2009: Trains in the Gardens – The Digger Creek and Northern R.R. G scale layout built by the Mendocino Coast Model Railroad & Historical Society

April 5, 2020 by Tony Phillips

In 2009 the Club did not have a website. I had created a very thick looseleaf book of articles and background material for our Digger Creek & Northern Railroad. In the spring of 2009 the idea was mooted of creating a book using the material I had collected which we could sell to the hundreds of visitors that the layout received. I met our to-be computer guru Roger Thornburn that summer and he and I decided we would try and create a book basically of pictures of Digger Creek & Northern through a website of which he knew. Roger took pictures and I took pictures and with the help of Roger’s wife Nancy we created and sent off a book. I still have my copy.

The book has never made it to the internet ‘cos I did not want to destroy my copy scanning its contents. Very recently I have been going through a hard drive of “stuff” that Roger left me of things we worked on before he died and things that never got worked on. As I was going through I saw a file folder named “full.” Intrigued I opened it up and lo and behold there were the pages of the book that Roger sent off to the printer.

So, here in a gallery, is our book, “2009: Trains in the Gardens.” Click on any picture to bring up the gallery and see the pages nearly full size.

: Cover – Deb Smith’s live steam Shay

: Page 2 – Master track layer Deb Smith at work

: Page 3 – Tony, Denny, Mike and Deb working

: Page 4 – Mike. Phil. Mike’s son and Louis at work

: Page 5 – Tony, Phil, and Mike working on sceniking

: Page 6 – Flo (she who named the AGNR) and visitors

: Page 7 – Deb’s live steam shay on its way

: Page 8 – Deb’s live steam shay chuffing around the 140 foot of track

: Page 9 – Lunch break and visitors

: Page 10 – Mike’s Diesel Switcher on the move

: Page 11 – Mesmerized little people

: Page 12 – Tony’s weathered tank engine

: Page 13 – More of Deb’s live steam Shay

: Page 14 – Bill, Dan, Tony. Flo and Louis

: Page 15 – Deb’s Shay with a full head of steam

: Page 16 – Ton’s tank engine showing her paces

: Page 17 – Shots of the track being sceniked

: Page 18 – Tony’s daughters Annalise Holly and Tanisha taking photos for dad

: Page 19 – the Howe truss bridge we had to chop the top off because it was too low

: Page 20 – this photo was taken by Roger and we have used it time and time again

Three things – One, Basil Casabona worked like a champ on the layout and somehow a pic of him never got into the book. Two – we never sold one damned copy of the book!!!!!- Three – the sayings in the book were found by Roger and Nancy.

Zn2 diorama

February 12, 2020 by Tony Phillips

Zn2 is minuscule. This pic came from our mini everything genius Joe DuVivier.

Zn2 module

The Caspar, South Fork & Eastern Nn3 modular logging layout at the 2019 National Narrow Gauge Convention in Sacramento, California September 4-7.

September 11, 2019 by Tony Phillips

Club member Joe DuVivier models in Nn3. For anyone out there who does not know what Nn3 is I quote from the Nn3 website:

“Nn3 is narrow gauge in N scale, primarily, but not exclusively using Z scale standards to represent 3ft narrow gauge railroads. While it’s obviously a minority interest, it’s followed by an increasing number of modellers worldwide.”

To give you an idea of how titchy Nn3 is look at this pic:

Two Nn3 freight cars on the fingers of a hand

Joe recently show cased Joe’s in progress Nn3 module at the recent Narrow Gauge Convention in Sacremento. Joe is creating a WORKING lumber mill modelled on the one that used to be at Caspar. The doyen of the Nn3 world is a gentleman named Tom Knapp. Twas Tom who made this vid of the first 3 modules of the The Caspar, South Fork & Eastern. For the technical:

“The Mich-Cal #2 shay (in the vid) is a Showcase Miniatures kit with a Searails Powermax power truck. The locomotive is smaller than a thumb. The log bunks are 3D printed by Tom on Shapeways. They have link and pin dummy couplers also 3D printed.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ38WXugiSY&feature=youtu.be

Please cut and paste link to view.

