Expanding the footprint again?

While Not as big as the Everett plant, Boeings Renton plant is still impressive.  Boeing photo 

So when I started this endeavor I had no set space in mind for the layout and I was going to let this grow organically.  I soon realized that this was a bad idea as I was not trying to compress anything including buildings. So I then decided to pick a arbitrary dimensions and assume that I could get an unobstructed layout space in those dimensions. Did I mention I am not an architect or structural engineer?

So my arbitrary demensions may just be wishfull thinking, however after coming to the realization that where I am currently living and where I am planning on living in the future basements are not that common so it meant thinking outside the box. The box of course being the confines of the house, this lead to the consideration of an outbuilding. Now once again I am not an architect however I do have some experience working in steel buildings and know that a large unobstructed open layout space is possible. Now we are back in business!

So my initial plan was a buliding housing a 50 foot by 40 foot layout space.  After mocking up the Yuma area I realized even with compression I wasnt going to get much more than Yuma into that space. So the layout expanded to 40x70 but this too seemed too small to fit much more than the Yuma to Wellton section and the Somerton Branch into that space. So it was decided that I needed to expand again to include some if not all of the Yuma Sub.

So it was decided that I would confine my design to a 40x100 foot space. Now one would think since I was designing this in phases I would divide that space in half and devote equal space to each phase. Now why would I do something intelligent like that? So I cheated a bit and borrowed space for phase 1 from phase 2,  it was only 18 feet whose going to notice? We will get back to that.

So as I was finishing phase 1 I realized that the 40 foot dimension would not give me enough room for stacked and staggered turn back curves and that only doing one curve would be a huge waste of space. So the layout space got expanded again by 10 feet to accomodate the turn back curve and a crew lounge. So now we are at 50x100 feet.

At this point I had moved on to planning phase 2 and I quickly realized that the 18 feet I had borrowed for phase 1 really hurt. Phase 2 is a long mainline portion of the layout and the space for it was smaller than that alloted for the Yuma area. Infact there was not enough room for any passing sidings of proper length after the first turnback curve. So I expanded the footprint one more time and got that 18 feet plus two more back. So now the footprint is 50x120 feet, still smaller than the 747 assembly building but still a very large building none the less.

So I went forward with the track plan and managed to fit a fair representation of the line into the given space. That is until I realized that a reverse loop and staging would eat up a huge chunk of real estate. After toying around with some track arrangements I realized that I did not have the necessary room to build the size staging yard I needed and still maintain easy accessiblity and minimum curve radius.

At this point what do I do?

 I had already expanded the footprint of the layout so much that I have nicknamed it the million dollar layout, so I wasnt sure I wanted to expand it any more.  This turned into a roadblock for a good week or so and I was contemplating throwing in the towel and starting over.

Now the beauty of my job is many times I have many nights where I am left alone to my thoughts while I am working. I also have a 20 minute commute home and since I work the opposite shift of most people, my commute home is fairly routine so I can think over things on the way home, and thats when the idea hit me. I had already borrowed space from phase 2 for phase 1 why not return the favor. Also I was planning on going up for phase 3 why not go down for phase 1.

Phase 1 has a reverse loop and a provision for a helix to stage three. This is a lot of space that is taken up and unusable for sceniced portions of the layout.   My idea was what if I use the vertical space under the helix for a turn back curve into staging?  I had already planned to build phase 1 on a raised floor to eliminate a duck under in Yuma by way of stairs and a passageway underneath the bench work at the bridge over the Colordo River (this also gives me an excuse to model that bridge closer to actual size).

So I did some rough calculations and determined that the height of the raised floor to allow for passage under the layout without ducking would be about the height of my benchwork for phase 2 with the phase 1 benchwork roughly 50 inches above that.  This is plenty of room for an unsceniced turnback curve. This also allowed me to extend my mainline run substantially.

So now the planned staging is up against the wall but this brings up the issue of reach distances. The prototype saw an average of 40 trains a day so I needed ample staging or have an active fiddle yard. Personally I am not a fan of regularly 0-5-0ing cars off the layout as this increases the risk for damage. It also requires a dedicated operator to perform the duties of the mole. Part of the goal of this layout was to be able to operate with a skeleton crew and not be torpedoed by switching or staging for smooth operations.  So what does one do?

My answer was to turn to the prototype for guidance and I will get into how I arrived at my staging solution in another post. But the gist of it is, even if the yard is only represented by staging, staging should represent the prototype yard. For example if the prototype has 10 departure tracks you probably need 10 departure tracks.

