Orange County Garden Railroad Society
Monthly Meeting
Sunday February 11, 2018
submitted by Vic & Sue Thies
The monthly meeting of the OCGRS was held at the home of Tom Patterson in
Redlands. Approximately 20 members were in attendance to view Tom’s wonderful
suspended railroad in his living room and also the railroad and associated
outbuildings he has constructed in his backyard.
President Jim Kruger presided and the meeting started at 2:15 pm after members
had enjoyed themselves with the various dishes of the potluck. Jim thanked Tom for
hosting the meeting and asked him to give an overview of his layout.
Tom responded that he continued to talk about his layout in his blog and that
members were encouraged to view the blog and all the information contained within.
Tom then thanked Ted Gird, a good friend, and Jim Kruger for all the extra help they
had given him on various projects with his layout. Tom also thanked his sister, Klaire,
for her help in hosting the meeting and taking pictures of the afternoon.
More from the Golden Spike Gazette, March 2018: This was Tom’s first showing and he has put together a very impressive and low maintenance, elevated railroad along the back fence and down one side of the yard. As if that weren’t enough, the entirety of the living room is taken up with overhead trackage and running trains, as well as several other G-scale and even 1:1 displays about the room. Lots of trains provide lots of activity to watch. And how much activity can one cram into a storage shed? A whole lot more than I ever imagined could be. Oh…, and did someone mention beer? Tom’s beer trains are totally unique in featuring a wealth of tappers, transported on flatcars, many of which actually matched the brands on the reefers. Tom’s even has a display of historic beers that is not to be missed. Tom credit’s these, and many other items/ideas on the railroad to Ted Gird. So, how do we get Ted to become a member of OCGRS??? Tom’s sister, Klaire, was also there to help out and if I’m not mistaken even won some raffle prizes…, so let’s also get her to join. Tom has a blog that documents the railroad.
We had a lot of REALLY GOOD beer left over after the meeting. Ted and The Lambchop remained to ensure it would not go to waste. We watched Back to the Future III.
