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Jack Diehl
email:
diehljohn@bellsouth.net
MODULE SIZE - 4 FT.
DESCRIPTION - Buzzard Gulch
My interest in model railroading starts with the classic scenario of a
Christmas train but takes a different route from there.
For my sixth Christmas, my Grandparents gave me a used Lionel Standard
Guage train set. This was the middle of the Great Depression
and, even though the train set was used, to my eyes it was beautiful. My
Father set it up on a piece of plywood just outside the coal bin in our
basement. He did not know much about model trains and therefore did not
nail down the track. Needless to say the train didn't run very well,
constantly either jumping the track or pulling it apart.
During a move to another house the next year, my beloved train
"disappeared" . I have always maintained some trash collector's son is
still running my train today but my mother said it didn't run right anyway.
Today I know, if we had built solid benchwork and nailed down the track, it
would have run perfect. I made a vow, if I ever had any children, whether
boy or girl, they would get four things on the day they were born; a
baseball, a baseball glove, a baseball bat and a train.
Even though our new house sat right beside the Southern Railroad tracks, my
interest turned to model airplanes and, for the next forty years, I built
and flew them with the ABC model club, Purdue Aeromodlers, and Skyliners.
Meanwhile I got married and started my own business. I never had any
children so my vow was forgotten until one day in 1988 a friend asked me if
I wanted to go to a GATS show with him. Now, I always thought a "gat" was
something a "gunsel" used in a "bank heist". But, when I walked through
that door and saw trains to the right of me, trains to the front of me,
trains everywhere I could see, I was hooked. I left there with not one but
two train sets and enough track to build a 4 x 8 portable layout consisting
of (4) 2 x 4 sections that bolted together. The theme was a toy train
Christmas scene with two loops of over/under track and one turnout. Not
very much of a start.
The next Christmas, I convinced my BW (that's beautiful wife) that the
layout would look very good set up in our living room. I put forth such a
glowing description, she acquiesced and my friend helped me set it up. I
still maintain it was the center of our Christmas decorations. Somewhere
around about April, BW (that's still beautiful wife) said if I didn't get
that "train table" out of her living room, there was going to be a murder
and I was going to be the guest of honor.
During this Christmas season, Bashford Manor Mall had several train layouts
set up and I met Art Goreham who invited me to visit the Div 8 NMRA. There
I was able to meet with and listen to modelers who knew model railroading.
I decided to tear down the living room layout and start over. Still not
knowing much about model railroading, I modified one of the layouts in the
book "101 Model Railroads You Can Build" and started a 6 x 10 free standing
layout. To pacify BW I decided to name it the J.A.D.M.RR. The J was for
Jackson (my first name), the A for Anneville (BW's middle name), D for
Dealton (a modification of our last name) and the M for Morducum Jct. (need
I explain that one?). BW took one look at the name, snorted and said, "Huh
J.A.D.M. Just Another Damn Model railroad !" So much for pacification.
In 1992 several members of Div 8 decided to start a new modular club. This
is what I had been looking for, the opportunity to be with and work with
people who also had an interest in model railroading. My "Buzzard Gulch"
module, a picture of which appears on this web site, is my first attempt at
semi-serious modeling.
About three fourth's of the benchwork on the JADM was finished and half the
track laid, when BW decided it was time for me to remodel the basement and
add another finished room. To get me interested in doing it, she said I
could move the railroad into the new room. When she saw how much space the
layout took up, she said I might as well have taken the whole room.
WHOOPEE! I had just acquired more trackage rights. Not much as the room is
only 12 x 13 but that is better than 6 x 10 and gives me the ability to go
around the walls with an island.
The JADM is now being dismantled and a new layout is being designed. Also,
no more "cutesy" names. I have about decided on the name
L&N Southern. This because I grew up alongside the Southern tracks and,
during my selling career, I called on the L&N. The premise will be a bridge
line operated jointly by the L&N and Southern serving areas that aren't
profitable for one to serve alone. The era will be the steam-diesel
transition.
