I grew up near Travel Town in Los Angeles, and I’ve always loved climbing all over their steam engines.
I have been an active member of the Pacific Locomotive Association since 1984. I started as the main train conductor for the organization when they were running trains out at Castro point. I was part of the crew that took two of our steam locomotives, the Tank Engine Number Two, and our shay 12 to Vancouver Canada for steam Expo 86.
I was also involved with the PLA’s move to Niles Canyon and helped to lay tracks over the old Southern Pacific right of way. Our tracks now extend from the town of Niles to the town of Pleasanton (in the near future). We keep our trains in Brightside which is near the town of Sunol.
I also worked for 14 years on the Reno Fun Train as a host and also serving drinks in the dome car.
I have also been involved in private car charters with trips to Mardi Gras and the French Quarter Festival in New Orleans. We would attach the private car Silver Iris to the back of the coast Starlight going from Emeryville to Los Angeles. From there, we would be put on the back of the Southwest Chief to New Orleans, and then would take the train to Chicago to allow us to come back on the back of the California Zephyr through the Rockies.
My train layout for many years was modeling the Virginia and Truckee Railroad in HO scale. Unfortunately, when I moved to Forestville, I was unable to bring the layout with me. My rails, switches, and rolling stock sat in my basement for 12 years. I was having lunch with my sister last summer when I mentioned to her that I missed being able to run my trains.
I think within a week of that lunch that I saw an email from the PLA asking if anybody would be interested in having a layout that was being given away for free. This coincidence was amazing! I immediately wrote back saying that I was interested and was told that the party giving the layout away had posted it on Facebook and he would let me know. Apparently, over 300 people responded to the ad.
Most people found the layout to be too big for their home as it was 17 ft long and could not be broken apart for transport. I had a way to move it and a place to use it and ended up being the lucky winner!
My contractor and I drove out to Newark to see the layout and make plans on how to move it to Forestville.
The layout was built by Jack Nullmeyer starting in 1991. He called his layout the Blue Lake Springs Mountain division. It is 17 ft long and four and a half feet wide. It is a multi-level layout with a staging area on the bottom allowing various different consists to be brought out individually.
Jack was a member of NMRA and this layout has been featured in an article in the Branch line from April, May, June 1997. Mike Davis is helping me to get the electrical and track work up and running as it is not been touched in over 10 years.
I am very lucky to have it and can’t wait to show it off in the layout tours planned for the upcoming convention.
