@ RHKluckhohn:
Hello, and thanks for your information! In addition to this I am thinking about going for the magazine.
Thank you also for the information that the gravel used to be shipped not in direction to Missoula only.
@all:
Yes, there used to be trolley wire poles only at the first 200 meters alongside the railspur from the main track towards the pit. I measured this in Google-Maps and that was easy with the help of the foto.
And this makes a lot of sense to me. Trolley wires above cars to be loaded from top is quite impossible. But an electric could have pushed the cars from the mainline into the pit rail spur. This would have brought the cars into the loading position beside the pit and the digger can shovel the gravel into the cars, while the engine itself remains under the trolley wires. Perhaps some empty cars (not necessarily gravel cars) between the electric and the gravel cars could have been used to push the gravel cars further back into the loading yard.
From a PENTREX-Video I know there have been a boxcab electric at Alberton dong the switching work over there. I gues that this boxcab also have been used to operate local freights between Alberton and Missoula.
I think the transcon freight brought cars destinated for the local area between Alberton and Missoula (e.g. the big wood plant at Schilling, MT) to Alberton where the transcons needed to stop for crew change. In difference to Missoula the MILW had a lot of sidings at Alberton (as far as I know the MILW did not have a large switching yard at Missoula). At Alberton the cars for the region bekame decoulped from the transcon and the local boxcab probably toke over these cars in order to bring it to its final destination in the region.
Well - after all this new informtion for me the Frenchtown-Basedoards seems to be worth to be kept at the route in order to get it decorated as well. As the river created a lot of special terrain containing old and new river meanders, decoration will be quite a challenge and will need a bit more time.
But such a gravel car session could be a nice one including some challenges. The train needs to be stopped befor the boxcab reaches the end of the trolley wires at the first 200 meters alongside the pit spure. Car by car will have to be loaded by the digger, which could be a challenge for peoples patiencie
Besides, I also need to create the gravel loading zone in gmax by using my static seasonal Northwest-Excavator which I will therefore have to improve by adding the necessary movements for the gravel car loading process.
Again thank you all for your help in this matter so I could make a qualified decision here
Your's TUME