 So I realized that my yard needed arrival tracks as well, but where to put them. Once again by thinking vertically I was able to find a spot for these tracks and a reverse loop not only to turn the trains but to allow for continous running at open houses.

So after sketching a quick proof of concept I now realized that I had such a convoluted track plan of overlapping levels that attempting to continue with pencil and paper was not only going to be cumbersome but would probably drive me insane.

Enter CAD, and while I am still learning the ins and outs of the program I chose I definately see the potential. Who knows maybe I can finally add a track plan to the page. Will I expand the layout again? I dont think so, if anything in future iterations I will be looking for ways to shrink it without loosing anything. As I have been saying this is a journey, so lets see where it takes us.

The Curse of the Post Amtrak World Part Duex

The eastbound Sunset Limited makes a station stop in Yuma, AZ circa 2010. Morgan Pavia Photo

If you recall in a previous post I discussed the genesis of Amtrak and gave a rough equipment history. In this post I am going to discuss specific trains that I will possibly be modeling, I listed three Amtrak trains in the previous post: The Sunset Limited, The Southwest Chief/ Southwest Limited/ Super Chief, and the Desert Wind.  Since I would like to model Colton crossing as working crossing that possibly brings the Chief and the Desert Wind into play as they ran on ATSF lines, more on that later.  As I stated previously, I make no claims to being an expert on this particular subject so any feedback or corrections are welcome. 

The Sunset Limited on the other hand traverses the entire portion  of the proposed layout with the exception of the Gila line between Wellton and Tucson.  While the train uses the Gila Line today, in the Southern Pacific days aside from at the very end, it traveled to Tucson via Phoenix.

Amtrak's Sunset Limited runs from Los Angeles to New Orleans and gets its name from the Southern Pacific train of the same name that traversed the same route.  At one point the train terminated in Orlando Florida making it the only true transcontinental passenger train and while I do not know when that service began I know Hurricane Katrina put an end to it.  Interestingly enough the two portions of the route that no longer see train service are also the only places serious wrecks occured; Big Bayou Canot near Mobile Alabama 09/22/1993, and Palo Verde Arizona, near Phoenix 10/11/1995. 

The Arizona wreck is of importance here as it occured on a part of the line that may be modeled during the timeframe I am interested in.  This wreck was also an act of sabotage as the track was deliberately taken out of gauge by an unknown party. The method used was so similar to that used to derail the City of San Francisco in the 1930's (also occuring on SP rails) that according to a post on the Southern Pacific Yahoo group the FBI interviewed all members of the Southern Pacific Historical and Technical Society  that resided in Arizona.  Although the wreck wasn't the stated cause around eight months later the Sunset was rerouted to the Gila line and less than a year later SP ceased to be. 

 

Another reason I bring both wrecks up is that we can glean information from the accident reports if they have been released (the AZ wreck is still an ongoing investigation so I am not sure on that one).  As stated in an earlier blog post NTSB reports are thorough and the report would contain detailed consist information for the train including car type and position of each car in the train.  This would tell us what the usual Sunset looked like in that year which will make acquiring the required models easier.

According to my 1981 employee timetables for the Los Angeles and Tucson Divisions the Sunset was a triweekly train (Train #1 westbound and train #2 eastbound) that traversed the line over night.  Like all other Amtrak trains it started life as a conglomeration of cars from different railroads.  I do not know when Amtrak started assigning their own crews to trains but atleast in the 1970's the operating personnel for the Sunset were provided by Southern Pacific.  The Sunset started out as an all single level train but by 1980 some of the former Santa Fe Hilevels had found their way into the consist.  I am not sure when this happened but I assume it was as the other western trains transitioned to Superliner equipment therefore freeing up the Hilevels to go to the Sunset.  In Late 1981 the Sunset began to see Superliner Equipment on occasion and by 1982 the transition was complete.  From my research it appears that the Sunset was one of the last western long distance trains to convert to HEP.  While most other Amtrak Superliner trains were powered by Amtrak's workhorse F40s through the 80's the Sunset was one of the few regular routes for the much maligned P30CH.

So what equipment is required to model the Sunset Limited? From my research I have found the following:

Early Amtrak (Rainbow and early Phase 1):

motive power it was what ever was available however former SP FP7s were the preferred power. The motive power was approximately 10 to 18 single level cars.