My philosophy on model railroading is there is plenty of room for everyone
in the hobby, those who like to stick strictly to prototype, those who like
to freelance and those who just like to watch choo-choos run. After all, it
is a hobby and it should be FUN !
Larry Duff
email:
kyoak@insightbb.com
Ryan Eckler
email:
John Fort
email:
johnfort@bellsouth.net
Bruce A. Goreham
email:
bruce@goreham.net
Models in both HO and N (primary scale "N")
Has a 3ft x 15ft home layout. Models the Applachian & Western, "A&W" (Route of the root beer float) Primarilary interested in L&N and Southern.
Does not plan to build a module
Is a life member of NMRA
Dennis Helms
email:
dennishelms@bellsouth.net
Kevin Jones
email:
krjone01@aye.net
MODULE SIZE - 4 FT.
DESCRIPTION - Embankment Over River with Coal Loader
Nat King, Sr.
email: nking55@bellsouth.net
George Leach
email: gfllal@yahoo.com
Gary Metcalf MMR
email:
garytmetcalf@yahoo.com
MODULE SIZE - 4 FT.
DESCRIPTION - Rock Query
I became interested in model railroading by the time I was two. I would sit
and watch my Dad's trains run around his layout. When I was four, I got my
first Lionel O27 train. I ran my trains and my Dad and brother would run
their HO trains. I soon started noticing that HO trains looked more
realistic than my Lionel did. Then at age eight, I got my first HO train for
Christmas. A Revel UP F7A and 6 cars also made by Revel.
In 1961, we moved to Harlan and did not have a basement in our 3-bedroom
house. My dad made me a layout that would fold up into a wall. For the next
4 years I enjoyed watching my trains run around a circle on that 4 x 6-foot
table that would fold up into the wall when not in use.
In 1965, when I was fourteen, we moved to Bardstown and had plenty of room
for a bigger layout. Dad and I built a double mainline folded dog bone in a
12 x 13-foot room. This layout was only partly finished. The track work was
done, and one end had the mountains finished, but the other end where the
town was supposed to go, never made it. Like most teenagers, my interest in
my trains became sporadic at best.
Through the years after that, I built or started building several layouts,
all on 4 x 8 feet sheets of plywood. Not living in towns where there were
any hobby shops or any other railroad modelers that I could find, my skills
and layouts never progressed.
In 1981, I was visiting my Mom and Dad, here in Louisville at Christmas. I
stopped by the Oxmore Center, and saw the 060 for the first time. John
Manning was running a coal train with 90 plus cars that really impressed me.
That's when I lost my Hook Horn couplers, and started using Kadee couplers,
and again I was able to enjoy my trains in a whole new light. I could
actually switch and back up a train with more than one car on it.
In 1988, I moved back to Louisville, and in 1989 joined the NMRA. Soon
after, Jerry Ashley started a modular club and I joined in on the ground
floor as one of the original members. I now run trains up to 80 cars in
length, and switch with 50 cars. I'm starting a new layout in a room over my garage. You can see it online at http://www.metcalf-web.net/train/new-layout.html I have also served five terms as Superintendent of the K&IMRRC.
Ron Montgomery
email:
RonCMont@insightbb.com
MODULE SIZE - (3) 6FT. (1) 2FT.
DESCRIPTION - Passenger Yard
Like many of the members of the club, I received my first Lionel for my
fifth Christmas. That was in 1947 and it was a Pennsylvania steam turbine
with a Baby Ruth box car, a Sunoco tank car , a gray flat car, a gondola, and
a little red caboose. I still have them and they still run. I also have
some pieces of Ives and three rail American Flyer.
I have had a layout of some sort ever since, except for the two years
that I was in the Army. In the mid fifties, with the help of some cereal box
tops and three dollars, I got my start in HO with a Varney set. This was
followed in 1964 with an N Scale Trix set. In 1977, when I purchased a
larger house, I went back to my HO for the home layout and soon joined an N
Scale modular group. In 1993 we formed the Kentucky and Indiana Model
Railroad Club, where my interest remains to this day.
