seen locomotive graveyards pictured there from multiple countries. Should be a great resource for ideas.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

The first thing you notice when seeing an abandoned
locomotive, RUST. It's every where on the loco, there would also
be broken parts on it, perhaps graffiti. It would be on
very rusty rails overgrown by weeds and surrounded
with various junk.

Don


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## Nikola (Jun 11, 2012)

OP, I think it is a great idea and hope you post some shots as you progress.

Note that your abandoned track does not need to actually connect to the main line. Often, as main lines are replaced, the old sidings are disconnected and anything on them sits.

On the LIRR there are even disconnected sidings with big trees or telephone poles in between the abandoned rails.


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

i have a display [no motor, plastic wheels] shay with a couple of box cars on a spur that isn't used for anything, not really abandoned though ... just not used ...
towards the central back of my layout, a short spur that goes into my water meter enclosure ..twelve inches long or so ..


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## PoppetFlatsRR (Jul 29, 2018)

I saw something on the history chanel about this very thing a year or two ago. Russia had tons of them setting on deserted track, and it seems South America was mention. Possibly some place in the Southeast, Georgia keeps popping into my head.

Sounds like it could really made into an interesting project, will look for reports and photos


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

I modeled a boxcar with my cousin's tool and die company on it, and for track I used GarGraves 2-rail track for O gauge. It had the wooden ties,etc, and I used a end of line bumper on it.


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## MacDaddy55 (Aug 19, 2008)

*Great Idea!*

Hey Grudatom, Yeah the Web has photos of abandoned Locos that are teriific....if you have an urban area maybe a dilapidated single stall engine house with lots of junk and weeds!! Can't wait for some pics and good luck with the project!


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## Augie (Dec 16, 2018)

I like the idea of a tree that has grown up through the tracks


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## gregc (Apr 25, 2015)

google images


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Augie said:


> I like the idea of a tree that has grown up through the tracks


Augie, you might like this picture then... abandoned rails in Ohio where a whole forest grew up through the tracks.
https://i.redd.it/fifxv1z7res11.jpg


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## Augie (Dec 16, 2018)

Perfect. One could model trees growing through or around freight cars and locos too.


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## Vincent (Jan 28, 2018)

You can make a good display from a sharp-looking train that doesn't work. You can also use the cars to practice your painting, weathering, etc.


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Oh, one other thought that just occurred to me... the effects of wind. In low areas you would probably see dirt or sand blown up around the rails, almost like snow drifts.


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## grudatom (Nov 14, 2018)

thanks for the words of encouragement and the ideas!


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

mesenteria said:


> It's an unlikely scenario. The scrap would be worth recovering the locomotive for its value. If anything, I'd mangle it some and have it over on its side, rusted, with growth around it, representing a line abandoned perhaps because of what the wreck show...a place that's simply not worth the costs of rebuilding all the time.


I beg to differ! Not only likely, it's happened. Case in point: the Lacroix locomotives, rusting away, in the woods, in northern Maine, on an abandoned line, like you suggest ...

https://www.maine.gov/dacf/parks/discover_history_explore_nature/history/allagash/index.shtml










Cheers,

TJ


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## GNfan (Jun 3, 2016)

*A different point-of-view*

These two pics were taken 10/22/1983 in West Burlington, Iowa. A cropped and sized version of the first is my desktop backround.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=4335944

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=4602611

As nice as these locomotives look, they are apparently "out-to-pasture". Look at the grass between the tracks. At the time these pictures were taken, 6599 was 16 years old and 6456 (the last SD45 delivered to GN, btw) was 15 years old and approaching the end of its lease. Within three months 6456 would be returned to the leasing company; and within a year 6599 would be loaned to EMD as the test-bed for an experimental 4-axle articulated rear truck. Maybe there's a story that is lost to history as to why these two look so clean on a "dead track". BN did sell a number of older locomotives around this time (like the F45's that went to the "Suzy-Q"), so maybe they were for sale. My point is that a layout can capture a "moment in time" like this one.