Mid to late 70's-1982

Two SDP40Fs with 10 to 18 single level. Former Santa Fe Hilevels used on occasion

1982-1990

Usually 2 P30CHs (usually being drug by atleast one SP unit due to a mechanical failure) and single level baggage followed by 8 Superliner and Highlevel cars including a dining car. The consist may or may not have included a lounge car.

1990s

What ever motive power was available. Photos of the Arizona wreck show a P32BHW onpoint with an F40 trailing and 12 car consist with one baggage car and a mix of Superliner and Hilevel equipment including a dining car and a lounge.

Now that I have discussed the primary passenger train on the layout lets discuss those that are mainly playing a scenery role. The Desert Wind  and the Southwest Chief at one point crossed the SP main at Colton on their way to San Bernardino however they did not originally follow this route.  Both trains originally were routed via Pasadena so other than detours these trains would not have crossed the SP at Colton until after they were rerouted.  The problem is they were not rerouted at the same time. An LA Times article states that the Desert Wind was rerouted in 1986 where as the general consensus on the internet is the Southwest Chief was not rerouted until 1993 when Metrolink took over the Pasadena line.  Also while the Desert Wind was discontinued in 1997, that is outside the modeled timeframe and so we do not have to worry about that.  So except for when I am modeling the late 80's or the 90's I do not need to worry about these trains.

So examining the consist of the Desert Wind (Train #35 westbound and Train #36 eastbound), we find much variation over the modeled period. Unlike its sister train The Pioneer, which I am more familiar with, the Desert Wind always seemed to have a decent length train.

1986-1990

Atleast 2 F40s usually followed by a baggage car and 5 Superliner and Hilevel cars including a step up Hilevel. However a picture from 1989 in the ebook version of Amtrak Across America (Morning Sun Books) shows 2 F40s, no baggage car only 4 Superliner/Hilevel cars including the step up car and 2 single level cars (possibly private cars) tacked on the end.

1990-1996

During this time frame the train was cut back from daily to triweekly and eventually running through to Chicago on the days the California Zephyr did not. It was during this time that the consist was increased to more resemble the Zephyr regularly including both a lounge and a diner.

The Southwest Chief  (Train #3 westbound and Train #4 eastbound) was only a regular sight at Colton for the last three years of the SP. This by far was the longest train of the 3. In fact when I saw it in New Mexico in January of 2000 it more resembled a freight train because it had just as many if not more express cars and Roadrailer trailers than passenger cars. However prior to the express freight period a more normal consist was usual.

1993-1996

What ever motive power was available between 2 an 4 locomotives followed by a single level baggage car and 8 Superliner/Hilevel cars including a lounge and a diner.  By most accounts this train was all Superliner 2 equipped by 1994.

As far as modeling is concerned I have a fair number of Walthers Superliner cars in phase 3 and phase 4 and plenty of locomotives so it should be no problem to model all three trains in the 3 years they all showed up at Colton (1993-1996). Having enough cars and locomotives for the late 80s could be a problem as I only have 2 Kato F40s, I would love to get some Rapido F40s but more importantly I need the P30CH which is not available in plastic as of this writing.  If someone releases the P30CH and former Hilevels in Phase 3 then I will probably have enough cars to model the Desert Wind and Sunset in the late 1980s. For the mid 1980s I still need to acquire passenger cars and locomotives in the phase 2 scheme however phase 3 was present so I might not need that many. For the 70's through the early 80s I need to acquire everything. Since this is my main time frame I definately need to acquire this equipment. I have 1 SDP40F on order and will order more as Athearn announces more variations. As for the rainbow period I also need to acquire everything however modeling pre1973 makes the physical plant of this section of railroad much different and so I might forego the rainbow era.

So as you see I really am a fan of Amtrak, the curse I refer to is merely that I do not have the knowledge base to model Amtrak like I do the SP.  Any time spent researching Amtrak to gain a better understanding is time not spent researching the SP, building models or designing the layout.  Not that I am complaining but Amtrak is like a shiny object to me and it is easy to get distracted, but that is all part of this journey. So lets enjoy the journey, we will get to the destination soon enough.

