SoCalGRS members are invited to a free model railroad layout tour sponsored by Model Railroads of Southern California.
Our 22nd layout tour takes place on Saturday, November 20. This will be a self-guided tour of twelve layouts at nine sites in an area along Interstates 10 and 210, between Monrovia and San Bernardino.
There will be seven HO scale standard gauge layouts, two N scale, one O scale, one G scale gauge garden railroad and one HOn30 layout. There also is a railroad museum featured on the tour.
Below is the basic schedule for the tour and layout descriptions. An area map and two maps for every location are available (only) on the Model Railroads of Southern California website ( in the Files Section. Group members have access to these files so please consider joining the group for this and other additional perks. Membership in Yahoo and the group is free.
Persons taking this tour assume all risks and liability for their personal safety. Although I am the Moderator of this group, I am not responsible for personal loss or injury to those taking this tour.
Be sure to check the Files Section and the group website the day before the tour to see if any changes to the schedule or layout lineup have occurred. If you cannot make this tour, more tours are being planned, including a Southern California-wide tour in February 2011.
For further information contact Bob Chapparro at .
Model Railroads of Southern California
Layout Tour No. 22Saturday, November 20, 2010
Owner / Time Open / Railroad Name / Scale / Address'20s & '30s Modular MRC / 9:00 to 3:00 / None / HO / 300 N. Glendora Ave., Glendora
George DeFrancesco / 11:00 to 5:00 / Desert Belt Lines / HO / 8757 Mandarin Avenue,
Alta Loma
Tim Dickinson / 10:00 to 12:00 &
1:00 to 4:00 / Burlington Northern / HO / 1002 Eastglen Drive,
La Verne
FairplexGarden Railroad / 10:00 to 3:00 / FairplexGarden Railroad / G / 1101 W. McKinley Ave.,
Pomona
Jeff Gorjans / 9:00 to 1:30 / San Dimas Southern / HO / 1251 Calle Estrella,
San Dimas
Steve McCarthy / 10:00 to 4:00 / Southern Pacific Coast Route / HO / 417 E. El Sur StreetMonrovia
N-Land Pacific Model RR Club / Saturday, 9:00 to 4:00. Sunday, 10:00 to 4:00 / N-Land Pacific / N / 1495 W. 9th Street,
Unit 501,
Upland
PacificRailroadSocietyMuseum / 10:00 to 4:00 / Railroad History Displays & Artifacts / --- / 210 W. Bonita Ave.,
San Dimas
Brad Pesheck & Crew / 11:00 to 4:00 / Sierra Pacific Lines / HO, HOn30 / 2007 N. Lugo Avenue,
San Bernardino
The Train Stop / 10:00 to 5:00 / Hobby Shop Layouts / HO, N, O / 211 W. Bonita Ave.,
San Dimas
NOTES:
Please observe individual hours of operation for the layouts. No smoking at any of the layouts. (Continued on next page)
Information current as of 10-30-10
'20s & '30s Modular MRC located in basement of Disciples of Christ Church
Tim Dickinson will be closed for lunch, 12:00 to 1:00. No visitors during that hour, please.
FairplexGarden Railroad – Located in Los AngelesCountyFairgrounds. Park in the lower Administration Parking Lot at Gate 1.
Brad Pesheck & Crew – Be aware of on-going construction on and around Interstate 215 in San Bernardino.
LAYOUT DESCRIPTIONS –
'20s & '30s Modular Model Railroad Club – The '20s & '30s Modular Model Railroad Club recreates the Golden Age of railroading modeled in HO scale. Members build their own six-foot-long modules which depict North American railroading during the period from 1920 through December 7, 1941 (Pearl Harbor Day). Members have built a total of thirty-five modules since the club began in 1991. Each module or group of modules meets standards for interface such as rail location, height and electrical connections so that each can connect with another. The club sets up at public shows in Southern California about six times a year. Website:
George DeFrancesco – The Desert Belt Lines fill an entire three-car garage with rocky cliffs reaching to the ceiling and numerous industrial branches. This layout features many sound-equipped locomotives, DCC control and several large, scratch-built bridges. The main line covers five scale miles, taking trains from belt to eye level. The extensive yard and industrial facilities generate heavy traffic on this free lanced railroad.
Tim Dickinson – This is a railroad which has grown over the years. It consumes three rooms measuring 20' x 22', 10' x 20' and 12' x 12'. Although the layout appeared in the July 1996 issue of RAILMODEL JOURNAL, many changes and additions have been made in recent years. The railroad represents the Burlington Northern's Pacific Division in WashingtonState during 1976. The areas modeled are generic but give the feel of being in that area. Scenery is about 85% complete. Long trains with helpers for the 2.6% grade are the rule on this layout, made more realistic by the use of 36" minimum radius curves (most super elevated) and #8 and #9 turnouts on the mainline. All turnouts are super detailed with Details West components. Trains operate point-to-loop with staging yards at each end and a ten-track classification yard in the middle. Control is DCC and all locomotives are equipped with sound. The layout features operating signals dispatched by CTC from the dispatcher’s office. Of particular interest is a pair of operating semaphore signals. A timetable with special instructions also is used. The layout owner is a locomotive engineer for the Union Pacific (former Espee).
