2018 Updates

I found some online archive footage that gives a historical overview of the NYC Hudson locomotive. The scene then shifts to the Fairplex Garden Railroad for the first field test of the new USA Trains Heavyweight cars scheduled for release toward the end of the year. For comparison I have included video footage of the Aristocraft Heavyweight cars I recently purchased. The seller was kind enough to take them on a road trip and hand deliver them to my layout after driving from Kansas last night. How's that for curb service!
Special thanks to Jim Kruger, Tom Rady and USA Trains.

A couple of years ago my sister, Klaire and I took Mom back to CA from VA aboard the Amtrak Southwest Chief from Chicago to Los Angeles. It was towing a private car to Albuquerque. That same year I took the train to visit Grandkids in Santa Barbara. When Jenny took me to the train station for the return trip I noticed another private car on a northbound Amtrak train. It excited me to see it named the Cyrus K Holliday. CK Holliday was the first president of the Santa Fe Railroad and the Disneyland Railroad named two of their steam locomotives (Anaheim, Paris) after him. A scale model of both engines pulling five passenger cars chugs around my living room ceiling. It includes the Lilly Belle presidential parlor car (http://www.disneylandclub33.com/Lilly%20Belle.htm).

 http://winetrain.com/train/explore-train/. Wouldn't it be fun to hop on the Amtrak Coast Starlight to San Francisco (https://www.amtrak.com/coast-starlight-train), visit the Disney Family Museum (https://waltdisney.org/), take the ferry (http://winetrain.com/getting-here/#Ferry) and ride in the Cabernet Sauvignon Lounge Car on the Napa Valley Wine Train?

Until I can afford to do that I can run the scale model of the Napa Valley Wine Train and the Napa Valley freight train.

Napa Valley Wine Trains running on Del Oro Pacific RR layout.

About this time last year, Jim Kruger got me a great deal on the USA Trains Hudson locomotive.  This time he got me a MTH Big Boy which has been sold out at the factory! It's the only Big Boy on the market that can negotiate the 10' diameter curves on my layout and can pull a hellova lot of beer cars.

Ted Gird has been on vacation for a couple of months and has been having his train purchases sent to my house.  He asked me to open them and ensure that everything works.  My Internet train mate, Paul Carr from Australia, has been having trains shipped here to pick up during his visit in September so between their stuff and the items I've purchased the place is starting to look like a Mini-BridgeMasters warehouse.

BridgeMasters