West Side of Town
This site was the first on the layout which produces revenue for the railroad. It appeared in a magazine within a month after I began work on the layout. The spur leading to the structure was to serve other purposes but when I saw the picture in the ad I decided otherwise. The fit is perfect and looks well placed behind the grocery store. It was my friend Ken who came up with the idea of placing a magnet between rails to couple and decouple cars as they came in. At the time I had no knowledge of the fact that this is routinely done by experienced model railroaders.
Lots of detail in this building. I built it early so I kept relocateing it from one place to another. Finally, after meeting Ken in Bakersfield and adding the second 4x8, which was to be the industrial site, it ended up there.
To accommodate the airport and extension of the mainline, I constructed an area measuring 7 feet by 45 inches with scrap plywood I had stored in the shed. I bolted this addition to the 4x8 which I had just completed making the layout foundation take the shape of an "L." Next, I outlined the area where I would locate the maintenance hangar and parking facilities for aircraft including gliders. The idea for the runways, one of which would be a grass stip, the other paved, came to mind from a plane ride I took on a PT-17 Stearman at the small field in Chester, Connecticut. Then I cemented thin sheets of cardboard and applied a thin layer of woodland Scenics flex paste and sanded the area lightly until smooth.
It was a
delight to find that IHC had exactly what I needed, the terminal, maintenance hangar, and
kits containing airplanes and gliders. I ordered a PT-17 and a gyrocopter from
Williams Bros., I found a Bonanza at Nothin' But Trains in Bakersfield, and my wife found
the helicopter at the B&B in downtown Tehachapi. Being a fan of Amelia Earhart,
I included a gyrocopter which makes the airport that more unique.
For a feature story on The Airport, click here.
The Sherman Hill Railroad, Air & Space Museum
With the inclusion of my Apollo experiences in this updated version of my website, I thought it appropriate to add a new dimension to my train layout. Already boasting a rarity in train layouts, the airport, I planned to build an addition that goes beyond the call of duty, a Railroad, Air & Space Museum.
For a feature story on The Sherman Hill Railroad, Air & Space Museum, click on either of the pictures.