17 years ago today - A Big Reveal in Santa Fe railroad history

[atsf_arizona]

17 years ago today was A Big Reveal in Santa Fe railroad history

https://web.archive.org/web/20151002184730/http://home.comcast.net/~j.sing/tm-1.html


Photo credit:  Fairbanks Morse Builders Photo from Robert David Stevens collection, December 1954



--------------

The above website still exists thanks the Internet Wayback Machine archive.  I hope that it can support today's traffic acceptably. Already I can tell that the hits this morning on this one particular set of Internet Wayback Machine web pages is causing slower than normal response time.  I trust the wait to load will be worth it.

---------------

In the years that have gone by, so much in our world has changed. 

Yet, across the years and across the miles, friendships will always remain.  I still miss our late friend Vern Niner, who passed away unexpectedly on November 18, 2015.

I have made friends for a lifetime here on Railwire and elsewhere in the (model) railroading world.  Not only is today a day for fun, but also a day to remember times past and dear friends like Randgust and all of you.  We all have co-created together, memories that may last a lifetime.

[u18b]

Congrats John.

I enjoyed getting to meet you in Orlando several years ago.

[cjm413]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[atsf_arizona]

Congrats John.

I enjoyed getting to meet you in Orlando several years ago.

U18B, I equally enjoyed getting to meet you at the NMRA National Train Show in Orlando in 2017.  A true treat to be in the presence of genius (I mean you ).

[randgust]

That was sure a lot of fun, and set up I think like five years of annual April Fools pranks on the Atlas forum.

My favorite of that group was still the powered dog sled.... second favorite was proving magnetic link and pin uncoupling.   And, modeling N scale mice.   We'd start planning those three months in advance. 

But the FM was first, and that required John's locomotive, my painting, Verne's writing, and forming some real friendships over a virtual basis.

I got out to see Verne personally, too late for the N layout, but the On30 successor was running, and when John was traveling the world, he ended up in my office for a day, got to run my layout.  The probability of that happening is like a good landing on Space-X.

For those that remember Verne's great fictional stories of N Scale Norm and Sue, they are alive and well and living in Flagstaff on my layout, as a gift from Verne when he sold out of N scale.   And, Norm and Sue's cat is presiding over an N scale mouse, 'Speck'.

One of our first 'trades' was a rather beat-up cast junk metal pickup he'd done, actually too new for his '48 Santa Fe layout, but perfect for my '72, and it's still one of the first scenes you see when you visit my layout - another eternal tribute to my friend Verne.

[wm3798]

What a fun turning back of the clock!  I always enjoyed the N Scale Norm tales.  Mike "Puddington" McGrattan was a similarly skillful yarn spinner, peopling his scenes with a cast of characters who lived out their exploits in his photo captions.

Thanks for calling this back out of the mists, @atsf_arizona .  Brings back many cheery thoughts.

Lee

[superchief]

John,
   Thanks for RE-telling the story of #3150, just as good as reading it the first time!!!! I miss Verne too, great modeler, I only got to see the On30 layout as well, but got a CD of photos of the N Scale layout, awesome!!!!
                                                                    Gordon Bliss-Santa Fe-All the Way

[eja]

Surely that wasn't 17 years ago ...  gawd, I must be getting old !

[Point353]

Had the opportunity to meet John and see his Super Trainmaster model when they journeyed east to attend the Amherst/Springfield train show.
Hard to believe that was close to 20 years ago.

[thomasjmdavis]

I remember reading this years ago.  One of my favorite "might have beens."  I'd better stop there, otherwise I'll be adding another project to my list of 200+. 

[atsf_arizona]

Thx all, for the kind words.  It was a team experience for all of us to enjoy.  Point353, I remember my one-time visit to the January Amherst Model RR show and to meet you.  Man, talk about like 4 exhibit halls worth of model railroad heaven.  Nice to hear from you.

Among other places the Trainmaster got to visit that same year 2004, was the pioneering Belmont Shores N scale layout in San Pedro, California.  Flash Blackman of San Antonio, TX (remember him? http://samratx.org/memberlayouts/blackman/intro.htm ), when he was still working as United Airlines 747 pilot, was a member of that club (being airline pilot had it's advantages) and had me over to visit Belmont Shores with the Santa Fe Trainmaster in May 2004.  Here's a photo of the loco circling their rendition of the Tehachipi Loop:

I took the above photo standing right about where the words "Tehachapi Loop" are, in the Belmont Shores layout track plan below:

And later that same year in October 2004, I was in San Diego on a business trip and was fortunate to be able to visit the San Diego  Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park, during one of their during-the-week evening work sessions for the San Diego Society of N Scale (SDSONS).  (this is the same museum where the world famous HO La Mesa Model Railroad Club Tehachapi Pass layout is housed - the N Scale Pacific Desert Lines is across the aisle).

The 1,500 square foot N scale Pacific Desert Lines layout (featuring hand-laid Code 40 track http://www.trainweb.org/chris/sdrrm2.html) shown in this video models the original 1855 route that was surveyed and planned for the San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railroad, but was never built. The layout models a number of famous San Diego landmarks including the Carlsbad Flower Fields, Carrizo Gorge, and the Downtown (including the iconic San Diego railroad station)..... you'll see the part of the SDSONS layout that includes the Campo Creek viaduct ( https://www.exploresandiego.net/rail-road-trestle-hwy-94.html ), in this 2 minute video that I pulled out of the archives and uploaded to YouTube just now.  Remember how grainy video cameras were in 2004?!.  This was filmed by then-SDSONS president Jim Bence:

/>
AFAIK, the San Diego Society of N Scale's old full website is gone now, but thx to the Internet Wayback Archive, you can still see a whole lot of what is there:
https://web.archive.org/web/20151008115854/http://www.sdsons.org/    and of course you can see a lot of other folk's picture of SDSONS on the internet.

Hard to believe 17 years have gone by.  Good thing none of us are any older .

[johnb]

Great to hear from you again Mr. Sing, have not heard anything from Flash in about 4 years....