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Name:	Rocky Mountain House, Leaverite & Northern Railway
Scale/Gauge:	G Scale / 3 Foot Narrow Gauge 1:22.5 +/- a bit
Size:	16 x 36 feet, multi-level, outdoors
Trackage:	225 feet mainline, 40 feet in yards LGB Code 332
Rolling Stock:	15 locomotives and powered units, 42 freight cars 8 passenger cars
Population:	30 people and children 20 animals and birds
Prototype:	Freelance DSP&P
Locale:	Western Foothills and Rocky Mountains
Period:	1880 - 1890
Scenery:	Rocks, rocks, more rock, redwood bark mulch
Sound:	PH Hobbies and LGB steam engine, cattle, sheep sounds, ambient sound with thunder, wolves, loons, distant trains
Operation:	Single track mainline, manual switching for sidings and storage tracks
Power:	PH Hobbies 10 amp dual track transformer
Control:	Manual
Track:	LGB 1600 curves, 1600 switches
Couplers / Wheels:	USA Trains knuckle couplers, Dean Lowe metal wheels
Visitors:	Welcome by appointment

History of the R.M.H., L. & N. Ry.
The Rocky Mountain House, Leaverite and Northern Railway is an outdoor, large scale model railroad, nominally 1:22.5 or G Scale 3 foot narrow gauge running on Gauge 1 (45 mm) track. It is a little-known Canadian subsidiary of the Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad, serving the fictitious towns of Leaverite and Glacier in west central Alberta.

Overall view of Rocky Mountain House, Leaverite & Northern Railway,
 taken from below the Big Rock.

The town of Leaverite received its name from the ranchers' term for large glacial erratics (rocks) left over from the last ice age - - - "leave 'er right there. it's too big to move". The largest leaverite in the world is at Okotoks, Alberta, about 160 miles south of the RMH, L&N location. Okotoks is a Blackfoot word for "Big Rock". Calgary, the major city close to the Big Rock, is  the home of a well known brewery, sending Big Rock beer across North America.

The Okotoks rock weighs in at 16,500 tons and travelled about 400 miles from Mount Edith Cavell, near Jasper. The biggest rock on the RMH,L&N weighs 4 tons and is about the size of an old Volkswagon. This monster, plus a dozen smaller rocks, were found on our ranch as we cleared bushland for grazing pastures.

 Placing leaverites on the RMH,L&N garden railway.

The RMH,L&N is about as small a garden railway as can be built and still be interesting. It is 16 x 36 feet with a two level mainline laid out as a folded dog-bone. The large rocks hide the train from view in many places. We generally run two trains following each other, making for some interesting operational problems.

A three train parking garage is hidden under the comfortable seating and three other trains are stored on display modules in the adjacent screen porch. A crushed brick sidewalk provides access on all sides of the railway.

All locomotive, revenue freight, and passenger equipment is on lease from the Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad. These include 6 Moguls, 2 Consolidations, a 2-6-6T Mason Bogie, and a 2-4-4T Forney. Maintenance of Way equipment is on loan from the Rocky Mountain House, Nordegg and Pacific Railway. Almost all the rolling stock has been modified or kit-bashed in some way to make it unique to this railway.
 

Photo Gallery of the R.M.H., L. & N. Ry.
Photos by the author except where noted.

   
Entrance to parking garage (under seats) and Glacier Tunnel (left photo) and overall view of north end of railway, town of Leaverite (foreground) and Big Rock (background) - Leo deGroot photos.

DSP&P Moguls 17 and 18 pull a seven car passenger express northbound on the Highline, DSP&P Mason Bogie #15 "Breckenridge" leads a reefer consist into Glacier Tunnel.

Head shot of #15 "Breckenridge" about to enter Glacier Tunnel with the Express on
the Highline above.

Kit-bashed waycar #69 trails the reefers through Glacier Tunnel.

The double headed express snakes into Glacier station.

Big Rock stands above the express as it pulls into Glacier station, Middle Rock and Little Rock stand behind the station.

DSP&P #15 enters Leaverite in front of the Pioneer grain elevator after clearing
Glacier Tunnel.

DSP&P #15 leaves Leaverite, approaching Bridge #1, a pony truss.

The double headed express and the reefer drag meet again on the southbound run, held
up on the steeply sloping side yard by more leaverites.

C&S #5 heads the MOW train past Rocking "Are" Ranch, pushing the snowplow, which
subs as a track cleaning car.

Broadside of the reefer drag with "Breckenridge" at the point.

"Breckenridge" pulls onto Trestle #3 while the tail car approaches Trestle #2, passing the
derrick for the Crain #1 oil well.

"Breckenridge" leaves Trestle #4  and approaches the Lower Steel Bridge, while the
express crosses Upper Steel Bridge.

The double header crosses over the MOW train at Shadow Lake while
"Breckenridge" pulls onto the Lower Steel Bridge.

"Breckenridge" starts the long pull up the 3.5% grade of Climax to the Highline.

Finishing the 3.5% grade on the sharp curve takes a sensitive hand on the throttle
to prevent spin-outs.

DSP&P Mogul # 18 with a four car passenger train crosses over Shadow Lake and
MOW snow train.

"Breckenridge" on the high trestle approaching Glacier station, crossing over C&S #5
 with the snowplow train.

The snowplow is about to enter Glacier Tunnel with "Breckenridge" on the Highline.

"Breckenridge" pauses for orders after taking on water at Glacier tank.

The Sunday local leaves Leaverite in the early morning sun.

C&S #5 hauls LCL freight and open loads of steam traction, thrasher, and new-fangled
automobiles across Lower Steel Bridge, with Big Rock overseeing operations.

C&S #5 on Trestle #3 with the open loads.

C&S Mogul #5 on Trestle #3.

The open loads southbound.

DSP&P Consolidation #63 heads out with the local way freight.

#63 crossing Trestles 3 and 4 with the local freight in front of Middle Rock and Big Rock.

Trestle #3 carries DSP&P #63 with Gorre and Daphetid boxcar and Victor Mining gondola
 full of gold ore.

DSP&P Mogul #71 heading south with the daily through freight with waycar #69 on the tail.

Sunshine on Leaverite country, with DSP&P Mogul #71 crossing the Lower Steel Bridge.

 
DSP&P #71 on Trestle #3 (left) and running through Glacier (right) - Leo deGroot photos.

Satellite photo-mosaic of Rocky Mountain House, Leaverite & Northern Railway. North is to the right.
Click here for larger image (2.4 Mb)

E. R. (Ross) Crain, P.Eng. is a Consulting Petrophysicist and a Professional Engineer with over 40 years of experience in reservoir description, petrophysical analysis, and management. He has been a specialist in the integration of well log analysis and petrophysics with geophysical, geological, engineering, and simulation phases of oil and gas exploration and exploitation, with widespread Canadian and Overseas experience.

"I am a life-long model railroader and have modeled in O27, HO, HOn3, and N Scales. Failing eyesight brought me to G Scale. My father started me in model railroading as a tiny tot in 1944 - he scratch built his first locomotive in 1940, the year I was born, and I still have this loco on my mantle-piece. I am a Life Member (#517) of NMRA, a member of the Rocky Mountain Garden Railroaders (Calgary, Alberta), and have toured a lot of model railways, railway shows, and garden railways. I have never seen a model railway I didn’t like. An extensive library of railway magazines and books, covering topics that appeal to me, sit behind my office desk, ready to be put to use at a moments notice. I hope these pages can communicate to you some of my accumulated experience, my successes and failures, and my love of model railways."