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

tjcruiser said:


> I beg to differ! Not only likely, it's happened. Case in point: the Lacroix locomotives, rusting away, in the woods, in northern Maine, on an abandoned line, like you suggest ...
> 
> https://www.maine.gov/dacf/parks/discover_history_explore_nature/history/allagash/index.shtml
> 
> ...



I realize that it happened. All things happen that are conceivable, but they are often also exceedingly rare. The photo of the two steamers seems to suggest it is in a park. Were the locomotives actually left there, fires dropped, never to run again, or were they 'bequeathed' or donated to a facility which ultimately could not look after them properly and had to be dragged or shipped to that place? This is the more likely scenario...a park or theme park that is short on funds and didn't have to pay scrap value for the locomotives. One only has to look at the NYC which scrapped every one of their J series and their S series. When there are creditors, and one wants to fold or to merge, the courts will insist that the creditors get their due, even if it must come at scrap prices.


That said, all things are possible, and did happen on a railroad someplace. It's only the imagination that limits us. Whatever elicits a smile is what works.


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## Eilif (Nov 6, 2017)

mesenteria said:


> Were the locomotives actually left there, fires dropped, never to run again, or were they 'bequeathed' or donated to a facility which ultimately could not look after them properly and had to be dragged or shipped to that place?


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_Lake_and_West_Branch_Railroad
Scroll down to the "Demise" section.
Apparently these two were sitting where they are now in a shed being stored after being considered obsolete in the 30's. It's not entirely clear but it sounds like the trestle that would have connected them to a longer line fell apart before they were removed. A fire burned down the shed and damaged the locos a few decades later. 

With so much railway equipment used in so many distant locales it seems like one could easily envision a scenario -especially in the wilderness- where a a large piece of equipment in storage is cut off from easy access by removal, destruction or degradation of a connecting line and it's not worth rebuilding or making the effort to otherwise remove them. 

A google images search for "abandoned train" provides tons of inspirational examples.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

mesenteria said:


> I realize that it happened. All things happen that are conceivable, but they are often also exceedingly rare. The photo of the two steamers seems to suggest it is in a park. Were the locomotives actually left there, fires dropped, never to run again, or were they 'bequeathed' or donated to a facility which ultimately could not look after them properly and had to be dragged or shipped to that place? This is the more likely scenario...a park or theme park that is short on funds and didn't have to pay scrap value for the locomotives. One only has to look at the NYC which scrapped every one of their J series and their S series. When there are creditors, and one wants to fold or to merge, the courts will insist that the creditors get their due, even if it must come at scrap prices.
> 
> 
> That said, all things are possible, and did happen on a railroad someplace. It's only the imagination that limits us. Whatever elicits a smile is what works.


No! The locos are NOT in "a park". Rather, they are DEEP in the woods, essentially left right where they were last used as logging locos, way up in northern Maine. This is a true, end-of-life story, and it's quite difficult to make the long back-woods trek to visit the locos. That said, some devoted fans do, and have attempted to stabilize the locos a bit, so that future generations can appreciate the history. But definitely not in "a park".

Cheers,

TJ


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

My derelict loco. 

Boiler cracked. It stayed parked on the siding for years, being scavenged. When the brick maintenance building was built to replace the wooden one that was lost in a fire it was just easier to pull up the track fore & aft of the rusted hulk and leave it sitting there.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
.


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

I need to figure out a way to remove the coal from the tender.
.


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## Vincent (Jan 28, 2018)

Good story and good designing.


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## Vincent (Jan 28, 2018)

Vincent said:


> Good story and good designing.


As far as getting the coal out of the tender, I would recommend a shovel....uh...No...uh...cancel that.

Good-looking decoration, though.


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## Nikola (Jun 11, 2012)

Vincent said:


> As far as getting the coal out of the tender, I would recommend a shovel....uh...No...uh...cancel that.
> 
> Good-looking decoration, though.


By now, some tweakers would have thrown a road flare into it.


