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Model Railroads of Southern California's twenty-sixth layout tour takes place Saturday, July 30. This will be a self-guided tour of fifteen layouts in Long Beach and South Bay areas. Six layouts are appearing for the first time on the group's tour program.
This is a free event and you may bring relatives and friends.
By scale there will be seven HO scale layouts, two N scale layouts, one S scale layout, one O scale layout and four garden railroads. The details for this tour are available below.
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 group's 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 scheduled including a tour in conjunction with the Central Coast Railroad Festival on October 6-10 and a Ventura-Santa Barbara tour on November 19. A Victorville-Apple Valley tour is being planned for February 2012.
If you wish to open your home layout for an upcoming tour, please contact me off list at: chiefbobbb@...
Los Angeles Model RR Society (HO) 14005 South Crenshaw Boulevard, Unit G Hawthorne 10:00 to 4:00
Tony Recht (G) 5531 Rockview Drive, Torrance 10:00 to 4:00
George Schreyer (G) 19338 Tomlee Avenue, Torrance 10:00 to 4:00
Jeff Smith (HO) 6143 Adenmoor Ave., Lakewood 9:00 to 1:00
Ron Varnell (HO) 2741 Plaza Del Amo, Suite 211, Torrance 10:00 to 6:00
NOTES: Please observe individual hours of operation for the layouts. No smoking at any layout. Information current as of 7-11-11. Larry Fincher – Use side gate to patio in rear. Lloyd Lehrer – Upstairs location. Parking limited to two cars at a time or park at end of block. Jeff Smith - Park in MayFair Community Church lot (South Lot) at 6150 Bellflower Blvd. Walk across alley through gate, follow signs. PERSONS TAKING THIS TOUR ASSUME ALL RISKS AND LIABILITY FOR THEIR PERSONAL SAFETY.
LAYOUT DESCRIPTIONS
Angels Gate Hi-Railers – The club grew out of a search by members of the Valley Toy Train Club's "Tinplate Trackers" O-Gauge modular group for a site for a permanent layout and/or a site where modules could be set up on a long-term basis.. After some letter writing and a little bargaining by the Tinplate Trackers with the L.A. Recreation and Parks Department, the Department agreed to let the group have a building. The layout is basically a large "out and back" complex oval consisting of a primary and secondary mainline-both supported by a seven-track staging yard. They also are supported by a small through yard about midway through the layout. There is about 1,200 feet of track, including the staging yard. The benchwork is complete with two operational mainline loops running with mountain branch line and harbor industrial sections currently under construction. The primary mainline is designed for operation in either direction and is equipped with block signals. There are two scratch-built wooden trestles and a third is being designed. Recent additions include the installation of Lionel's TMCC command system as well as MTH's DCS system.
Mary Barstow – Palos Verdes Pacific is actually two railroads. The HO layout was started in 1984 and fills an upstairs 11 foot x 14 foot bedroom. It is reminiscent of the early 1900s with a Mendocino and Fort Bragg flavor. Inclination won out over a need to carefully recreate a specific location or time period. There are 130 feet of mainline track, a main yard, plus an elevated passing siding. Simplicity best describes the track plan. One long run passes through various scenes. Wilson Summit has an independent loop that runs high on the side of the mountain. Rock castings, many detailed structures, and pines are placed throughout. Construction is L-Girder with ¾" plywood and ½" Homosote. Track is Shinohara track is Code 70. MRC Tech II powerpacks supply power. Originally designed for block control the layout has been modified to use Digitrax DCC.
The outside G scale layout was created about twelve years ago. It contains three loops that surround the back of the yard area. The rear upper level track runs about 100 feet across the back of the yard. The mid-section of the layout fills an area of about fifty feet across by ten feet deep. Bridges and trestles add interest to track that passes between dwarf conifers and other miniature plants. Volcanic rock defines areas. A western-style town provides a center of interest. The lawn track is designed to meet with the mid-section and circles the lawn. This provides a designated area for grandchildren and serves as a useful test track. Overall there is about 500 feet of LGB trackage. Each section is controlled by its own MRC Train Power 6200.