Stepper motor to be installed on Joe DuVivier’s Nn3 diorama of Caspar Mill on the Mendocino Coast

March 17, 2017 by Tony Phillips

Definitions:

Nn3 is narrow gauge in N scale, primarily, but not exclusively using Z scale standards to represent 3ft narrow gauge railroads.While it’s obviously a minority interest, it’s followed by an increasing number of modellers worldwide. N scale uses 9mm track. Z scale use 6.5mm. So, Nn3 is N scale rolling stock on Z scale track. In other words VERY small.

Stepper motors-The stepper motor is an electromagnetic device that converts digital pulses into mechanical shaft rotation. Advantages of step motors are low cost, high reliability, high torque at low speeds and a simple, rugged construction that operates in almost any environment.

Ok, you got your mind around that.

Here’s the stepper motor that is being used to operate the sawmill carriage of Joe DuViviers diorama of the Caspar mill:

Stepper motor alongside a penny

If that didn’t freak you out look at what it takes to control the little beast:

Stepper motor control board

That’s Joe’s finger in the pic. And, he did all the soldering.

The Ten Mile Branch – the MCMR&HS second HO layout – – Part 9 – lessons from building an outdoor HO layout

March 1, 2017 by Tony Phillips

This series of posts is about the second MCMR&HS HO layout. MCMR&HS is the Mendocino Coast Model Railroad & Historical Society. After the train show described in previous posts I was asked to write a report to club members about what I/we had learned from building an outdoor HO layout. In 2003 there were very few computers so there was no e-mail among club members. This is my written report.

The Gestation of The 10 Mile Railway Model

The first Club layout was the brainchild of Joe DuVivier and I greatly admired his design. Joe and I both visited the NMRA National Meet when it was in San Jose in 2000. When Joe returned he penned a very insightful article for the Club on what he had seen/observed. Inter alia he made the following points:

you should look at a model railway not down on it. So, I set the 10 mile sea-level at 3 feet 9 inches which meant that Fort Bragg (when completed) will be 4 feet 3 inches as it is 45 feet above sea-level.
sound really adds to the realism. Joe advocated installing on-board sound which, I agree is very effective indoors where the sound is contained. Alas, it is also expensive so I settled for an inexpensive “out board” system as it can be cranked up to “mystify” the neighbours.
The best layouts are where there are scenes linked by track. I spent a considerable time analyzing the “Skunk” and the 10 Mile Branch and identified 23 scenes!!!!!. The Model contains 9 scenes:
1. the Glass Beach Underpass
2. the Pudding Creek trestle
3. the Virgin Creek Trestle
4. the Cleone Tramway
5. the Laguna Point trestle
6. The Sandhills trestle
7. The Inglenook Fen Trestle
8. The 10 mile river road bridge
9. Camp One

Use a device to show people scale …… in this case it’s easy ‘cos everyone “knows” the Pudding Creek Trestle.

A fellow modeler was very helpful too. He advocated KISS to the nth degree. In particular he advocated:

make every switch manual ….. keep the electrics to the minimum …. we live by the sea and salt air is murder on electrics ….. add to that I think it is neat to throw the switches yourself just as in real life.
Make all the rolling stock heavy and don’t try and run when it is windy
Wire every section of track from a bus (a pair of wires running the length of the track) so you don’t have to rely on the rail joiners to carry the electric current.I reinforced the nine main fence posts last November (2002) with 3 bags of post mix each to stiffen them up. During the winter I started scrounging materials. Now keep in mind that in 32 years of being a model train enthusiast I have NEVER completed one itsy bitsy layout. On March 9^thconstruction began.

