The Platte Valley Northern Railroad

Set in mountainous terrain with small to moderate sized towns lays the free-lance railroad called "The Platte Valley Northern". The brain child of the owner and operator, Paul Myers, MMR, it is a growing project that covers mostly the period between 1920 and 1960. The broad span of time was chosen to give the maximum latitude for the most enjoyment of both steam and diesel operation. The basic venue is that of a small regional carrier with a branch line mine and logging operation. The Platte Valley Northern services the freight and passenger needs of three communities, Athenry, Santa Maria and the Helena Mining and Logging region.

The steam motive power for the Platte Valley Northern consists of five mainline steam locomotives: two 2-8-0 Consolidations, two USRA Heavy Mikados purchased from the Erie Railroad, a 4-6-2 Pacific, a 2-6-2 Prairie, a 2-10-0 Russian, and four switchers: a 0-4-0 Shifter, a 0-6-0 USRA Switcher, a 0-6-0 USRA on lease from the UP and a 0-4-0 Dockside. There are also four logging and mining steam locomotives, two 80 ton three truck Shays, one 70 three truck Shay, and one 42 two truck Shay. These all work the mountain lines around the Helena Gorge and Muriel River area.

There are occasional appearances of some Union Pacific steam locomotives. Union Pacific interconnects with the Platte Valley Northern passenger service, and several Union Pacific and Kansas City Southern diesels, which interchange with the Platte Valley Northern. There is a a Union Pacific 4-8-2 Mountain and a Union Pacific 4-8-4 in Overland Limited livery, which provide the power for the Union Pacific Harriman passenger train that routinely travels through the Platte Valley Northern district. All the diesel motive power on the Platte Valley Northern is Alco, and consists of two C420s, one Alco 1600hp road switcher, two FA1s, two FB1s, a FA2, a FB2, two PA1s, a PB1, an Alco-GE-Ingersoll Rand 100 Ton Box Cab and two Alco-GE-Ingersoll Rand 60 Ton Box Cabs. See Motive Power List for Numbers. There are some branchline and industry locomotives, a Fairbanks-Morse H16-44 “Baby” Trainmaster and a GE 44 ton industrial switcher, but these carry the branchline or industry name and are not officially on the Platte Valley Northern roster. There is also an EMD NW2 on lease from the Union Pacific Railroad.

There are interchange tracks between the Platte Valley Northern Railroad and the Purgatory and Devil River Railroad. Vulcan Manufacturing, a railroad refitter and metallurgy shop on the Platte Valley Northern Railroad, provides refurbished narrow gauge arch bar trucks and other manufacturing services for the P&DR. The products provided are transferred to the P&DR via these interchange tracks. One of the PVN locomotives tranports the goods to the interchange point and a P&DR two truck narrow gauge Shay brings rail cars to these interchange tracks and goods are transferred from the PVN to the P&DR.

Three small industrial areas are defined. The town of Athenry is home to manufacturing and distribution complexes, including the central plant of Vulcan Manufacturing, the distribution and canning operation of Oltin Canning, and the citrus distribution center of Pitt and Peale. There are a number of smaller business concerns, not the least of which is the machine shop run by Mr. Rick Etty. There are the usual small service businesses in the town of Athenry, including restaurants, dry goods stores, a glass shop, and a law office.

The city of Santa Maria is home to a large Platte Valley Northern Railroad yard. Most of the commercial buildings are shadow, background buildings, and the RR yard has the most prominence. The railroad yard is the largest area in Santa Maria. It is a six track ladder yard, with a service lead on the north end of the yard. There is also a holding storage track on the south end for motive power and rolling stock storage for trains waiting to be dispatched. The service area contains a fueling dock, coaling tower, water tower, and sand house, along with a roundhouse and turntable.

The mining community of Helena is where the mining and logging concerns are located. The mine complex includes the mine shaft building, the mine hoist house, a foundry, a machine chop, mining offices, service businesses and living quarters for the miners. This area is in the mountains a little southwest of the town of Athenry. The coal from the mine is transported to the Platte Valley Northern mainline in an ore train pushed or pulled by one of the mine and logging company’s Shay locomotives, which includes two 80 ton three-truck Shays, a 70 ton three-truck Shay and an 42 ton two-truck Shay. From there it is moved to the various places it is used: Northern Light and Power, the railroad and Santa Maria Electric and the Platte Valley Northern Railroad. The logging operation occurs mostly in the valley below the mine complex, and the logs are transported to the saw mill by one of the Shays. The saw mill is located in Santa Maria. The logs are cut into lumber at the saw mill located at the base of the mountain, along the Muriel River, and rail transported to the lumber company in Santa Maria.

The layout plan for the Platte Valley Northern is shown on the Layout Page. It is a folded dogbone style, with a section that runs behind the furnace and arrives at the Santa Maria Railroad Complex. The plan allows for walk-around control, using throttles that plug inat the station being worked. Control is Digitrax DCC, using a DS100 Booster and Command Station and a DB150 Booster and Reverse Control Station in the Santa Maria district. When you are done looking over the layout, simply click the browser "Back" button and then proceed with your tour of the PVNRR with a stop at Athenry Station, the heart of the Platte Valley Northern.