Only few modules in the americaN repertoire feature gradients, and most gradients are rather short. The operation on mountainous territory has always intrigued me, I guess that living in the Alps gives a certain inclination towards heavy rail traffic on steep grades. By this, the idea of the module group Belt Mountains was born. It combines a long stretch of „line“ without industries/spurs, gradients and signaling, to give multiple new experiences to the engineers.

The grade, the landscape:
There’s an enourmous number of prototype grades throughout the American West, which one could simulate. The line starts as single track in the east, starting a continuos ascent of 1.2 % of westward ruling grade, climbing out of a river valley to its left. The line trenches through some hillsides, gradually going into a side valley, and finally reaches the highest point on the 6th module, some 55 mm above normal height. The summit is rather open, the landscape dominated by grassy, hilly terrain, rather than by rocky outcrops and steep cliffs. The name Belt Mountain refers to the first mountain range the Milwaukee Road encountered in its electrified Rocky Mountain Division. If you google it, you’ll see what I had in mind.
From the summit of the Belt Mountains, the track sharply sweeps to the right, now hugging the hillside, before arriving at the Control Point aptly named „Belt Mountain Summit“, where the line becomes double track. The downhill grade going west is 1.3%, before flattening out at the mountains’ base.

While the line does not fit a specific prototype, consideration was given to the ruling grade. With 1.3% and 1.2% percent, it is notable both visually and in traction, while normal length americaN trains with normal power doesn’t have any problems to overcome it. By normal, I simply mean a combination we’ve run at most meetings. It has been proven that this type of grade is fully compatible with normal operations. The grade had been carefully regulated, but some construction errors resulted in some stretches undulating a bit. Let’s see whether and how I can fix that.

The landscape was also selected because of my limited modeling skills. A grassy, closed surface seemed not so threatening than other prototypes. The Belts came just well.
With me tiltillating between my favorite road, the DRGW, and the Milwaukee Road’s electric division, it might well be that the module ends up as Palmer Lake with a more „Colorado“ landscape. Besides, the signal arrangement with CTC is really somewhat out of style on the MILW, or I’d have to simulate a strong, surviving MILW which was able to pour some dollars into the signal system. We’ll see …

The signals:
From the very first moment it was clear that the module group had to have signals, as an extension to my CTC lap siding Hazeltine. I figured that some automatic APB block signals could guard the single track stretch on the east side. On the west side, I originally planned the Belt Mountain switch (single to double track), then a double track APB block signal arrangement, and at the end of the module, a right hand CTC crossover.
Taking the plans onto the modules, such short blocks of around 1.5 m in length seemed pretty unrealistic. A train would nearly always have occupied two blocks.
Therefore, the crossover was dropped and the APB signals were moved to the module’s double track end. The blocks on the east side also were stretched to give constant 3 m of block length. This length looks pretty good, and trains are also able to follow each other with a restricting aspect or with APB stop and proceed.

The signals on the Summit Control Point are controlled by CTC. The underlying system is FremoBlock americaN style. For signals I used NJ International type D.

The loneliness:
Stretches of „line“ without stations and spurs are normally in the minority at meetings. I wanted to contribute such a stretch, with Dirk Warwel’s „Sabillasville Curve“ confirming the feasibility of such a concept. The module represents a geographical area which basically features nothing, only grass shaken by the wind. Maybe I’ll put some grazing sheep onto it.
Combined with the CTC, where the train crews doesn’t really need to speak to the Dispatcher, the engineer gets some relaxing minutes off from the bustle of the rest of the railroad, while he listens to his engines grind up the hill of the Belt Mountains, putting his head out of the windows and marvelling at the great scenes the wilderness provides.

The engineering:
The track was planned with a professional civil engineering software, with clotoide transition curves and superelevation. The result is astonishing, as the transition clotoides gently swing the track into the next curve. Combined with superelevation, it gives a very nice feeling of a well-maintained railroad, which can be run at speed. The curve at the summit of the Belt Mountains has a superelevation of 1 mm; that is well in range with the prototype, but just a bit too much on the model railroad. 0.5 mm or .75 mm does the job as well. There have been sporadic problems in this curve, as it forms an S curve on both ends with the preceding/following curves, and some cars locked couplers and kicked themselves out of the track.
With the Waldenburg meeting, the feasibility of consistent superelevation has been proven as well.

The module group Belt Mountains consists of a straight row of modules with a total length of 9.800 mm. The geometry of the modules was selected for its simplicity, as I had not yet wanted to venture into more difficult work. If I started again today, I’d consider angled modules, just to break the line of sight a bit more.

During the 2020 Covid-19 crisis, the module group receveid an additional angled module between modules 4 and 5 (from single track to double track end). This module allows an alternative configuration with a 30 degree angle in the middle, which hopefully simplifies the planner’s duty. As the module must maintain the height at both ends, the track makes a little sag. The module features an additional APB intermediate block signal which splices the long block across the summit.

mp 06/20