My frustration with Windows 10 continues but i will struggle on with my communications with you.Without planning a gathering of BNSF power several guys were running them last week and I was able to talk them into gathering for this shot.
A week before that event, Greg and Marvin had these BN trains with F units running and I got them passing each other in a fashion.
Last week Keith and John Schwarze had these 2 sets of premerger trains running. One set from Keith was all SP&S and the other was 5 railroads involved in the BN merger. Nice touch.
There was no need for cooperation on this shot as they were owned by one guy. Larry Sorenson had 6 of his 7 Union Pacific Centennials together so all I had to do was ask to take the photo.
This shot shows 4 of the 6 "what if" paint schemes of merged railroads into the Union Pacific they didn't merge and painted them to look like these. Union Pacific has an ulterior legal reason so they can retain the rights to the railroads logos and graphics. There are real ones with these paint schemes. Another Larry Sorenson collection.
Jul 2, 2018
Re: Missing in action....the Quinn Report!
These are great!
Jun 11, 2018
Be on the lookout stolen HO trains
WE WOULD APPRECIATE ANY HELP ON THIS ISSUE! JERRY
JB
Jim Bowden <jmbowden46@yahoo.com>
Today, 9:33 PM
Hello Jerry,
Please pass this on to all the Greener's and friends of the Evergreen. A friend of mine had his home broken into this past weekend while he was out of town and the low life scum sucking pigs that did it broke down doors and did a lot of damage to gain access. They destroyed the dash on his car sitting in the garage trying to hot wire it. They stole all his tools appliances etc. But most importantly they took his entire HO collection that he has been collecting for years. He is not a runner and has never had a layout so most of his collection was in boxes and many piece are not replaceable. He said they are mainly Alaska Railroad however he had many other road names. This was not a small collection, he had over 1400 pieces of rolling stock alone, not to mention locomotives, buildings etc. he was collecting so he could build his retirement layout. So if anyone is approached by someone trying to sell a large collection that hasn't got a clue about what they have and if they are suspicious , please get their license plate number ( or if you feel like it break their legs ) and then contact the Spokane Police Department immediatey and Refer to case # 2018-10078179 and let them do their thing. Also Please pass this on to River City, Sunset and anyone else that might be able to help locate this collection before it is destroyed or sold off for a weeks supply of meth.
Thank You
Jim
Fw: Train Theft
WE WOULD APPRECIATE ANY HELP ON THIS ISSUE! JERRY
From: Jim Bowden <jmbowden46@yahoo.com>
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2018 9:33 PM
To: jerry@signalsigns.com
Subject: Train Theft
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2018 9:33 PM
To: jerry@signalsigns.com
Subject: Train Theft
Hello Jerry,
Please pass this on to all the Greener's and friends of the Evergreen. A friend of mine had his home broken into this past weekend while he was out of town and the low life scum sucking pigs that did it broke down doors and did a lot of damage to gain access. They destroyed the dash on his car sitting in the garage trying to hot wire it. They stole all his tools appliances etc. But most importantly they took his entire HO collection that he has been collecting for years. He is not a runner and has never had a layout so most of his collection was in boxes and many piece are not replaceable. He said they are mainly Alaska Railroad however he had many other road names. This was not a small collection, he had over 1400 pieces of rolling stock alone, not to mention locomotives, buildings etc. he was collecting so he could build his retirement layout. So if anyone is approached by someone trying to sell a large collection that hasn't got a clue about what they have and if they are suspicious , please get their license plate number ( or if you feel like it break their legs ) and then contact the Spokane Police Department immediatley and Refer to case # 2018-10078179 and let them do their thing. Also Please pass this on to River City, Sunset and anyone else that might be able to help locate this collection before it is destroyed or sold off for a weeks supply of meth.
Thank You
Jim
Fw: Train Theft
WE WOULD APPRECIATE ANY HELP ON THIS ISSUE! JERRY
From: Jim Bowden <jmbowden46@yahoo.com>
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2018 9:33 PM
To: jerry@signalsigns.com
Subject: Train Theft
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2018 9:33 PM
To: jerry@signalsigns.com
Subject: Train Theft
Hello Jerry,
Please pass this on to all the Greener's and friends of the Evergreen. A friend of mine had his home broken into this past weekend while he was out of town and the low life scum sucking pigs that did it broke down doors and did a lot of damage to gain access. They destroyed the dash on his car sitting in the garage trying to hot wire it. They stole all his tools appliances etc. But most importantly they took his entire HO collection that he has been collecting for years. He is not a runner and has never had a layout so most of his collection was in boxes and many piece are not replaceable. He said they are mainly Alaska Railroad however he had many other road names. This was not a small collection, he had over 1400 pieces of rolling stock alone, not to mention locomotives, buildings etc. he was collecting so he could build his retirement layout. So if anyone is approached by someone trying to sell a large collection that hasn't got a clue about what they have and if they are suspicious , please get their license plate number ( or if you feel like it break their legs ) and then contact the Spokane Police Department immediatley and Refer to case # 2018-10078179 and let them do their thing. Also Please pass this on to River City, Sunset and anyone else that might be able to help locate this collection before it is destroyed or sold off for a weeks supply of meth.