My home layout is still HO and is layout number six. I run a lot of
passenger trains, and for years I always ended up cheating on the radius.
Now there is nothing less than a 30 inch radius and the large curve at one
end of the layout has a 60 inch radius.
I have recently converted my home layout to DCC, which is one of my
better moves. I love to do wiring, but the old block system was becoming a
nightmare. I used 2 MRC Command 2000 units bridged along with a MRC 8 amp
power booster. This provides plenty of power for the 16 x 40 around the
wall layout. Most of the engines are Rivarossi or Proto 2000's.
For the most part, layout number six is in the Styrofoam stage. Many of
the buildings and much of the rolling stock are in storage boxes, waiting for
me to get past the PermaScene and Hydrocal. I love to build scenery and
buildings much more than rolling stock. The part that I hate most about the
hobby would have to be Kadee couplers. They are great if I ever get all of
the parts in the right place, but something always ends up on the floor!
My module for the K & I is a 20 foot passenger yard. It runs good, but
has been around since 1993. It is starting to need a little refurbishing.
Due to its length, I have to wait until spring or summer to work on it outside
as one unit.
I am now retired from 13 years in the retail business and 30 years of
teaching instructional technology . Now I have the opportunity to make my
basement look more like a train layout than a hobby shop. My wonderful wife
of 37 years told me it was time to stop buying and start building. As usual,
she was right!
If you are in the hobby or are thinking about getting started, I hope it
brings you as much pleasure as it has brought me.
Joe O'Gara
email:
ogarasteam@bellsouth.net
MODULE SIZE - 4 FT.
DESCRIPTION - City Scene
I have been interested in trains for over 50 years. I like to model steam and early diesels of the Pensylvania Railroad. My favorite part of model railroading is running trains. My home layout is designed in a dogbone configuration which allows me to run lots of trains.
Al Palmore email:alpalmore@hotmail.com
Roberto Penne
email:
rolimar@bellsouth.net
Jacob Schiess
email:brownsfan192@insightbb.com
Bill Schook
email:bschook@insightbb.com
Mike Shane
email:
shan3292@bellsouth.net
My first memory of trains was when I was about 4 or 5 years old, sitting in my parents car in St. Matthews by the C&O/L&N double tracks. I remember steam engines, and RS-3's in Warbonnets.
Shortly after that, my Dad bought me an American Flyer set in ATSF red and silver warbonnets. I was hooked, and my Dad was disappointed because when I was playing with the trains, he couldn't play with them.
I switched to HO scale as a teenager and have been collecting since. I like building and custom decorating rolling stock and engines. I have built several home layouts and I am planning a new one now. I model the L&N, Southern, Pensy, NC&St.L, and my own fictional road the Jefferson & Ohio Valley. I like the late steam through the 60-70's diesels. I have more freight than passenger equipment.
Douglas S. Shields
email:dshields@adi-dist.com
Nicolas Skinner
Robert Sobotka
email:rsobotka@ipapilot.org
I was interested in railroading as long as I can remember. Growing up just 2 blocks from a grade crossing of both the Central RR of New Jersey and Lehigh Valley, later to be NJ Transit and Conrail, trains were an ever present part of my young life. My parents would hear the horn blow and we would jump in the car - no need for child seats back then - and get to the crossing in time to watch a freight or a CNJ Budd Car zip by. I still have my original Tyco Geep from the early 1970s and it still runs.
I went to college at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark and rode a train 5 days a week for 4 years from Dunnellen to school. This rekindled my interest in railroads after waning in my teen years. I have studied the fallen flags of New Jersey like the CNJ, LV, Reading, Erie Lackawanna, Pennsylvania and others, and since moving to Tennessee 15 years ago the L&N and NC&StL. About a year ago my son, now 2 1/2, began to be interested in trains much the way I did. I brought out that old Tyco and one thing led to another (with a little encouragement from Ed Brennan) and now I'm hooked on model railroading again. I began studying the railroads of Louisville in earnest. First the L&N and Monon (my favorites), now the C&O and PRR, and eventually the Southern and IC. I'd like to do others like the CNJ but my goal is to model a layout inspired by Louisville circa 1940-1970 so that is my focus.
