CODY BRANCH
This stub branchline connects Cody and Powell to the Wyoming Mainline at Frannie.
As one can see, the Cody branch traces the outer edges of nearly the entire railroad. It proceeds from Frannie through Powell on the upper level, then around the edges of the layout and hugs the basement walls until it enters the helix. When it exists the helix, it comes adjacent to the bottom peninsula at Cody.
LOCATIONS
Powell. Powell's primary industries are agriculture and oil, with agriculture the largest user of the railroad.
Cody. Cody is (and always has been) one of Wyoming's resort towns. It major rail industry during the 1930s and 1940s was the Husky Oil refinery on the north side of the Shoshone river canyon.
PROTOTYPE & MODEL PHOTOS
 This
was taken in 1990. The bridge that runs under the railroad bridge
in the middle of the shot was the old highway between Cody and
Powell. The new highway can be seen to the right. This is the
second of the two primary scenery items (aside from towns) I'm
including on the layout. One of my favorite early childhood
memories was crossing under the railroad here. Weird, huh? |
|
|
 This
is the Shoshone River between Powell and Cody.
Photo courtesy of Northwest College, Powell Wyoming |
  These
two photos show a geologic formation near Powell called "The
Bench," which was once one of the largest producing oil fields
in the world, conveniently in the era I'm modeling. Much, but
certainly not all, of the oil produced here was refined in Cody. The
field still produces oil, to which the pump in the right photo
attests, but the field is only a shadow of it's former self these
days.
These two photos courtesy of Northwest College, Powell Wyoming. |