Introducing David Barrow's Cat Mountain & Santa Fe
David BarrowDescription
David Barrow’s magnificent recreation of barren West Texas is a lasting testament to the idea that model railroads don’t always have to feature high mountains or towering urban scenery. On David’s HO scale layout of Cat Mountain & Santa Fe Railway, you’ll find little evidence of water and life, but you’ll also discover a highly realistic display of the dry regions that make up the grain-hauling southernmost portion of the Santa Fe.
Begun in 1973 and constantly evolved throughout its operations over the years, David’s CM&SF is one of the world’s greatest walk-around tracks. Host Allen Keller has been a longtime fan of David’s work, so he took a trip to the master’s studio for a behind-the-scenes tour of this truly innovative layout. Come along as we ride the rails from the visible staging areas at East Hill across the arid landscape of West Texas!
David Barrow's Cat Mountain & Santa Fe symbolizes 25 years of planning and designing the ultimate walk-around track plan. As a young man, David was able to operate with some of the legends in the hobby, including Frank Ellison and John Allen. Their revolutionary concepts can be seen in the operating scheme of the HO scale Cat Mountain. Work began on this layout in 1973. The Cat Mountain has changed and expanded as David's ideas and interests changed. Mainly the railroad hauls grain across West Texas, where the scenery itself represents the ordinary. Nothing seems to stand out to detract from the sameness that is the countryside. Hi, I'm Allen Keller, and this is David Barrow, the creator of the Cat Mountain & Santa Fe. David, it really looks dry and barren here. Welcome to West Texas, Allen. This is a hot and dry part of the country, different from back East. We've tried to model this Texas-New Mexico area part of the country as best we can, no water anywhere. The Cat Mountain is dry because the railroad replaces the Santa Fe in barren West Texas. The 30 foot by 36 foot HO layout has a minimum radius of 30 inches, and is housed in a room over David's garage. The two visible staging yards at East Hill keep the traffic flowing.
Share tips, start a discussion or ask other students a question. If you have a question for the instructor, please click here.
Already a member? Sign in
No Responses to “Introducing David Barrow's Cat Mountain & Santa Fe”