My fascination with model railroading is threefold. Knowing the history of a particular line and how it relates to Louisville, creating a model from a prototype as best as I can (or at least knowing why it is NOT prototypical), and the joy of watching it run, especially if mechanical or electrical work was involved. With the completion of phase 1 of my home layout (a 10' X 5') this fall I look forward to enjoying all of this with my son.
Finally it was my membership in the K&I that made my model railroading interest come to life. Without a significant home layout (currently a 8' X 1' shelf layout) I couldn't have seen my modeling come to life. And with the encouragement and comraderie of my fellow members I look forward to each trip to the club and progression of my modeling skills.
Pete Snyder
email:
bgapsnyder@bellsouth.net
I am a 1940's Baltimore & Ohio steam-passenger train fan, with special interest in The National Limited which ran between New York and St. Louis for forty years (1925-1965). It was B&O's premier flagship passenger train to The Gateway of the West. In 1927 (B&O's Centennial Year) the railroad had twenty "Presidential-Class" P-7 (4-6-2 Heavy Pacific) steam locomotives built (one for each president) and assigned them to their named-passenger trains.
As a youngster I had a Lionel train set too, and was in a model railroad club in Junior High School. In the summer of 1949 (when I was ten years old), my parents and I had an opportunity to ride on The National Limited from my hometown of Vincennes, Indiana to Philadelphia. I know the train was pulled by one of the P-7s because I could see it as we went around curves. I also remember seeing coal soot (which came in the opened windows of the Dinning Car) on the white table clothes and napkins. Sitting across from us in our Pullman Car was Margaret Truman (President Truman's daughter). After some coaxing from my Mom, I asked Ms. Truman for her autograph. I still recall that she wasn't particularly friendly and appeared quite matronly for a young woman in her mid-twenties.
My 4x8 layout at home attempts to duplicate "The Summer of 1949" when I rode on The National Limited. I have an IHC B&O 4-6-2 Heavy Pacific (President Washington) pulling a set of 1930s era streamlined passenger cars. Since I retired from the military in 1996, many of my friends suggested that I get into a hobby. I can see that my renewed interest in model railroading will do just fine.
Jeff Stewart
email:
jeffstewart.1@insightbb.com
Hello, and welcome to the K&I train club
website! I hope you, our guest, have had a great opportunity to learn a bit about
our members and why we enjoy the hobby and trains in general. The following is a
short; don't laugh as I tried to keep it short, background of me, my likes and why
I am in the hobby.
Trains have always been a part of my family from birth. My father, Dr. Van
Stewart, grew up in a lower income part of Pittsburgh. He and his friends chipped
in and purchased collectively as much prewar Lionel O-gauge "three rail" equipment
as they could. They would take turns going from house to house so each person
would have equal time with the trains. As with all teens, his/their interests
faltered to women, cars and for him most importantly school. My father earned his
PHD and DMD and his career took off mandating a move to the University of
Louisville Dental School (the year 1976). Due to the move to Louisville and a new
residence with some leftover train "stuff" left in the basement the bug hit my dad
again, hard! The equipment left in the house was an unfamiliar scale to my father,
as it was HO scale. He hit the local hobby shop and purchased a few items and one
of the inexpensive train sets most modelers start out with in this scale. Also, as
luck would have it there are several other professors with deep interest in model
trains as well at his work, all helping to keep him somewhat focused on the then
good quality items.
Christmas of 1978 was the year of the train for my brother and me. I still have
those engines and cars to this day. I was lucky enough to receive a Rivirossi
Challenger and Big Boy and associated passenger car sets, the reason I model UP
today. My brother received Great Northern Lifelike GP8's and loads of freight
cars. I now know as with all fathers, I am now one myself, we give the gifts we
don't mind to "play" with one bit ourselves! Now, where do we run these incredible
"toys"? Time to build our first layout!
