Our first and deserving Lifetime member But Whitney, gets a wall plaque in his honor!

 

Gary Frizzell,  friend of the club and owner of Signal Signs, donated to the club 2 plaques, one for Burt Whitney and one for the club photo wall. He knows most of the club members

as he is a frequent visitor to the club and joins us for lunch most Tuesdays before we get to the club. I wanted to give a shout out to Gary for doing this for Burt and the club.

 

Four Santa Fe PAs made a grand appearance at the club while modern Amtrak P42s pass by with a double deck consist.

 

Doug had this tiny EMD Series 40 do some switching and as Doug tells it they only built a few of these rare engines.

These 2 2-6-0s with no identifying marks is going to put Chuck Heimerdinger in a frenzy. I asked Doug about it and he says if they don't leave the owner's property it don't matter.

Now its up to the Supreme Court.

 

Remember the Burlington Northern? It's been 23 years since its demise into BNSF and I miss it more than ever now that I can see the future of BNSF with the sameness

each day. BN was the last of cabooses, Baldwins, Alcos, semaphores, and yes even F units. They may have come from the prior merger roads but they had them for a while.

Good thing we can model them so our memories won't fade so fast.

 

Remember our European friend Thomas? Jim Bowden had his on display this week. He gave railroad engines a personality that may have helped the railfan and model railroad

fans with new admirers of the railroad empire. Maybe even more than railroad cops have chased away?

Showtime with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad!

New members like Doug Neiswonger bring new equipment and the B&O in action is new to me. I added a little smoke and steam to

add to the excitement to feel what it would have been like to see in the mids 1950s, the real thing in action.

Two articulated locomotives with a long string of hoppers in tow working the hill.

 

Will Windom again demonstrated his operating crane to the members again with a lift of his loco. Will added weight and braces to his crane to allow it to lift something heaver that itself.. These micro motors can do wonders to a static model we all have in some form. Yiks!

 

What is wrong with this picture? Can you tell?

 

It's what we call On30 but runs on HO scale track. Because the wheels fits HO track but the body is O scale

the difference is a bit strange. Both are correct scale as the big one is 1/48 scale and the little one is 1/87 scale.

Narrow gauge was popular in Colorado as to the economy of shorter ties, less rock was needed and other

reasons and some modelers love the history of railroads in narrow gauge.

 

Remember the movie about the Maersk ship captured by the pirates? They also have a lot of containers

flowing through the USA especially on the old Santa Fe line down south. Larry Sorenson had his

running tonight and it reminded me of that event.

 

Rod Huffman seems pleased with the new club book done for him and Janis. I took pictures of the two

over the past 2 years and made them 2 copies of the book with 32 pages for $50.00. It gives our

members a way of saving memories of their involvement with the club.

We had a uplifting party!

Will brought in his amazing 250 ton working crane for the open house and impressed the onlookers with its ability

to lift a brand new BNSF unit off the rails. It can lift rotate 360 degrees and has 5 working lights.

 

We had more than 100 people visit us during the open house on Saturday such as Steve Meyers, Bruce Kelly, Pete Heppler were in attendance.

Chuck Heimerdinger and Ralph Thomas sent in their regrets! New member Doug Neighswonger watches the door looking for Greg Mercier

who was stuck in Sandpoint with 20 inches of snow to deal with.

 

My favorite train on Saturday was this monster 4 unit set of UP Centennials. The largest of all diesels together running as one. They were

brought in by new member Larry Sorenson and now we have 2 strong UP modelers in the club.

 

Jack Pappas now has 3 big BNSF Dash 9s (or whatever they are ) (new designations for Teir 3 or 4 environmental) parked at Bakersville

for some unknown reason while a MRL passenger train looks on.

 

Doug has this unusual Baldwin switcher with a Cotton belt caboose that he reworked, painted and

decaled for this new look at the club.  The club seems to be getting more experienced members that

have a talent and knowledge of what they want to have in their inventory.