Thank You
Jim
Apr 29, 2018
Sometimes I think my neighbors are a bunch of turkeys???
I-90 in the Spokane Valley, about 3 blocks from my new home. No one needs to go hungry this Thanksgiving around here!!!
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I saw the real ones today at the east end of Yardley this morning showing these GP-50s that used to be Santa Fe mainline units hauling intermodal freights, now they work a branch line
North of Spokane to Chewelah or Colville, Washington. Notice the middle units are cables and serve as power units with no crew access so the lead unit needs a cab to run them.
The Mighty Weso owns the models, the real ones are owned by Warren Buffet.
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Looks like we moved to Cheyenne where Union Pacific was the home base for big power such as the double engine Centennials they ran in the late 60s and into the 70s. Larry Sorenson
Now has 6 of these monsters, some with sound and they are very impressive to see run.
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What could more impressive than a Northern Pacific passenger train is having 2 of them running at the same time. Marvin had a version for the Mainstreeter as well as a version
Of the North Coast Limited that featured 4 domes per train set. Back in the day I rode in the domes heading out west in 1963 and 1967 and what a treat it was for me and the wife.
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Finally we have a freight train pulled by SP&S Alco Century 425s that visited Spokane on a daily basis back in 1960s. It was nice to have your city's name on the sides of the units
Keith Wiles is the president of this smaller version.
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Member 44 is Robert Whiffen....when will it ever end?
the Evergreen club when he arrived. Robert is 6' 6" and joins the ranks of our larger members such as Scotty, Rodney and Jesse.
He was a member of the Longview train club and knows Robert Case, an ex-member who also plans to rejoin in Sept. Welcome Robert!
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Speaking of Big Boys, here's a model of a real Big Boy, a 4-8-8-4 giant that Union Pacific had several dozen of in the late 40's and 50's.
I think this one was run by Larry Sorenson and if I'm wrong I will hear from the mob that I got it wrong.
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It's the Mighty Weso's train featuring a brand new, C-636 Alco that must have just had the wrapping taken off and out of the
Box. That won't last long with the smoke they usually put out and weathered them up like God intended. Steve knows him personally.
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I'm switching from Windows Live Mail to Outlook and I can't tell if I showed this train before ( nor can I remember if I did) but this
Baldwin switcher is a Doug N. model that NP ran in the Spokane area in the late 60s. I think that's my flat car?
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Another railfan gets caught trespassing on the mighty BNSF tracks and this time he deserves a ticket. I think that's a cop waving
but where is his gun? I wonder if the railfan is a friend of the Ford Model A or Model T club? Maybe its Don Carnegie?
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Apr 6, 2018
Member 42 and other railroad activities!
Jack had his little BNSF loco doing switching duties at Bakersville today. Jack seems to like the challenge
of switching cars into different locations on the layout. Atta Boy Jack!
Jesse has his BN GP15 doing a local job while Steve Weso had a mainline freight moving a string
of auto racks to distant customers.
Our youngest non-member Eliam had this GN steamer pulling several passenger cars on the Green Branch
as a celebration of railfans made it desirable to pull off this unique event.
Rodney has been working on the trolley line and I am happy to see that it is working again with a
little labor and love to make it come alive again. Thanks Rodney, he is another retired railroader
that has joined the Evergreen club. That makes 7 ex-railroaders part of our group.
Can you see the locomotives on the far side of the aisle? They are 2 Great Northern F units pulling
90 ore cars jut like they do today in the ore fields of Minnesota. The cars are short because the ore
is so heavy they can't make them much bigger. Doug N. is the owner. The ore is needed to make steel.
Remember member 42..... its Scott Davis, a retired Army soldier that has gotten back into the hobby
and joined our club. We once were 12 members strong....now we are 42 members! Welcome Scott.
Apr 4, 2018
The age of the famous flat faced Behemoths!
Once upon a time when steam engines ran backwards to go forwards such a thing
happened on a small railroad called the Southern Pacific. Here we have 2 of these
creatures lining up for another adventure on the Evergreen Railroad. Larry
Sorenson owns them both.