The curse of the post Amtrak world

Amtrak #304 waits with the eastbound Empire Builder at Everett WA in the mid 1990's   Morgan Pavia Photo

When I came up with this post idea I did not realize that the very existence of Amtrak would be an issue. To give a peak behind the curtain so to speak I usually have a couple posts in various stages of completion at any given time.  Most of these "draft" posts are no more than a descriptive title to remind me of a good idea I had for a post that I did not have time to sit down and write on at that instant, this post is an example of that. Sometimes I even use these draft posts to remind me of an avenue I want to research in regards to the YPG lines. 


So what do I mean by a post Amtrak world? I mean anything after the inception of Amtrak so I suppose I could have called the post the curse of the post Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 World but it just didn't have the same ring to it.  As I am no expert on Amtrak, I should note that most of the information contained here came from other sources over the course of the last 20 plus years most of it anecdotal, I have included my anecdotes and observations where I could.  However we all know how memories get over time and so I tried to verify specific dates etc... with a variety of online sources including Wikipedia (hey its on the internet it has to be true).  I have also provided hyperlinks within the text to items I could not provide a photo of out of my personal collection.

While my main focus is 1981 I do have interests from 1970-1996 so in essence I model the Amtrak era. So why is this a curse? The answer is simple this adds another railroad to the mix. Prior to Amtrak each railroad in the US provided its own passenger service, this meant that the locomotives and rolling stock were all on the same rosters as the freight equipment. It also meant that operating practices were the same.  Because of how Amtrak operates there can be many differences between the practices of the Freight railroad and Amtrak for example since Amtrak operates over multiple host railroads it is possible for crew change points to be different from the freight railroad. 

Most importantly it means having to research a whole other railroad where information will not be found in the same place as similar information from the freight railroad. For example when setting the modeled year at 1981 I can easily refer to Strapac's Diesel Locomotive Compendium Volume 2 to determine what locomotives I need on my roster for the SP, where as for Amtrak it is not as clear cut.

There is a possibility that counting Amtrak, four  railroads will be featured on this layout, and while the level to which these railroads is represented remains to be determined, rosters for each railroad in a given year still need to be determined.  This also gets interesting in that while the freight railroads might have tried to restrict locomotives and cars to certain terminals, some of Amtrak's equipment is definitely regional.

Depending on how the representation of Colton Crossing turns out there could be between 1 and 3 Amtrak name trains represented each with westbound and eastbound trains. These trains are:

1. The Sunset Limited (LA to New Orleans on the SP)
2. The Southwest Limited/Southwest Chief  (LA to Chicago on the Santa Fe)
3. The Desert Wind (LA to Salt Lake City on the UP (ATSF))

Each of these trains has different consist requirements and featured different equipment over the years. For example when steam heat was being phased out in favor of Head End Power (HEP) not all the trains transitioned at the same time. Figuring out these transition dates is key as it not only effects that specific train but there is a domino effect as equipment gets bumped off a given train it has a tendency to show up on other trains using the same terminal, in this case LA.

So lets start with a general discussion of the equipment used by Amtrak over the years starting at inception in 1971 and ending at the end of my modeled era in 1996. I am only discussing equipment that would have been present in the modeled area so switchers, diesels captive to other regions and electric locomotives will not be discussed here. Truly the 70's were very formative years for Amtrak as the company took delivery of most of the equipment that would serve it for the next two decades.

1971

This is Amtrak in its infancy, affectionately referred to by fans as the rainbow era because of the many different paint schemes present on some trains.  Amtrak started out life with a motley assortment of cars and locomotives acquired from railroads that joined. It should be noted that some railroads such as the Denver Rio Grande and Western, did not initially join Amtrak and continued to operate passenger service on their own. 

This era would seem to be a modelers dream as in theory cars could be acquired and run together from many different railroads based on the modelers like or dislike of a livery. However most the cars tended to stay in certain regions and some trains even managed to operate with matched consists.  At one point Southern Pacific even restricted Amtrak to only use former SP dome cars on SP rails due to clearance concerns. During this time steam heat was still the norm.

1973-1974

During this time frame Amtrak took delivery of 150 SDP40Fs from General Motors Electro Motive Division (EMD), these were the first new diesels that Amtrak took delivery of. The SDP40Fs were delivered in Amtrak's Phase 1 livery complete with pointless arrow logo. Some fans refer to this as bloody nose because they had a red nose, however to avoid confusion with the SP paint scheme with the same moniker, I will refer to them as Phase 1 or pointless arrow scheme. Like the legacy equipment the SDP40Fs were equipped with steam heat. During this time frame the legacy equipment (at some point this equipment was given the classification of Heritage Equipment) was beginning to be repainted into Amtrak's new image. While some rainbow does still exist more uniformity is present.