 

I can't let one of our favorites not get some attention as Keith had his 4 FAs running with a freight train just like the ones he saw

as a kid in Wishram, Washington back in the 1960s.

Three birthday boys make It to the Evergreen club to celebrate the big day!

 

In December 5 of our members have a birthday and 3 of them, Jesse, Steve and Larry were so honored.''

Jack Pappas and Kent Clausen were AWOL and work had something to do with their absence.

Marvin supplies the pies that he makes every month for us members. Looks like Steve was wishing for Kabassa?

 

I think this was Larry's Santa Fe passenger train with EMD E-6 unit in the lead. Love those slant noses! Looks like the handrail needs help?

ic

 

This critter looks a lot like the Rio Grande Galloping Goose reconfigured from a Mack truck with railroad wheels.

Rod has big plans for it with a remodel. It actually works and so do the headlights.

 

Another newcomer to the club was this 4 unit Nickel Plate Alco PA set. The new members have expanded

our choices beyond NP, SP&S, BNSF and Union Pacific stuff.

 

Northern Pacific Mainstreeter visits Union Station in downtown Cobbleton on a detour from their own

tracks to accomplish this?

 

As all of you know I'm not one to toot my horn but here I am hanging out with my son-in-law Kent

Clausen who played linebacker for the Jets for 2 years and a guy called Mark Rippen, who played quarterback

for the Washington Redskins and won the Super Bowl back in the 1980s. The little guy in the middle is me!

It was a birthday party my daughter Bonnie had for her husband Kent and I was invited. Free food!

 

 

High Bridge or what's left of it.

Someone asked me a questions.... so I answered. Jerry

 

Hi Jerry,
I am interested in local history, including railway history.  I've looked around to try to find the south abutment of the High Bridge without success. 

Does it still exist?  If so, where is it, please?  If not, where was it and the railed following from it?

Many thanks,
Michael Cain

 

I am standing on the south abutment to High Bridge in this 1968 photo of the Hinkle Express that,left Spokane around 11 am every morning until Amtrak took

over passenger service and this train was no more. It was a mixed collection of a coach, a baggage car and what freight had to get to Hinkle that early afternoon.

I would guess that this fill is still there and would get you to your south abutment.

 

A quarter mile past the first photo would be where the Union Pacific crossed I-90 and you can see the

shadow of the bridge still in place just past the road bridge around 1975.

 

This is how the Union Pacific got in and out of Spokane to the south and west. The Maple Street Bridge

is still there but homes, apartments and commercial structures are there now where railroads used to be.

High Bridge is to the left and downtown is to the right.

 

Grab shot as City of Hinkle (rail yard in Oregon) heads south. The abutments can still be seen

in the river west of the Centennial trail crossing.

 

Sometimes I could plan my day to be in the area to get a shot of a UP mixed freight.

Perhaps those buildings are still there to get you a sense where those abutments are located.

Bridge no more. It came down a few years later when BNSF Latah Bridge was the UP route in and

out of Spokane and Marshall Canyon. Just past Cheney it got on its own tracks towards the Snake River

and the famous town (yard) of Hinkle where it met UP's main line to Portland, Oregon.

I have thousands of photos on Cds of many railroads in the country if you need additional info.

Thanks for asking Jerry Quinn 509-939-5845

 

 

We got a date picked out you might enjoy between the holidays

 

If you enjoy seeing these photos of the club and are in the area, why not plan

to stop by and see it in real life. We promise you will enjoy yourself or we will

double your money back. Oh wait, we don't charge for admission! dang!

 

 

 

Steve Weso put on a show with a long BN grain train making it around the port district, Old Town and

Cobbletown. Or maybe he is just showing off?

 

New member Doug had a model there on Thursday that was the replica of the John Bull. Back then they

didn't know what a steam engine was supposed to look like so this is what they came up with.

 

Janis had a long Great Northern passenger train with 5 F units in charge. The Green & orange was replaced

by the Blue and White in 1967 but I don't know why?

