New beginnings


Stop Press

The C&S has been sorely neglected for some 18 months until now (May 2021) thanks to surgery, recovery, Covid lockdown and general apathy. Added to that I lost around £500 on expensive and useless backscenes from an American supplier, which did nothing to help. I'm back with a vengeance and am starting this blog afresh from where we are now. New structures and characters are being introduced and the trains will soon run again. Watch this space.

History Archive of all previous posts from the beginning of time! 

Reality

I try to include family and friends in the life of Cuspidor and you’ll find references to them below.  I endeavour to fit them tongue-in-cheek into the most suitable positions, such as our dear friends Malcolm and Cathy who once treated us to a disastrous grand weekend tour in Derbyshire.  In the spirit of never letting a good turn go unpunished I conceived of them running the world’s worst bus tour company.  I enjoy creating little vignettes that bring the viewer into my strange little world.  Building Cuspidor is a long term retirement project and I will try to keep adding to the story. 

My World

The little known Rocky Mountain town of Cuspidor lies at an elevation of 8,639 feet somewhere between the Uncomphagre and San Juan ranges. It sits in the Rio Bozo valley amidst hard granite  cliffs.  It’s pretty hard to find nowadays as the valuable metals ran out in the fifties and people mostly just drifted away leaving what was a once prosperous town to just fade into obscurity. Diehard exploring types have been known to stumble across it when following the old abandoned narrow gauge railroad line through the brush or hiking along the Rio Bozo up to the fabled Plughole Falls.

Here we view it in 1932 at the end of the glory days but while the railroad still ran serving the almost played out gold, silver and lead mines.

The upper town of Cuspidor sits on a series of steep, narrow switchback roads reminiscent of Jerome AZ.  A fairly recent addition is the magnificent stone City Hall and Courthouse built in 1918, at great public expense, by over ambitious and short sighted city fathers.

Notable buildings include the Golden Cuspidor saloon and hotel up on the bluff, the aforementioned City Hall, Miss Anna’s Pleasure Palace, the Miner’s and Cattlemen’s Association Hall and a magnificent F W Woolworth store.  Dan Webb’s auto repairs does a good trade thanks to the awful roads and Miss Sarah’s little car is seen there rather frequently causing tongues to wag.  The Lady’s Temperance Group, if not protesting about miner’s and stockhands carousing and frequenting the saloon and Miss Anna’s on a Saturday night, often speculate that it’s about time young Dan did the right thing and popped the question.  There are still some tiny miner’s shacks in and around the town along with a few old shops that struggle to compete with a Woolworth’s that won’t stay long once they check the turnover at head office.  Below the town you can just see a corner of Wiggin Field where Captain JJ Wiggin valiantly tries to keep his old biplane flying with air circus shows and crop dusting duties.

Overlooking the picturesque Plughole Falls is Desport’s tiny diner where the occasional, intrepid tourist takes ham and eggs along with miners from the Rio Bozo Mine.  The poor chaps up at the Devil’s Drop goldmine don’t get down there too often.   Now and then you can see the Pritchard’s Intrepid Scenic Tours (PIST) charabanc approaching the view point, usually with their last passenger hurling herself out of the open window in a desperate attempt to escape.


The Cuspidor and Southern Railroad depot and yard bake in the summer sun and freeze in the winter along with everyone else (work in progress).  many mines and related mining industries keep the old line rattling on. Enjoy.

 My Musical Adventures

 My other hobby - only for the brave: https://barrykingsbeer.bandcamp.com/releases

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Wednesday 12 May 2021

Cuspidor history

 Some history

Early on I did have a statue of the purported founder but he got lost in some upheaval. I now have a new statue of Jedediah Arbuthnot, the real father of the Cuspidor valley. He was passing through the territory whilst evading some rapacious debt collectors when he happened to purchase some 10,000 square miles in the Uncompahgre range from an impecunious Indian chieftain, for the princely sum of 15 dollars and a case of dubious scotch whisky. Soon though, he realised that the land was worthless and passed it on for 50 dollars to an old prospector, Isiah Faraday, who struck gold and died a millionaire in the Bahamas. Now Arbuthnot looks out on all that he had lost.  In truth, the sculptor had no idea what Arbuthnot looked like and modelled him on his own grandfather. Sic transit gloria mundi....

The unfortunate Jedediah Arbuthnot, whose bones lie undiscovered to this day.


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6 comments:

  1. John R.8 June 2021 at 13:14

    A nice story about the founding fathers of Cuspidor! Good verbiage and humor!

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    Replies
    1. Barry Kingsbeer9 June 2021 at 18:42

      Thanks John. I've saved the old C&S blog but I'm thinking of moving away from the old "how to" threads to just showing mostly finished scenes complete with back story. I feel the hardy citizens of the Cuspidor Valley deserve their place in the sun. I'm sure they all have a tale to tell.

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    2. John R.10 June 2021 at 14:49

      Hi Barry, It's good to see the C&S Blog back. Having kept my blog going for over ten years now I continue to focus mainly on posting about train projects, layout happenings, our virtual ops, upgrades, train purchases etc. Keeping the blog has given me a vast amount of projects to get involved in, complete, photograph, document and post about.

      The backstory of your layout is an important part of your layout and enjoyable to read about. I hope you continue to keep posting!

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    3. Barry Kingsbeer11 June 2021 at 01:27

      Thanks John. I'm planning a small structure at the moment as my eldest granddaughter was very interested in how I made my models. I plan to build it with her a few minutes at a time when we visit. Sadly for us school and out of school activities take up a great deal of her time. It may take a while to complete!!

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  2. Graham Stokes7 May 2023 at 15:15

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. Graham Stokes7 May 2023 at 15:17

    Still wonderful to come back and see your scenes, enjoy the details and read your words, Barry. Lots on these days. My son wed his love on Friday evening (May 5th 2023) out in front of his cabin by the sea. Much endeavour and yes the right vibe-both musically and otherwise. Leddy and I so lifted up by it all. Here now-seeing your endeavour, memories of our exchanges. A big thank you comes to mind. (Back to some songwriting and playing too).

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