FairplexGarden Railroad – This is considered the oldest and possibly the largest miniature railroad of its kind in the United States and possibly the world. The railroad began as a special static exhibit for the third Los Angeles Fair in 1924. It soon became a small, hand-built, operating miniature train, in true 1/2 inch scale. The small railroad continued to grow and in 1935, moved out of the Fair's tent to its present 100 x 300 foot outdoor location.
In 1997, with the help of members of a local garden railroad club, the original 1/2 inch scale was replaced with G gauge, and renovation of the miniature railroad began. Each year over one million people from all over the United States and the world have attended the Los Angeles County Fair and other annual events held at the fairgrounds. Approximately 750,000 of these each year visit and enjoy this spectacular exhibit. Today over 10,000 feet of track provide for the running of over thirty trains at one time. Approximately 2,000 linear feet of underground pipes and conduits support the operation. Nearly eighteen miles of wires are required to operate the electrical systems and over 12,000 gallons of water flow through its lakes, rivers and streams. The railroad theme is California Discovers, focusing on the role of the railroads with scenes depicting an early mining, logging, an Old West township and a typical railroad town of the mid-1900s. There are two interactive corners where kids of all ages can operate trains on six separate loops.
Jeff Gorjans – The San Dimas Southern is a 6' x 9' miniature world built inside a playhouse Jeff built for his daughter many years ago. There are 722-plus trees and lots and lots of highly detailed scenes on this layout. Jeff started with a freelance design on paper and then refined with the help of Riley Triggs using 3rd Planit. Jeff says having a CAD program of the layout was the best thing he ever did in layout planning. The layout is DCC controlled and includes a LocoShuttle to automatically operate the branch line. "LocoShuttle" provides unattended train movements under automatic control, to create "background activity" or function as part of the manual operating sequence. A majority of the structures were built by good friend, Art Sousa using Jeff's designs. This decision was made after Jeff realized his 30 plus kit-bashed styrene structures weren't going to fit the bill for the 1920-30s era. The San Dimas Southern is featured in the 2010 issue of Great Model Railroads.
Steve McCarthy – This layout fills a 20' x 18' garage. Track plan elements have been adapted from John Signor's book, Southern Pacific Coast Lines. Areas on that line are loosely modeled. The months of July and August 1952 are modeled to reflect the railroad operating conditions in the aftermath of the Tehachapi earthquake. Thus, heavy concentrations of Santa Fe trains are seen on SP track. The mainline travels point-to-point for 120 feet on three levels. Staging tracks are used to feed operations. Operations are governed by a card order system and train orders. Power is Digitrax DCC.
N-Land Pacific Model RR Club – This is an N-scale club that models 1950s to present day portions of Los Angeles, Riverside and San BernardinoCounties based on Free-moN modular standards.
PacificRailroadSocietyMuseum – The Society operates the PacificRailroadMuseum in the former Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe depot in San Dimas, California. They are nearly finished restoring the depot to represent a working railroad station. Artifacts and exhibits on various aspects of railroading are on display there. The depot also houses an extensive railroad research library containing books, documents, maps and photographs collected since the 1930s.
Brad Pesheck & Crew – The original HO 4 X 8 layout was started in 1975. Over the next 25 years the layout and the “attic” space went through many changes including the raising of all four walls, ceiling and a large room extension to reach its current size of 35’ x 60’. In between the construction phases, the layout was normally open to the public twice a year. In the year 2000, the layout was completing torn down to make room for another massive room extension mainly involving the roof. In 2001 the current layout was started. The design is basically a loop to loop but will be operated as a point to point.
The entire 600-foot mainline has been completed, measuring around 600 feet. It takes approximately 45 minutes to complete one loop around the layout. There is a six- track balloon staging yard with each track measuring about 24 feet long. Plans include another shorter stub-end yard to stage locals and way freights. 1950s era Southern Pacific, Union Pacific and Santa Fe trains make up the majority of the trains that run the over the line.
The scenery is about 15% completed. MRC Prodigy Advanced system provides DCC control. The track is Atlas Code 100 with a combination of Peco, Shinohara and Atlas turnouts. Most of the switch machines are Tortoise. The layout features a walk around design with two major yards. Future plans include more industrial areas, large citrus groves, another roundhouse and service facilities, a narrow gauge logging railroad and much more.
The Train Shop – This well-established hobby shop has three operating layouts. The HO layout is 10’ x 10’, the Lionel layout is 10’ x 18’ and the N scale layout is 2’ x 18’.