For those of you on you way up to the Central Coast Railroad Festival next week (or if you are just in the area), Gary Siegel’s HO and garden railroads will be open Friday and Saturday (Oct. 7 & 8) from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm.
The address is 1143 Camino Viejo, Santa Barbara, CA. Exit Olive Mill Road (Exit 94) from Highway 101.
Gary’s HO scale layout of the L&N was featured in Model Railroader in April 1996, Rail Model Journal in January and February 2008 and Model Railroad Craftsman in May 2008. The layout was on the NMRA tour for the Long Beach national convention in 1996 and the Anaheim convention in 2008. The Eastern Kentucky Division models an area of coal mines in the Appalachians in eastern Kentucky and western Virginia. There are interchanges with C&O and N&W. The year is 1971 so both 1st and 2nd generation diesel are the rule. The EK is still running its own passenger trains.
While not an official web site, Richard Barnes has taken some amazing photos of the L&N EK Div and they can be viewed at http://www.pbase.com/rbarnes11/lnekdiv The L&N EK Division operates once a month on the first Saturday of each month. Operation is by car card and waybill with control using Easy DCC. The layout is partially handicap accessible. There are some steps in the far north part of the layout.
In addition to the HO layout, Gary has been working on a G-gauge layout in his back yard. Also designed for operation, the layout is still under construction but has over 600 feet of operable track. While most of this layout is handicap accessible, there are hills and steps in some areas.
A local TV station also filmed Gary’s two railroads:
There is a 26 second show introduction before you get to the good stuff. The entire clip is about eight and a half minutes long.
If you are unable to see these railroads in October, they will be open again on November 19 in conjunction with a tour of Santa Barbara and Ventura area model and garden railroads sponsored by my group. Contact me OFF LIST for details ( chiefbobbb@verizon.net ).