The Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad in HOn30
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  • Sluice Hill
  • Reeds Station
  • Rangeley
  • Langtown
  • Eustis Junction
  • Phillips
  • Salmon Hole
  • Avon
  • Strong
  • Farmington
  • PLANNING THE LAYOUT
  • Locomotives and Motive Power
  • Rolling Stock
  • F & C KIT BUILDING TUTORIAL
  • PASSENGER CARS
  • CABEESE
  • SR&RL Structure Kits
  • Other Maine 2-Foot Structure Kits
  • Operations
  • Behind the Scenes
  • Logs and Stumps
  • SR&RL LIBRARY
  • Franklin and Bath Railroad
  • Big Boats and Small Ships
  • HOn30 Maine Two Foot Modeling Links
  • RAIL FEST 2019
  • VEHICLES
  • About Me
  • MODELING IN HOn30
  • MY MODELING PHILOSOPHY
  • Links
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Historical Background of the real Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad.

  The Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad was a Two-Foot Gauge railroad in Franklin County, Maine in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.   The gauge of two feet (the distance between the rails) was considered "narrow gauge", since the standard gauge of railroads in the United States was 4' 8-1/2".   To the people who operated the SR&RL, they would argue that it was the opposite, that 4' 8-1/2" was "wide gauge".  Two feet was the narrowest gauge used by common-carrier railroads in the U.S., with most of them being located in Maine.
  The Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad was created in 1908, having been formed by merging five connected railroads that were already being operated as a single railroad for years prior to 1908.   These railroads were the Sandy River Railroad, Franklin and Megantic Railroad, Phillips and Rangeley Railroad, Eustis Railroad, and the Madrid Railroad. 
  The SR&RL Railroad was the largest Two Foot Gauge railroad ever to operate in the U.S., with over 120 miles of mainline track.  It was a common carrier, moving freight into, out of, and throughout the county, and having regular passenger service to all towns located along or near the tracks.  It had more locomotives than all the other two foot railroads combined, over 350 pieces of rolling stock, and also boasted the only two foot gauge parlor car ever built, to cater to the wealthy tourists that patronized the famed Rangeley Lake House resort in the town of Rangeley.  Along with the only parlor car, the SR&RL also owned the largest locomotive ever built in two foot gauge, the "massive" locomotive #23.
  The primary source of revenue for the railroad was the logging and lumber industry, with raw timber being harvested throughout the county, and being moved to mills up and down the various branches of the railroad.  The mills turned out long lumber and everything from toothpicks to dowels to axe handles and wooden crates.  Vast tonnages of pulpwood logs were also moved down the line and transferred onto trains of the Maine Central Railroad at the transfer yard in Farmington, to be shipped to pulp and paper mills throughout the western region of Maine.
  The demise of the SR&RL came in 1935, falling victim to the effects of the Great Depression, and competition from the automobile and truck industries.  Currently, there are still many pieces of original rolling stock and one of the original locomotives operating on various tourist attraction railroads in Maine, one of them being a rejuvenated descendant of the original SR&RL railroad that operates on a section of the original right-of-way in Phillips, Maine. 
 

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Historical background of my Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad layout in HOn30.

  When I was a kid growing up in Maine back in the 1960's and 70's, I  had an HO scale model railroad on sheets of plywood in my basement.  It was standard gauge, and was a 'freelance' railroad, meaning everything was fictional.  I did what I could with what money I had, and what amateur skills I possessed.  Our school library had a book about the 2' guage Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad in Franklin County, not far from where I lived.  I became fascinated with this 'miniature' railroad.  I read Model Railroader magazine every month, and was amazed when I read my first article about the fictional "Carrabasset and Dead River Railroad", built by Dave Frary and Bob Hayden.  It was based on the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad, and operated in a gauge I had never heard of, HOn30.  This used the smaller N Gauge track to simulate track in a gauge of 30", or two-and-a-half feet, in HO scale.  This meant you could convert N gauge/scale locomotive chassis into HO scale locomotives and operate them on N gauge track in an HO scale world, simulating narrow gauge.  I was hooked on the possibilities, and decided that someday, when I had my own house, the time, and the money, I would build a model of the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad in HOn30.  So, that day has come. 