They ran backwards because the SP had things like tunnels and snowsheds in the Cascade and Sierra
Mountains where smoke could make train crews very unhealthy with the smoke coming at them,
especially if the train stalled in the middle of their journey. Many men fell until they figured this out.
Say, is that Jack in the background?
Diesels did not smoke as much as steam engines and they lived happily ever after on most railroads.
This F unit set is a Union Pacific train owned by member Burt Whitney.
I tried to photograph Greg Mercier's beautiful SP&S wreck crane and all sorts of lighting efforts were
tried to show the detail.
This time I caught it in good light to show all the monkey motion that these creatures had to lift things
off the ground.
Greg also had a beautiful SP&S 4-6-6-4 Challenger with a long string of ice reefers with a lonely Baldwin
diesel going the other way with a short way freight. Both types of power visited Spokane in their day.
Mar 31, 2018
Friday Afternoon crew was working on the Railroad!
While Jim Bowden was working on the new paper mill site at the back of the layout, young Jack Pappas
was preping Mt. Whitney for the site of our newest model of a ranger station Jack put together.
The wood chip rotary is now installed in the green building and additional switches and track has been
installed today by Jim. We are waiting on switches to arrive from China or someplace. The tan building
is the main building in this paper complex.
The was a brass kit the Jack found and put together with
solder and care as it was very detailed. Jack did a terrific job on it.
He painted it too! Don gave it to the club, thanks Don!
Willl Windom was showing off is Santiam and Western fire car this week and I was very impressed as well.
This is our newest member at the club but no stranger to me. His name is Chris MacKay and I knew
Chris some 10 years ago at a different train club. He was 13 years old then and loves modeling and ranching
so he is a welcomed addition to our other 40 members. Brings our average club member age down a few years
as well.
Mar 23, 2018
Remember the Baldwins?
No I don't refer to those mediocre actors that you see on TV from time to time but the steam engine
builder that could not continue their success in the diesel market. Baldwin Locomotive Co. had a number
of switchers here in Spokane when I arrived here in 1967.
I never could get the model designations of the Baldwin locos down so we just say it's a switch
engine moving a few loads from one yard to another. Our new friend and member Doug Neighswonger
is the owner of this model. The flatcar is my creation.
Here she pulls into the Blue Main yard with its catch and out of the way of the mainline freights.
NP #415 passes through the Port District on its way to delivery point.
Two competitors race for the finish line before they both disappear from the railroad scene, the
SP&S in merger as a BN unit in 1970 and the Milwaukee Road in a sad end in 1980 as a bankrupt railroad.
Another fallen flag was the New York Central in a disaster move as a merger partner with the Pennsy.
Somebody should have gone to jail on that one. Doug Neighswonger owns these beauties.
Keeping it out West........well almost!
Greg Mercier brought in this fantastic model of a Titchy small crane and what a terrific job he did.
With his blessings I gave it a little weathering for an in-service look.
Colin Fitzgerald now has this 3 unit FA set for SP&S followed by a 5 car NP passenger train.
The famous NP Mainstreeter was also present on Thursday as Marvin matched the real one with the
right cars in his lineup.
Greg also had an NP freight train riding the rial for several hours without a hitch. If we were
giving out trophies, Greg would have most of them.
Just to be fair, I included a Eastern railroad called the New York Central with the appropriate back east
rolling stock following along. New member Doug Neighswonger, ex Milw and BN employee, is at fault.
Back to Gods country is another Doug model of a Great Northern switcher doing God's work by
delivering box cars to on line customers.
Mar 7, 2018
At the train Show... Modeling German railway guns
Most of us follow military history, navel battles, tanks and stuff but not so much for artillery. At Sunday's
Train Show this fella shows up with a railway gun that was considered heavy like this gun in
desert colors.
Next to it was a model of the 4th largest moveable item ever built. This monster had a 33 inch diameter barrel
which is twice as big as anything we had on our battleships of World War Two. The Germans used it up
in Russia at Savastapool (sp) and took a 1000 man unit to operate and move it. The shells would have
been a job moving them alone much less building a double track to move and align to gun.
Here's a close up of the detail and the guy did a fabulous job in the building and painting of it.
Keith acquired 2 more SP&S RS units to his fleet and the semaphores would make it right at home.
Donald's 2 Milwaukee Road switch engines get main line service getting a bunch of coal cars to small
towns running out of coal for their homes to heat.
On a positive note many new members found that our workbench in the back of the club layout has
a grey Formica top that we haven't seen since it was installed years ago. I assume a party will be held to
celebrate this occasion?