1975

During this time, Amtrak took delivery of  25 General Electric (GE) P30CH locomotives, these locomotives were ordered after the first batch of SDP40Fs.  Nicknamed the Pooch this was the first American locomotive delivered with HEP and delivered in the Phase 2 livery with thick red and blue stripes separated by white pinstripes and no pointless arrow.

This is also the period during which the Amfleet cars entered service. Painted in Phase 2 and equipped with HEP these cars were designed for short haul and commute service and while these cars would not likely have seen revenue service on the majority of the modeled portion of the railroad the cars were used on the San Diegan and would have been deadheaded to and from LA on the end of the long distance trains for repairs.

1976

In this year Amtrak took delivery of 30 F40PH locomotives from EMD. Also delivered in Phase 2 paint and equipped with HEP these locomotives were originally intended for short haul runs but eventual won the role of Amtrak's primary diesel locomotive. The F40 with its 4 axle trucks also marked a departure from 6 axle trucks a practice which Amtrak continues today.

1979

Since 1975 Amtrak had been taking  delivery of the Superliner cars which were also painted in the Phase 2 livery and equipped to run on HEP. Although the cars were on property they would not enter service until 1979 on the Empire Builder. Not all long distance trains were converted at the same time and trains were converted as equipment became available.

During the 1980's Amtrak continued to receive deliveries of F40PHs. It was during this time that most legacy units and the SDP40Fs were phased out.

1982

By this time Amtrak has gone whole hog on HEP and all new equipment is being delivered equipped with HEP. By 1982 I believe all the long distance trains in the west were equipped with Superliner cars. As Superliner cars were phased in the legacy equipment was phased out. Some of the cars that were in better shape were refurbished and HEP equipped and became the Heritage cars. The former Santa Fe Hi level cars were refurbished and upgraded to HEP as well and used in the Superliner pool. Some time in the mid to late 70's Phase 3 paint was introduced and by 1987 all previous liveries had been phased out.  Phase 3 while similar to Phase 2 consisted of roughly equal sized red white and Blue stripes and was Amtrak's longest running paint scheme. I also feel that aside from Phase 1 this is the most iconic livery Amtrak ever had.

1989

During this year the Horizon cars entered service. Like the Amfleet the Horizon cars were predominantly used on shorter hauls outside if the modeled area.  But also like the Amfleet cars they found use in short haul service out of LA and so would have deadheaded on a train to and from the car shops back east.

In the 1990's Amtrak was faced with replacing an aging locomotive and car fleet.  This was also a time where Amtrak was trying to improve its image and so some reinvention and expansion of service was ongoing, however so were cutbacks.  It was during this period when the P30CH was phased out completely and the transition away from the F40 began.  This era also coincided with the mega mergers of BNSF and UP swallowing the SP whole.  As a teenager I found this an exciting and interesting time to railfan.

1991

This was the year the Dash 8-32BHW also sometimes referred to as P32-8HW or B32-8HW were delivered.  These locomotives were a stop gap measure meant to hold Amtrak over until the Genesis locomotives were delivered.  Essentially these were freight units with added HEP and they looked it. These units were however delivered in a contemporary adaptation of Phase 3 and nicknamed Pepsi cans by railfans because of the similarity in colors. Personally I liked this livery and was sad when they were repainted into Phase 4 and later Phase 5.

Superliner 2 cars were also began being delivered in 1991. These cars built by Bombardier were upgraded versions of the Superliner cars as well as replacing some functions that the old Hilevels had performed such as the transition sleeper.  The cars were delivered in what would become the Phase 4 paint scheme and were quickly mixed into the Superliner pool.

Taken with a point and shoot with a light leak this photo illustrates both Phase 3 and Phase 4 paint schemes as the eastbound Empire Builder passes the Izaak Walton Inn in Essex Mt in 1994. The car on the left is an old Santa Fe Highlevel car reconfigured as a transition dorm.  The following two cars are newly delivered Superliner 2 cars.  Morgan Pavia Photo

1993

The GE Genesis series locomotives began arriving in 1993. The first Genesis models, the P40s (originally referred to as Amtrak Monocoque Diesel - 103MPH or AMD 103s for short), and featured a Phase 3 striping that faded toward the back of the unit. The idea was this scheme was supposed to make the stripes look like a waiving flag but I honestly do not remember it working. Probably for this reason and cost savings the scheme was abandoned on the P42s in favor of solid stripes.

