Topic: Railfan
Members of the Southern Nevada NTrak club were getting together in Las Vegas on a recent weekend for two days to operate their oNeTrak modules. I'm not one to pass up an opportunity to see model trains running. A little two and a half hour drive is not going to keep me away. Inexpensive hotel rooms can be found in Vegas even on weekends. All too frequently I take advantage of those with even less reason than model railroading.
Most often modular setups require a shopping mall or convention space. Not so with this NTrak group. One SNNT member has a large back yard patio. Given a milder climate such as found in Las Vegas you can have a N scale version of garden railroading. SNNT has several oNeTrak modules and enough of these are corner modules to allow a setup with several twists and turns. This allows members to run tracks across the patio several times and even around the corner of the house. The patio is covered so operators can find some shade and modules would be protected from any infrequent rain shower. There was another weather hazard this weekend, however. Wind can create havick for N scale garden railroading. With the yard looking as if a scale sized hurricane had struck and trains out on the line fairing little better, crews finally gave up and canceled the second day of operations.
This change in schecule did leave me with some time to begin investigating an unusual form of railroading, i.e., the Las Vegas Monorail. Instead of steel rails these trains run on a concrete "rail", also known as a "guideway". The monorail runs right in front of the Best Western where I was staying. Even though a train passes by every 7 or 8 minutes these are no railroad noises to interrupt your sleep. These trains run on rubber tires. The monorail route extends along the east side of the famous Las Vegas Strip from the MGM Grand on the south to the Sahara casino on the north. There had been plans a few years ago to expand the route north to the original Las Vegas casinos along Freemont street in downtown. The federal funding for that never materialized, however. Further, this expansion was not favored by the casinos on the Strip. No doubt they were reluctant to see anything which might revitalize the old casino district and possibly increase competition. Without funding that plan never materialized
The more recent plan is to expand to the airport south of the Strip to the airport. This expansion is favored by the casinos along the Strip, but opposed by limo and taxi drivers who fear the monorail would rob them of a lucrative portion of their market. In any case, the monorail company declared bankruptcy this year. This is not supposed to have an effect on operations, but it is unlikely any expansion will happen so long as this circumstance persists.
One evening a couple years ago I rode a monorail train for a short distance from the MGM Grand station, but I had have never photographed any of the trains. Given a unsheduled sunny Sunday afternoon I decided it was time to do some shooting. I chose to explore the north end of the line this time. It was nearer my hotel and not as busy an area as the south end of the line. Originally all white, monorail cars now come in a variety of paint schemes. There is no public funding of the monorail. Corporate sponsorships provides a source of revenue in addition to rider fares. In exchange for corporate contributions cars are painted to showcase the sponsorships.
At the south end of the route trains run immediately behind the casino/hotels. This puts the trains in shade during the afternoon and the backs of the buildings do not provide the most photogenic of backgrounds at any time of day. The monorail track has a bit more breathing space toward the north end and modernist high-rise condos provide an attractive backdrop for photographing the trains. Whatever their paint scheme the sleek trains look right at home passing in front of these structures gleeming in the afternoon sun . The monorail stations are also designed in keeping with the modern or futuristic theme.