 

This is an odd collection of equipment with a Norfolk & Western steamer in front of a Sounder

(Portland, Ore to Vancouver, BC ) commuter train. Maybe it was on tour of the Northwest?

 

A model in the making is this GN diesel with a kit built snow plow followed by a crew caboose

for the day's effort to keep the man line open after a snowstorm.

 

 

Young members increase Evergreen membership

 

To keep the model railroading hobby alive the club and the hobby in general needs to increase our

attraction for younger members and that we did this week with the addition to the crew is Alex Carl,

a 19 year old college student that wants to learn all aspects of the hobby. Member 37 if I remember correctly.

He was rusting track 30 minutes after joining!

 

Marvin had his 4 Northern Pacific EMD and GE 6 axle power units running on the Red line and that gave me this photo op to catch it in front of the station at Bakersville.

 

Alex brough in this Civil War era 4-4-0 as one of his locos and it looked right at home at the lumber mill.

 

Rod Huffman had his work equipment making the rounds and always he adds his sense of humor to

his stuff.

 

Doug used the cartoon Pogo to model the Altoona & Fort Mudge Railroad but we learned this week that this is the passenger colors for the railroad as well.

 

My junior assistant Will Windom was inspired to cut into the hillside behind Bakersville to make the

landings for the soon to be high tension towers to power the town with the evil electricity to make

things run.  The white area is plaster cloth to start the new hillsides. Stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

The Western Pacific lives!

 

And member John Schwarze intends to keep it that way with 4 silver and orange units making time and money for the man! It was consumed by the

Union Pacific in the early 1980s and the yellow peril took over the Feather River Canyon line into Sacramento.

 

The mighty SP&S was sucked into the BN merger back in 1970 and that spelt the end of Alco power on the Columbia River in yellow and black.

 

The Great Northern suffered the same fate as anything pre merger was to be erased as fast as possible. In better times this GN SD9 handles a local freight

That's a nice Chooch wall Mike O'Connell!

 

A long way from home are these 6 units for the Chicago Great Western. Looks like the CGW saved a lot of money by not hiring a artist to come up with

a paint scheme instead of buying a bunch of logos to slap on the car bodies.

 

Robert Case and his brother William stopped by the club on Thursday and they brought a Talgo train to run on the layout. The main feature is their

size and weight for ease of handling on commuter runs plus they tilt on curves for a nicer ride. Robert is rumored to move back to Spokane to attend Eastern

Washington University again. We hope so.

The Wednesday Wonder video by WESO

 

 

 

VIDEO DONE BY MEMBER STEVE WESO AT THE EVERGREEN CLUB LAST WEDNESDAY EVENING. JERRY

 

 

  Here's the next one!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzF4GLU0k4g

Wednesday Wonderment www.youtube.com Ever heard of the Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Railway? I hadn't until member Jim B. brought in a pair of Alco Century series locomotives all dressed ou...

The glorys of the Southern Pacific are revealed!

 

Here I thought the magic of SP was Cab Forwards and Daylight 4-8-4s, but I was wrong! It turns out its this little 44 ton switcher that Doug

brought in Tuesday! Sure its small and well.... small but its cute and easy to put on the track. Now I see why Chuck Heimerdinger is such a fan!

 

Welcome to New Josiey! Doug's other loco was a Central of New Jersey FM road switcher in original paint. I never ventured south 20 miles to

photograph these babies running when I lived back there. Let's see... I was young, did not have a car or a camera or film or even know they existed!

 

Must have been a windstorm that pushed over that rail cleaner box car? Or maybe it was my elbow trying to get this shot of 3 big BNSF units heading out.

 

Contrasting eras is shown here with F7 #725 represents the 1950s and 1991 Desert Storm represents 1990s era power.

 

Janus had her collection of red, white and blue locos together for a test run on Tuesday, The units represent BN honoring BN employees for serving

during Desert Storm, the middle two units are America's 200th birthday and the trailing unit is SP version of the Bi-Centennial effort.