The first layout was a very elongated dog bone configuration. The layout was a
typical shelf layout in an unfinished area of the family basement. Luckily my
father didn't mind to buy track and the layout grew to over 35' in length. At the
peak of this layout we could run four trains on very long loops. All is well but
dad decides to try his hand at basement remodeling (year 1980). Layout number one
comes down and a new "train room" is built. The room is mostly for me as my
brother is now in high school and soccer and girls are the order of the day.
The second layout is mostly my doing and being only eleven years old at this
time, and by having read probably 70 or 80 Model Railroader magazines, I was
dreaming of my perfect layout! Dad as usual is very helpful and has kept
purchasing equipment for the layout and track as well. The only problem is I have
no concept of grade, frog angles and to me now the most important a large minimum
curve radius. The plan included multiple levels connected by probably 4-5% inclines
with sharp curves to boot. Needless to say the outer perimeter was the only usable
track on the layout for the size equipment I was trying to run. Chalk this up to
memory and a total lack of experience.
By now I am in high school and the trains are on the back burner for me as well.
Soccer, skiing, girls and SCCA Solo car racing is winning my time over besides
keeping up with my school load. High school and college are a flash and now I am
heading into true adulthood, marriage. I get married to whom I would call my high
school sweet heart, Lori (when we start dating she is a senior in high school and I
am a freshman at UofL). We immediately purchase our first house (year 1996) with
the mandatory basement. By now I am reading train magazines again and renew my
subscription to M.R. I was amazed how times changed in the past several years
while I was doing other things besides keeping up with trains. By now command
control has been around for years but only to the elite, electronically savvy
person with what seemed like deep pockets. However, I start reading about a
standard being developed by the NMRA call DCC. The more I read the more I liked
about this new and promising technology. I start to acquire new, smoother running
equipment (note: for new modelers hopefully reading this lengthy recount, nothing
will stop you or your families' enjoyment of model trains faster than anything as
cheap, poor quality running equipment. Please buy quality!!!!) for my
reintroduction into the hobby. I purchase a DCC system, the Digitrax Chief and I
am now ready to take on my third layout.
The third layout was a lot of what I had learned from the first two and from
what I had desired in a permanent home layout. The layout was to be a multi-level
with a partial helix to go between levels. I wanted very long runs, and have
point-to-point operations for multiple operators. As planned the layout was to
have roughly 1800sq ft. of usable deck space, which excluded all walkways. The
first and only portion built on this layout was the most complicated and honestly
unrealistic portion of the layout. I called this section the mountain stage and
used modelers license very liberally use the horseshoe tunnels in BC to gain
elevation before hitting a 2 turn helix to the upper levels. Even though the room
was only 12' x 13' feet in size I was able to run 65 car trains up the 120+ feet of
track on the "mountain stage" reliably with the help of mid train helpers and the
finite control of DCC. The mountain stage was well along in construction and
operating very reliably when the Mrs.'s found a new house to remodel.
I am sure you have guessed by now we moved (year 2000) and I tried my best to
salvage parts of the old layout for the new house. In the mean time I was
collecting engines at a nice rate and equipping most with the DCC decoders as
possible. By this time we had/have been in the house for three years and I was
getting an itch to learn more and to run some trains! While visiting Scale
Reproductions, local hobby shop, I heard about the K&I club and decided to visit.
As we can all say the rest is history, I joined and have been a member for almost a
year now. I have made some great friends and I have actually learned a lot and
hopefully the other members feel the same way that I have given them a lot of
knowledge and inspiration as well!
Hope you enjoyed my trip through time and we all hope to see you at one of the
open house or run session sometime soon. Thanks for the time and I look forward to
meeting you.
Jeff Stewart
Brian Weir email:greywoolf40068@yahoo.com
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