The plan, like all good plans, didn’t survive after contact with the enemy, The layout is currently about 135 feet long …..about 2 and a bit scale miles (vs 9. something in real life) …… it takes about 7 minutes to traverse the layout if the top speed of 12 miles an hour is observed (12 was the max in real life). The path of the railroad contains 12 tons 435 pounds and 4 ounces of rock and took 162 wheelbarrow loads to move. That’s about the limit of my record-keeping. I have kept the trestles to scale …. The curve at 10 mile river is 10 degrees just as in real life.

What have I learned so far …..

A clear vision is not the same thing as a short distance.

Expect the worst and that’s what you’ll get … except it’ll be worse.

Things got better after I abandoned hope.

Hot glue really is hot …. Like it leaves a huge blister.

Einstein may be right about genius …. 99 per cent perspiration and 1 per cent inspiration. Model railroading is 100 per cent perspiration.

Concrete is REALLY heavy. Concrete cracks.

You can drill a hole in your finger.

The next steps: If I keep at it I should more or less finish what you see by this fall. Next I want to connect the ULC pier to the main layout by adding Fort Bragg and the downtown wye so there is a “logical” thing for the train to do …. bring logs from Camp 1 and take the lumber out to the pier. I’d like to add the wye that existed at Camp 1 so the train can turn around.

What actually happened? Pretty much nothing. My wife and I were asked to run the Ice Cream Concession in the local Gardens and that’s where we spent the next eleven summers. The layout became so dilapidated that it was torn down. VERY sad. I had great fun building it.

Above all:

The Ten Mile Branch – the MCMR&HS second HO layout – – Part 8 – Train Day July 6, 2003 – the Visitors

February 28, 2017 by Tony Phillips

We never did count how many came to gawk. Sarah said there must have been a lot ‘cos her ENORMOUS pot of chile went in an hour and a half:

Taking on killer chilli. That’s me and club pres Phil Miller at the trough.

The women seemed content to gab, ignore the train and wander in Sarah’s garden.

Garden at 33701 Simpson Road, Fort Bragg, CA

The garden on train day.

Clusters of people gathered at various places to discuss my efforts:

Me, club pres Phil Miller down by the 180 degree turnaround

Looking from the garage to the layout

Visitors at Camp 1

A gaggle of visitors

My friend John Wooller came from England to help

Club pres Phil Miller operating the HO Ten Mile Branch

And last, but not least – me and the delightful lady from whom we leased the land on which the Ten Mile Branch stood – my wife Sara:

Wife Sarah and me

The Ten Mile Branch – the MCMR&HS second HO layout – – Part 7 – Train Day July 6, 2003 – Camp 1

February 27, 2017 by Tony Phillips

This series of posts are about our club’s (the Mendocino Coast Model Railroad & Historical Society – the MCMR&HS) second layout which was built in the lower field of our house in Inglenook – 5 miles north of Fort Bragg, CA. Previous blogs detail how I/we got to opening the layout on July 6th, 2003.

The layout was huge and there was no time to scenic it all before Train day. As a result I had to pick and choose what got scenicked and what didn’t. I was enamored with the ideas of using concrete so having evaluated what I could build I decided that a bit of the Ten Mile River, the road that led down to it and the relatively close Camp 1 of the Union Lumber Company (ULC) was the way to go.

This is a picture of the first Ten Mile Bridge:

First Ten Mile Bridge

To get to the bridge from the south you have to go down a steep road. That steep road was the subject of my first concrete diorama. The concrete was supported by a mess of scrap wood from the re-model of the house.

Joe Duviviers brass engine passing 10 mile river on the Mendocino Coast

Joe Duviviers brass engine passing 10 mile river. The road to the bridge is behind the railroad tracks.

Ten Mile Bridge On the Mendocino Coast approach road

Another view of the road. Camp 1 is in the background

If you squint and look at the objects in the river you’ll see they are seals.

