54 http://www.ModelRailroader.com
IT SEEMS
LIKE IT
WOULD
EASY
to find a local modeling
theme in the country with the
highest rail network density
in the world. Nonetheless,
some Swiss model railroaders
prefer American prototypes.
Huge trains under equally
huge Western skies; big cities,
big train stations, and big
yards; and the nostalgic
steamers of the Old West are
what Kim Nipkow fell for. His
first crush was Union Pacific’s
4-8-8-4 Big Boy.
When he visited Chama,
N.M., in 2013, he fell in love
with the Cumbres & Toltec
Scenic RR’s dual-gauge yard
there, with its mighty 2-8-2
Mikado locomotives and long
freights. Cumbres & Toltec is
a steam-powered tourist line
that runs on former Denver &
Rio Grande Western’s Ry.
narrow gauge rails, and
Chama is its primary yard.
I met Kim, at the time a
high school student, at a con-
vention of Swiss fans of
American railroads in the
Zurich area. This was in the
fall of 2012, when he was still
planning his trip. We imme-
diately started talking about
Big Boys and other steam
locomotives, especially the
Colorado narrow gauge pro-
totypes I know well.
We also talked about my
friend Soni Honegger, who
still occasionally works on the
prototype. Soni was general
manager of the Cumbres &
Toltec for a time and is well
known in the U.S. railroad
preservation scene. I told Kim
to let Soni know when he took
that trip to Chama.
When Kim got there, Soni
was out running a moonlight
excursion. Kim waited in the
rainy night for the train.
When it pulled into the sta-
tion, he asked the engineer if
he knew Soni. “That’s me,”❷ This view from the south end shows most of Chama Yard. A 2.5m (8'-2") section of parallel
tracks, beginning just past the south yard ladder, can be omitted for a shorter display layout.