Here's a last look at Kevin Shanahan's modeling of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad in HOn3 scale during the late 1940s just prior to the railroad being shut down and torn out. This photo depicts the town of Ophir Loop, Colorado in the mid or late 1950s after the railroad is gone and the area becomes reliant on trucking. Two loads of rusted flange pipe are moving through town over a rough section of Colorado Highway 145. The road is in the process of being maintained by the local Colorado Highway Department D8 dozer. The D8 has pulled out of the way to allow the tractor-trailers to proceed carefully over the rough road through town. The truck tractor models are super-detailed Classic Metal Works 1954 International R-190 tractors pulling shortened Lonestar Models flatbed kits, the flanged pipe loads are from DUHA. The Caterpillar D8 cable dozer is a GHQ white metal model. The structures are Banta Modelworks wood kits and the pickup trucks are Busch; other vehicles are Sylvan Scale Models resin kits and detailed Athearn ready-to-run vehicles. The rock work is done with Bragdon Enterprises resin scenery process and Bragdon adhesive weathering powders are used extensively on the vehicles and structures. Previously featured in Photo Galleries 465, 466, and 469.

Posted August 6, 2011