Re: ng construction rr 1911 photos

Bruce,et al,

The mystery is partly solved, thanks to your first photo. Today, I spent a couple of hours googling on this, without much further luck. Then I tried the name painted on the cars in your photo. Turns out to be James O. Heyworth. Apparently he was the field engineer for this dam. Possibly he had a construction company.
There is a link to a glorified write up:

www.scls.lib.wi.us/baraboo/local/saukvol1/sauk/images/00000014.pdf

The narrow gauge was indeed an electrified railway, the cars had traction motors. Control of the cars and turnouts was done remotely from control towers. The Lionel analogy holds! I am guessing that a set of operating rules was in effect, for safety purposes.

Narrow gauge track extended for a total of 4 and a half miles. There was the low line to assist in construction of the coffer dams and footings. Then there was the double high trestle, for bringing sand and gravel in, and for pouring concrete down the chutes. Along both banks there were runs to the sand and gravel pits and to the exchange with the standard gauge rr spur.



No detail was given on the electrical control though, so
a visit to the historical society is still in order.



The write up is a good read. It apparently was quite a struggle against mother nature.
High water, flooding, washouts, trestles swept away, massive ice pileups.
The usual stuff when dam building.



I am now thinking that this construction would really look good as a virtual model.


Gary