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## Nikola (Jun 11, 2012)

Back as recently as the 70s my uncle owned a warehouse that backed onto an abandoned freight spur from the street railways in the south Brooklyn area. There was an ancient wooden boxcar, dilapidated but fairly intact, with 'Singer' in faded white letters right there. This was before the age of graffiti. I always dreamed of somehow owning that boxcar and having it moved. Of course, with no money and no place to put it, was a pipe dream. I am not sure when that boxcar disappeared or what happened to it, but it is long gone as are most of those street railway / industrial delivery tracks.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Stumpy -- I LOVE your little scene. Great weathering on that old, forgotten steamer!

Nikola -- Great story, and dream. Sounds to me like you need to plan a little road trip / boxcar hunt. There's no time like the present!

TJ


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## Eilif (Nov 6, 2017)

That's a great looking scene Stumpy.
I agree that the coal needs to go. Would probably be short work with a dremel and a bit of scrap sheet styrene.


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

grudatom said:


> im collecting ideas on how to model an abandoned track with an abandoned train on it.
> 
> I have an old off brand train that doesn't work anymore, and was told it wasn't worth fixing so I want to use it as an abandoned loco
> 
> Thanks!


With all the suggestions for weathering your loco, be sure to check out this video that was posted just the other day. I'm sure your loco would be severely rusted, and this video gives a great technique for doing it. 

https://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?p=2351910#post2351910

Like everyone else, I'm anxious to see what you come up with!


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## Nikola (Jun 11, 2012)

tjcruiser said:


> Stumpy -- I LOVE your little scene. Great weathering on that old, forgotten steamer!
> 
> Nikola -- Great story, and dream. Sounds to me like you need to plan a little road trip / boxcar hunt. There's no time like the present!
> 
> TJ


From your lips...................would be a great Jeep trip.


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## rogruth (Mar 6, 2012)

grudatom said:


> be it unlikely as it is in my pretend world i would love to have something like that. there are 3 broken down diesel switchers on a narrow gauge track near me that gave the original inspiration


I assume they were industry used.

I am from eastern Ohio and would like to know where these are.
Were they used at any of the local mills in Weirton, Stuebenville 
or Mingo? Or some other place?


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## Vincent (Jan 28, 2018)

grudatom said:


> be it unlikely as it is in my pretend world i would love to have something like that. there are 3 broken down diesel switchers on a narrow gauge track near me that gave the original inspiration


Photos, Man, photos!


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## grudatom (Nov 14, 2018)

rogruth said:


> I assume they were industry used.
> 
> I am from eastern Ohio and would like to know where these are.
> Were they used at any of the local mills in Weirton, Stuebenville
> or Mingo? Or some other place?


 past Burgettstown PA on route 18 in pa on the right hand side as you go toward washington i have no idea what industry they were used for they are in the middle of a field


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## rogruth (Mar 6, 2012)

Thank you.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

I finally got some pix of a derelict Baldwin switcher sitting on a siding in my hometown.. It's located at a cold storage unit with a diesel engine in front of it, not sure of it's classification. Notice the plywood over the window. It's neat piece, not sure if you can use it but I thought I would add my 2-cents.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

One more, this diesel is a working unit.


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## Vincent (Jan 28, 2018)

Nice pictures, Flyernut, and they provide some interesting knowledge. 

The Genessee & Wyoming was a 14.5 mile long railroad that ran a single track to a salt mine in New York. Eventually, it grew into a world-wide holding company of various shortline railroads.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Vincent said:


> Nice pictures, Flyernut, and they provide some interesting knowledge.
> 
> The Genessee & Wyoming was a 14.5 mile long railroad that ran a single track to a salt mine in New York. Eventually, it grew into a world-wide holding company of various shortline railroads.


Cool!! The salt mine was probably located in Retsof, NY.. I think I spelled that name wrong. This line now supplies several small businesses, cold storage for fruits, and is a 1 track line, based in Sodus NY. It used to run a Santa Claus excursion train many tears back, but that has ceased. I believe there's also a spur heading South from Alton, NY, that goes into Newark, NY, to connect to the main cross state Amtrak Lines.. It's a busy line, 2 lines, 52 trains per day.


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