Looking down the road to the Ten Mile Bridge on the Mendocino Coast

Looking down the approach road to the Ten Mile Bridge with train at the bottom of the road

0-4-0 loco rounding the curve by the Ten Mile River

Looking into Camp 1 across the Ten Mile River

Camp 1 was the base camp for the 42 camps that the ULC used to log the Ten Mile River basin.

Camp 1

Empty Log Disconnects waiting to go into the woods at Camp 1

The Ten Mile Branch – the MCMR&HS second HO layout – – Part 6 – Train Day July 6, 2003

February 25, 2017 by Tony Phillips

We sent out about 100 invites:

THE MENDOCINO COAST MODEL RAILROAD and HISTORICAL SOCIETY

In conjunction with

Tony Phillips, sole proprietor of the GBNF Railway Holding Company

On land leased for a very extortionate rent from

The Soggy Foggy Doggy Land Company

INVITE YOU ALL

To the VERY (in)formal

Grand Re-opening of the 10 mile branch of the California Western Railroad

Bring your own HO Loco and with a little bit of luck run it from Rossi’s to Camp One on 2.5 scale miles of HO track over 5 trestles built to scale. See the Cleone Tramway.

The Date …… July 6th^st

The Time ……from 11.30 am till 3 pm

The Place ….. 33701 Simpson Road, Inglenook (see below for instructions)

Official Golden Spike Ceremony ……. at (im)precisely 1.12pm

Free Tea and Stickies plus Killer Chili plus Added Attractions …..

Bob (the Builder) Taylor will be trying to incinerate Tony’s workshop running a LIVE STEAM G Scale engine indoors …. His wife, Virginia will demo how SHE caught a 43lb salmon.

Colin Menzies world class (as seen in Timber Times) static steam models will be on display.

You are welcome to bring husbands, wives, girlfriends, boyfriends, significant others, POSSLQs, friends (no enemies please) as well as dogs, parrots, elephants and children.

WARNING #1 ….. Watch where you walk … keep on the paths

Tony’s wife and landowner, Soggy Foggy and daughter CTP own 2 very large (as in 115lbs and 85lbs) grossly stupid dogs named Charlie Brown and Buddy as well as a larynx on four legs which means the site of the railroad has MANY doggy landmines and multitudinous attempts by aforementioned canines to reach others of the same gene pool located in or near the Nullarbor Plain which they have artfully camouflaged in an attempt to have you break your neck …… PLEASE be CAREFUL of the HOLES ….. you ENTER the Dead Chicken Ranch at YOUR OWN RISK.

WARNING #2 …. Those are NOT ordinary chicken

Adjacent to the railroad is a gulag wherein which reside 11 domesticated vultures. APPROACH AT YOUR OWN RISK. These pigs with feathers are direct descendants from Attila the Hun’s own. They are NOT related to the nice Mrs Cluck in children’s books. They are a highly organized trade union headed by chief shop steward ‘ermione who was trained in guerilla warfare by Ho Chi. She is assisted by ‘ester who recently returned from a training camp in Afghanistan. I retrieve the few oeufs they deign to produce dressed in a pith helmet, goggles, leather gloves, steel capped boots and a reinforced steel box to protect one’s private parts holding a dustbin lid and I have still suffered grievous wounds. YOU Are WARNED.

SO …..

The Grange (about 200 yards past Simpson Road) serves a GREAT breakfast for $5 on the first Sunday of the month if you want to feed your face before you have a giggle seeing what Tony has created to date with great help from soldering genius Hank, MUCH advice from train club members in particular Phil and Bill, materials donated by the Pyeatt family at the Floor Store, artistic direction by Ute, and construction erudition from Brian.

I was up early July 6, 2003 (a brilliantly sunny, warm summer’s day) putting out signs and doing those last-minute things. Sarah was busy making a huge pot of chili. How many would come was the BIG question. The answer was, “quite a lot.” Enough indeed, to scarf all the chili by 11:15!

The first question I was asked was, “Where’s the GULAG?”