WEBSITE TABLE OF CONTENTS

CLICK THE BUTTONS BELOW TO GO TO DIFFERENT PAGES ON THIS WEBSITE
SLUICE HILL

​Sluice Hill page updated 6 August 2021
REEDS STATION
RANGELEY

​Rangeley page updated 11 March 2022.
LANGTOWN

Langtown page updated 20 August 2021
EUSTIS JUNCTION

Eustis Junction page updated 15 August 2021
PHILLIPS

​Phillips page updated 11 February 2023
SALMON HOLE

Salmon Hole page updated 20 July 2021.
AVON

​Avon page updated 22 July 2021
STRONG

​Strong page updated January 2021
FARMINGTON

​Farmington page updated January 2021
PLANNING THE LAYOUT
LOCOMOTIVES and motive power

​Locomotives & Motive Power page updated 10 June 2022
ROLLING STOCK

​Rolling Stock page updated 4 August 2022
FUNARO & CAMERLENGO
KIT BUILDING TUTORIAL

​Funaro & Camerlengo Kit Building Tutorial page added 11 December 2021
PASSENGER CARS

​Passenger Cars page added and updated on 23 February 2021
CABEESE

​Cabeese page updated 4 August 2022.
SR&RL structure kits

​Structure Kits page updated on 10 June 2022
Other Maine 2-foot structure kits

​Other Maine 2-Foot Structure Kits page added and updated on 14 February 2021
operations

​Updated 11 February 2023
BEHIND THE SCENES

​Behind the Scence page updated 11 December 2021
Trees, LOGS AND STUMPS

​Updated 22 March 2021
SR&RL LIBRARY

SR&RL Library page added and updated on 25 January 2021
FRANKLIN & BATH RAILROAD
BIG BOATS and SMALL SHIPS

​Big Boats and Small Ships page updated 21 January 2023
HOn30 Maine Two Footer Modeling Links
RAILFEST 2019
about me
About Me page updated 20 March 2022
MODELING THE MAINE
​TWO-FOOTERS IN HOn30

Modeling the Maine Two-Footers in HOn30 added 9 December 2021
MY MODELING PHILOSOPHY

My Modeling Philosophy page added 12 December 2021
OTHER MODEL RAILROADING LINKS

Links page added on 17 March 2022

    If you would like to contact me about my layout, fill out the form below and type "SRRL" into the comment block.  Thanks!  Dan

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The REAL Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad

  The Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad still exists! To see re-born SR&RL Railroad, based in Phillips, Maine, click on the Button to the right.  I highly encourage you to support the preservation efforts going on at Phillips to keep the heritage, and the very buildings, track and rolling stock of the original railroad alive. 
SANDY RIVER AND RANGELEY LAKES RAILROAD
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  • Home
  • Sluice Hill
  • Reeds Station
  • Rangeley
  • Langtown
  • Eustis Junction
  • Phillips
  • Salmon Hole
  • Avon
  • Strong
  • Farmington
  • PLANNING THE LAYOUT
  • Locomotives and Motive Power
  • Rolling Stock
  • F & C KIT BUILDING TUTORIAL
  • PASSENGER CARS
  • CABEESE
  • SR&RL Structure Kits
  • Other Maine 2-Foot Structure Kits
  • Operations
  • Behind the Scenes
  • Logs and Stumps
  • SR&RL LIBRARY
  • Franklin and Bath Railroad
  • Big Boats and Small Ships
  • HOn30 Maine Two Foot Modeling Links
  • RAIL FEST 2019
  • VEHICLES
  • About Me
  • MODELING IN HOn30
  • MY MODELING PHILOSOPHY
  • Links