Belmont Shore Model Railroad Club – Built in the second story of a former Army barracks, this layout measures 25 by 90 feet. The track plan is ten scale miles of double track from the city of Belmont to Bakersfield, plus a single track line to San Jaoquin. Beyond San Jaoquin a branch line is under construction to Carbondale, where it will interchange with a narrow gauge railroad. A notable feature of this track plan is that a train never passes through a scene more than once, except on the loop.
Larry Fincher – Larry's layout is located in an enclosed patio and measures 18' x 4' x 8' with a smaller layout positioned above the main layout for Thomas and other smaller trains. Control is both DC and DCC. Trains feature booth steam and diesel power but leans to steam. There are a variety of structures plus a building construction site. Operations favor running trains for the enjoyment that brings.
Sandy Friedfeld – Sandy's Palos Verdes Transfer Railroad has been called a "Railroad Empire in 23.5 Sq. Ft". This N scale layout holds two passenger trains, five diesels, one shifter work train, 85 freight cars serving 11 industries and a double-track passenger station. Operations are managed by a dual cab control system. There are over two miles of mainline and operational runs cover as much as five miles.
Inland Terminal Model Railroad Club – The club operates 2,000 feet of standard gauge mainline, featuring a three-level helix in its own 20' x 40 building. Also featured is a variety of equipment, including converted American Flyer. The layout was started in the 1950s as a freelance, double mainline, two level continuous-run railroad with three yards and a mountain pass reverse loop. Once a classical configuration with two dispatch/operator stations the layout today uses wireless walk-around cabs for locomotive control. Track and turnouts are hand laid with mostly Code 100 rail to reflect the scale nature of the layout. In addition there is a 150 foot Sn3 single mainline and yard under construction.
Jay Kelly – The current version of the Southwest Torrance Limited Garden Railroad has been in development since late 2009. The layout packs a lot of action in a restricted backyard setting. There is about 150 feet of G-gauge track in a folded dog-bone configuration. The railroad features two tunnels, over twenty feet of scratch-built trestles, two grades crossings and fully automatic operations using up to three separate trains. The layout is track powered and uses analog control. Landscaping on the railroad is an on-going project with many miniature plants grow beneath three full-scale trees. Structures on the railroad represent American buildings from the early to mid-20th century, and they are a mixture of custom-built and kits. Most structures are lighted, and addition spotlights provide ample lighting for nighttime operations.
Steve Kin – The SA & J Railroad is a 17' x 12' layout that will depict the Western Colorado in the 1920 to 1950 era when the scenery (just started) is completed. Most of the roadbed is construction follows the ribbon method, laminating 1/4" ply to a final 2-1/4" width one strip at a time. Mainline track and wiring are complete. Due to the area being modeled some grades approach three percent. Power is DCC with sound-equipped locomotives. Operations will feature loop around, mining, logging & passenger trains plus an operating yard.
Lloyd Lehrer – This is an HO and HOn3 layout in a dedicated room measuring 11.5' x 22'. There is a double deck track plan around the walls with a center peninsula. There is dual gauge area in the harbor on the lower level that leads to a yard with dual gauge turntable and the lower end of the HOn3. The NG continues up the "NO-LIX", which is a transition grade around the wall and up the peninsula to the upper deck where after running around the room terminates at the upper engine facilities. The peninsula and the upper level are sceniced with three long trestles, cliffs, timber, mining (still in process of finishing), a valley with grazing areas, rolling hills, mountains, small town and river. The lower level features a large and small harbors, mud flats and industries in dual, and primarily, standard gauge. The track on the lower level is designed for continuous running if wanted and is essentially flat with one yard, one freight handling operation at the docks and one engine facility. There are six to eight industries intended for the lower level plus one city area. Operations are point-to-point with two operating yards and turntables at both ends. Operations focus on local freight, minerals and logging. Control is Digitrax DCC.
