Park Trains
12 Inch Gauge
TTD’s first park train, a 12 inch gauge which may be recognized as traveling with a circus or a traveling fair rides and concessions, or an Addison train. TTD first ran the train outdoors with 2 cars on track made from structural Ts. It had a 5 horse power engine, and a hydraulic drive unit. It was so slow and safe, the kids could drive the engine without supervision. However the loco had many over heating problems in the summer, and the car seats were too small for adults. It now is displayed in the TTD museum.r,
16 inch Gauge
The rail used is called 12 lb rail, meaning 12 lbs per yard. This is really small compared to modern trains which use rail in the hundreds of lbs per yard. This rail presently costs new, $300 per 30 foot section of rail, delivered and with tariff fees paid. Luckly our founder found used rail long ago, which runs the lenth of the 3/4 mile Alameda Park. We have a line that runs full length with “ dog-bone” turn-arounds at each end. And a unique tie and rail system that does not require spikes.
TTD owns 4 of the expensive Mineature Train Company (MTC) trains. There are 3 G-16 Trains fashioned after the General Electric F-7 early diesel locomotive, and each has 2 or 3 passenger cars. Each locomotive has a Wisconsin 35 hp air cooled engine of the 1950-60s era, fluid clutch, forward & reverse transmission, two drive shafts going to 2 power truck giving 4 axel drive for the locomotive. The brakes are quite authentic looking on each axel having 2 vacuum actuators. The loco and 3 cars without passengers weighs about 4,500 lbs. The road names of our G-16 are Union Pacific, Western Pacific, and Baltimore & Ohio, or affectionately named UP, WP, and B&O.
The last park train was our founder, John Koval’s favorite. It is a MTC S-16 which uses the same power and truck system, but looks like an old time steam 4-4-0 American type locomotive with tender and 2 passenger cars. It is a favorite and most valuable train. Her name is the 1865 Steamer, eventhough it doesn’t run with a steam boiler.
Full sized trains
A full sized railroad runs just behind Depot Museum, came to town in 1898 from El Paso. It now travels between El Paso, TX and Kansas City, KA, following US-54. The Depot is a terrific place to watch trains. The UNION PACIFIC Railroad is the latest owner and operates as many as 20 trains a day through Alamogordo, usually with 3 to 5 locomotives, and perhaps a pusher loco in the rear. The cargo is mostly unit trains of coal, oil, chemicals, grains, minerals, automobiles and double stack containers. The track is a single track with passing turnouts about every 20 miles. And all controlled out of Phoenix ( I believe). It is a great place to be a train spotter.
