M-I track diagram Thomure?

[amosluettgen1665]

Hi,

I am considering modeling M-I’s ferry at Thomure (Set Genevieve) in my next O scale layout. Any leads for finding a track diagram for the ferry and the yards/enginehouse there? Also, I have a few photos of the idler car, but all at a distance and an acute angle. Does anyone have side views? I’d like to build it.

Thanks…gregg

[amosluettgen1665]

Many thanks to Joe Pauley who supplied an excellent track diagram and image of idler car M-I #1600.

In my search for information on the car ferry at Little Rock Landing/Thomure/Ste Genevieve, I found a motherlode of images of the early (1903-1918) and later (1922-1961) car ferry boats (Set Genevieve 1 and 2) at https://dp.la/search?q=ste%20genevieve&page=1

…gregg

[jymrpvzdnskxnqtc]

Gregg,

There are bunch of new photos there. They show both the car ferry’s named Ste. Genevieve. i’ve never seen so many good ones of the original. it looks like builders photos since it was built in Jeffersonville IN. Also notice how they refer to the landing as Little Rock. That is what my family always called the engine shop/ferry landing. You also found the only good photo I’ve seen of the MI-5000 series gons.

Joe

[Dennis Faircloth]

Joe Pauley, would you post the track diagram here please?

[jymrpvzdnskxnqtc]

Here is the map I got from Bill Hoss a few years ago. I will say when i built it in HO scale it took up a Ton of room to make it run smooth.

Joe

[amosluettgen1665]

Joe, how did your layout operations work wth an HO version of the LRL engine shop and ferry?

I’m seriously thinking of trying to model it in O scale, but will have to compress and take artistic liberty – a wye for turning even a short O scale train (using a self-imposed 60″ minimum radius) takes an enormous amount of space that I will not have. I may substitute a turntable if that wye was primarily used to turn an engine. I really want to do a shelf switching layout in a 19′ x 22′ room.

From an ops perspective, I can start to see primary moves:
Ferry moves coal, general freight and occasional psgr train from the Sparta sub in IL
Crushed limestone & general freight move from MO to IL
Since this ferry handled up to 200 cars per day, the boat had to use a lot of coal itself; but how was coal loaded into the boat’s coal bunkers – dumped on deck from hoppers to bunker(s) below deck??

Were M-I engines prepped here for head end power at a more southern yard?
After cars were pulled from the ferry, were they moved to Middle Yard or Sainte Gen, or were the trains made up here? Just doesn’t look to be enough trackage to make/break trains. I could envision moving them from LRL to a staging area.

…gregg

[jymrpvzdnskxnqtc]

Gregg,

I really struggled getting this to work. I was modeling a later time when I built this so was only using tracks 1&2 in the eng house and only had 1 track to the incline but it did work. there was lots of fussing on the track to get the tight turns to work and it was still huge. After seeing Genes awesome model of the ferry (and the one at the museum in Ste. Gen) I knew i wouldnt have room for a model of the ferry. I was using a 3 track module with a 3 way switch to similate the ferry. that worked good because i just rolled it out of the way when not in use. The wye on mine was only big enough to turn a engine and 1 hopper for either coal or sand. the boat track was long enough for eng, caboose and 6 40′ cars. It is my understanding that 1 engine worked the boat. after pulling off the boat they would push the cars onto the main where a engine from middle yard would grab them and take them there to make up the trains for the lime works/or mines around flat river or on to Bismark to interchange with the MoP. Im still amazed what they did in the valley at LIttle Rock. If you stand in the middle it was not very big and the notches for Y seem really short but it obviously worked for 60 years.

Joe

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