THERMOPOLIS

THE PROTOTYPE

Thermopolis is a neat little town - located just north of the Wind River Canyon, it boasts that it has the "World's Largest Mineral Hot Springs." 

Thermopolis in the 1950s or 60s from a hilltop at the northeast end of town. The railroad can be seen just on the other side of the river.

This is a picture of downtown Thermopolis taken in the mid-60's. From this vantage point (looking west - the road up the hill is the highway to Cody), the hot springs and the Burlington's tracks are behind us.

This is just a general shot along the track in Thermopolis. We're looking northward along the tracks - ahead (WAY out of the picture) is Worland. How many of these buildings were once served by the railroad I do not know. I hope to find out as I do more research.

As you can probably guess, this is the depot from trackside. This is a 1990 photo.

Monument Hill on the north end of Thermopolis, fifty years or more ago. Last time I was there, it still said the same thing.

We're looking south at the Big Horn River and the Burlington mainline in the mid-30s photo. Downtown Thermopolis is roughly off camera directly to the right of the photographer.

THE MODEL RAILROAD

The track as it currently stands in Thermopolis:

In this place-holder plan, north is to the bottom. A train heading south (upwards) will move through some hidden trackage to the Wind River Canyon. Heading off the bottom takes the train to Worland.

As one can see, right now Thermopolis has only been developed as a passing track. I've indicated several industries in Thermopolis, but what they are and what track they actually set against are yet to be determined. Research will reveal what was active during the late 1930s and early 1940s, and appropriate additional track will be added as long as the area doesn't start to look like a spaghetti mill. One will, of course, find the ubiquitous Team Track. As I said on the Wyoming Mainline page, Thermopolis was always something of a resort town (at least to Wyomingites), so this will be a major stopping point for passenger trains, including possibly the terminus for the occasional Special.

Thermopolis is a quiet town, and somehow always came across to me as a tidy place. When traveling through as a child, we almost always found time to stop and swim in one of the very large hot springs-fed swimming pools. I hope to capture that feeling of tidiness, along with at least some representation of the hot springs around the town.