P42 #18 and P40 #801 Waits on the mainline with the eastbound Empire Builder at East Skykomish WA circa 1997.  The passenger train is waiting for a BNSF Freight that stalled on the hill (if I recall correctly the train stalled in the Cascade tunnel),in the early days of the Dash 9s there were many growing pains on BNSF such as locomotives shutting down on the hill, some of this was due to BNSF under powering  trains with the Dash 9s on them.  The lead unit of the freight train in the siding has gone up to shove the stalled train through the tunnel. this photo perfectly illustrates the paint scheme differences between the P40 and P42.                                                                                                                         Morgan Pavia Photo

1994

This year saw the delivery of the F59PHI which was used in regional service such as the San Diegan (later Surf Liner) Amtrak California Service and the Cascades in Washington and Oregon and painted accordingly. Although these locomotives were not regulars in long distance service the occasionally got  ferried between Los Angeles and the Shops back east.

1996

The P42s began arriving on scene, although very similar in appearance to the P40s they were delivered in Phase 3 with solid stripes. These locomotives also received one or two digit road numbers which made them very easy to spot.  While P42s did eventually start receiving road numbers in the low 100s, I do not believe that this occurred prior to the end of 1996.

One thing I did not cover so far is test equipment. Most of the time these were one time publicity movements or ferry moves although there was talk at one point of a Los Angeles to Las Vegas Talgo service. Despite this talk I don't think it went much beyond a few demonstration runs and as I remember the Talgo train set spent its time in service on the Cascades still painted in the colors of the proposed Vegas service.

Sandwiched between two F40s The Talgo demonstrator train set pauses at the new Bellingham depot in the late 1990's.
Morgan Pavia photo

The various high speed train sets that made the rounds in the 1990s such as the Talgo pendular, were not a new phenomenon. In the 1970s high speed trainsets such as the turbo train made the rounds of the US as well. However just like the modern day Talgos these trainsets found niches elsewhere and therefore wont be discussed any further, although there is a picture out there of the Turbo Train at the Phoenix Depot back in the 70's so if I come across a Rapido Amtrak version at a price I am willing to pay who knows.  I will continue the discussion of the curse of modeling Amtrak and considerations for roster and operations for the YPG lines in a future post, until then just remember it is a journey and have fun.

Artwork

This is another post I wrote while I was bored on an airplane.  I referenced it in a previous post and started out as a serious post, however those that know me know that while I am serious about the hobby I do not take the hobby seriously (We play with toy trains for crying out loud) and since the majority of this was written at the end of march I toyed with it being an April fools joke.  Years ago Tony Koester wrote a trains of thought column about how he was dismantling his HO Nickel Plate Railroad and switching scales to G scale. personally I found the article brilliant and thought a post about me getting out of the hobby and becoming a railroad art aficionado would be a good tongue in cheek post for April 1st and I was going to lead with the Photo below. 

Truly one of my favorite paintings, I picked it up on a trip to Disneyland the Christmas before my daughter was born.  After our last move it sat hidden away and she had not ever seen it, during this time it managed to come out of its frame and so when I took it get reframed she saw it and loved it too.  Needless to say it is now on loan to her.

Well April 1st came and went and so now instead of trying to make a humorous post I am back at trying to be serious as I got tired of looking at a half finished post on my drafts list. So here it is.


Previously I discussed the number of books that have been purchased in pursuit of model railroading. These books offer a huge amount of information and inspiration that can be used towards building our layouts. This is not to say that books are the only non-model or tool purchases we should make. Of course photographs and slides are also valuable,  but what other sources of inspiration can we find out there? What about wall art? By wall art I mean items that are meant to be hung on the wall and took some effort to produce. A railroad lantern or other artifacts could be hung on the wall but I feel these are classified more as décor, than art.

I break wall art down into two categories first one is paintings and drawings and the second is other art.  Lets start with the other category which by its very nature is a catch all category.  In my "I love Me room" (I do not yet have a dedicated hobby space but I do have a room that is mine to eventually do hobby work in that also will double as an office and the room I keep all my work gear in,  currently it doubles as Storage room B) I have several examples of the other category. The first is metal work, on one of our trips around Arizona, I think it was in Tombstone, my wife managed to find a metalwork representation of a steam locomotive. She procured it and gave it to me for our anniversary (hey she tolerates the hobby even if she thinks it can be silly).