Los Angeles Model RR Society – LAMRS is made up of a diverse group of model railroad enthusiasts of many ages, professions and backgrounds. The LAMRS has been promoting the hobby of model railroading for more than twenty-five years and operates the 2,000 square foot Great Lakes & Western Railroad. The layout features equipment and locomotives of all railroads and eras, the largest HO scale oil refinery ever built anywhere, a modern intermodal transfer facility similar to Port of Long Beach, a scale model of the Great Lakes ore ship Aurora, passenger trains from the golden era of passenger service and a large narrow gauge railroad. Dispatch operations are computerized. In addition to mainline operations, there are both standard gauge logging and narrow gauge mining branches. LAMRS operates with DCC with radio controlled throttles. Route selection is currently local control with operators setting switch positions as they go. They plan to include a central computer control option. For runs a time era theme is chosen and some times layout names are changed to depict a particular location. Their unique car card/waybill system makes it possible to have many operating scenarios available, all with a quick set-up time. All equipment that is used on scheduled operating sessions is certified to meet club standards.
Tony Recht- This is a 14' x 20' Southwestern-theme garden railroad. The scenery is dominated by red sandstone cliffs and conifers, with a farm house, a working dinosaur dig and small canyons. One canyon (the Darius Divide) has a trestle. There is an outer loop that goes around and an inner loop that winds around the cliffs and through the Divide. Running after dark is possible as there are two over head spots that light up the railroad as though it were daytime and the street, building, and water tank lights enhance night time running.
George Schreyer – The Geologically Improbable Railroad is an outdoor "garden railway" although there is not much garden yet. About 1950, the GIRR extended off the Santa Fe main line into the trackless desert wastelands with the main target being Geologically Improbable Mountain, the site of a unique mine which is still to be fully developed. Either coal or ore is mined, depending on which cut of cars is spotted at the mine. Much of the line skirts rock faces that are almost completely quartzite, an unusual material to find in car to house sized boulders.
The railroad is counting on a town and other business to sprout up near the line. Construction has started but is proceeding slowly. Mostly structure and vegetation free terrain still abounds. The railroad is laid with inconceivably heavy 200-plus pound rail and the main line extends as a loop a little over a scale mile long between the mine and a stub and engine yard. A wye near the entrance to the yard also feeds a branch line to a staging and storage yard within an adjacent structure. A projected town site has been established but is as yet undeveloped.
The overall site size not including the branch is about 20' x 50'. The railroad is sometimes run with a Train Engineer controlling track power with cab control and interlocking turnout controls. DCC control is now more common as much of the GIRR motive power has been converted to DCC. The original interlocking turnout control system is still in use. Equipment consists of mostly 1:29 scale rolling stock and engines from Aristo, Lionel and some 1:24 scale stock from Bachmann, Also included is a Bachmann 1:20.3 36 ton Shay.
Jeff Smith – This 15' x 18' layout reflects the Santa Fe's Second District in the 1970-1980 era. Major structures include the Pasadena Station and freight house, the Cucamonga Station and an engine house. Trackwork is 100 percent complete and scenery is about five percent complete. Control is DCC (NCE) using four throttles, three of which are wireless.
Ronald Varnell – This individually-owned layout is club size, occupying a 1,400 square foot space in a light industrial complex. It is a UP-oriented layout featuring both standard and narrow gauge operations. Set in the 1958 to 1970 era, industrial activities include oil extraction, logging, strip and gold mining plus numerous other businesses which rely on railroad freight service. Railroad facilities include a twenty-three stall roundhouse, two turntables and an operating hump yard. Four trains normally are operated simultaneously using train order and timetable authority and DCC controlled power. Also housed in the layout room is a very large collection of brass locomotives, including many rare and limited production models.
-------------------- Bob Chaparro Owner-Moderator Model Railroads of Southern Calif. Posts: 154 | From: Hemet, CA | Registered: Feb 2005
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