The second thing under this category is cloth work. Once again my wife managed to stumble across something during our travels and bought it for me, I believe they are swatches of fabric with a railroad theme that have been framed in a rustic wood frame, the scenes represent Colorado narrow guage and are enjoyably to view. Now someone might ask if this is really art? Well someone had to create the original artwork.

The final items in the other category is my collection of Yuma produce lables. Once again someone created the original artwork. Agriculture is King in Yuma and these labels harken back to its Zenith, a bygone era of steam and early diesel locomotives and iced PFE refrigerator cars. I currently have labels that are mostly from vegetable crates, mostly lettuce which is fitting since Yuma is the winter lettuce capital of the United States, but I hope to soon acquire some labels from citris and melon crates. Some of the shippers included in my collection will even be represented on the layout. Also when I get a layout space I plan to move these into the train room to help set the mood and give the layout a sense of place.

My produce crate label collection.  Many agricultural areas had similar collections for whatever product they shipped out, I have even seen can labels for canned fish from the canneries in Washington State. My dad collects Wenatchee Valley apple and pear crate labels, if I was modeling Tehachapi it would be apples as well.

While I do not currently have any drawings railroad themed paintings are another story.  There are several different types of paintings out there such as oil, acrylic and water color to name a few. There are also many different levels of painting from the low end print to the high end original. In the middle there is the giclee and these are truly stunning at less cost than an original.  In my personal opinion, if you are framing these with a frame that has glass and not lighting them a print is good enough as many of the effects are minimized when behind glass.  For example I have seen giclees and originals that were individually lit and it looked like all the lights in the scenes were on.  This is an amazing effect for headlights and block signals, however as stated before it is lost if the work is behind glass and not lit, so i that situation the lower cost print will do nicely.  After all we are trying to save more money for models right?

There are many terrific railroad related artists out there, each with a different style and subject matter they specialize in. Everyone knows the name Howard Fogg and I do have one example of his work despite it being of a UP subject. The painting is called "King of the Hill" and features a Big Boy locomotive. I picked this one up when UP 844 came through town, so I can make an exception for subject matter.

I have two paintings of Amtrak as well the first is by Thorpe and features the Empire Builder crossing Sheep Creek Trestle in Glacier National Park. My dad models the Great Northern and before he settled on Stevens Pass he considered modeling Montana so we spent several family vacations in this area and it has a soft spot in my heart. The second is a Larry Fisher work also featuring the Empire Builder, entitled "The Rainbow". This painting depicts the Builder exiting the west portal of the Cascade Tunnel in Washington State (a location that I grew up railfanning) during the early days of Amtrak. For those who dont know this time frame was known as the rainbow era as most of the equipment was still in the liveries of the original owners making for some interesting combinations in consists.  Also if you look closely the car that is just exiting the tunnel and only partially visable is a Southern Pacific car.

My final two paintings are by John Winfield, I especially love his work as he specializes in railroads of the South and Southwest. I picked up these prints at the SPH&TS convention last year in Palm Springs and my only regret is I did not buy some others he had as well. The first painting is one I have coveted for years. I saw it in a catalogue but did not buy it and had been searching for it ever since, it features the westbound (northbound) Morning Daylight  lead by 4449 along the bluff at Gaviota, California. This is an iconic Southern Pacific scene and it shows the SP at its finest.  The other Winfield painting features the Eagle Mountain Railroad bringing a loaded ore train down to Ferrum to interchange the SP. Not only is this a gorgeous painting but it show cases an interchange I plan on modeling.

There are several more Winfields I hope to acquire over the next few years but I only have so much wall space in my 10x10 room (its really more like 8x10 as the closet sticks at least 2 feet into the room but the builder got away with some creative measurements to be able to claim the room was10x10). He does have one featuring U25's on Beaumont Hill, which hopefully I can acquire if he attends the SPH&TS convention in Santa Rosa this year. 

From left to right: Larry Fisher "The Rainbow", Top Center: John Winfield "Daylight #99 at Gaviota", Bottom Center: John Winfield "Kaiser Steel's Eagle Mountain Railroad", Right: Howard Fogg "King of the Hill", Far Right: J. Craig Thorpe "Glacier Morning"

So if you are looking for inspiration perhaps finding an artist whose paintings catch your fancy is just the ticket. Who knows what it will inspire you to create. Until next time remember its all about the journey and most importantly have fun.