These entries are actually written by two friends of mine, Jack Abrams and
Raul Galvan. I was unable to go on this trip due some personal concerns,
and they graciously took my place for the ten day trip. I'll add things
where I think they might be appropriate.
(Jack) The day started out raining which
was alright for us as our plans for the day called for us to shoot Ed
Loizeaux’s inside S gauge layout. Dave had had his eye on this one for several
years, having first seen it under construction when we did the segment on Ed's
friend (and backdrop painter) Mike Kotowski.
The
layout is entered through the bottom half of a Dutch door. The makes one
crawling in and drag the equipment under the layout. I (Jack) stayed on my
knees, under the layout, for most of the day to stay out of the way of the
videographer.
The layout was an S scale model railroad
based on the New York Central
Railroad in the Catskill Mountains near the
Hudson River. The walls of the room were custom painted to give the illusion
of distance and allowed for rivers to actually flow from the painted wall
scenes to the layout itself. We shot the
interview with Ed first within his layout, which took about 15 minutes.
The rest of the day was spent running trains with the operators so we could
obtain the best camera angles and give viewers the most interesting view of
the railroad in motion.
(Dave) One thing I always thought was a
great idea on this layout was the dam. Ed used a waterfall and high
bridges to make an interesting corner. And to hold the water, he added a
dam at the layout's edge. Neat trick!
The backdrops add a lot, and the scenic areas are well crafted. As I
said, I always liked this layout, and thought that there were some very nice
things in it. That, couple with the excellent track work and smooth
running engines, made it a real showpiece.
VERDUCCI GARDEN LAYOUT - SEASON 7
April 12, 2007
Today was a visit with one of the big names in Garden
Railroading, Jack Verducci. Jack is considered a pioneer in the hobby,
and is quite well known in the G gauge circle. And
it took quite some doing to run this railroad. Jack had a whole
operations crew, about 15, on hand today to run the layout. The layout wrapped
around from the back yard along the side of the house to the front yard. As
with all garden railroads, this was set in a living environment that
incorporated real rocks and dirt, plants, trees, and waterfalls. So it subject
to the weather and the elements, just as
a real railroad. And just when you thought that the weather wasn't
enough, Jack introduced another element - live steam. So he not only had
to overcome the challenge of the yard landscaping, but also the hill in
the backyard and the steep grade. All the scenes look real, because,
well, they are real. Real rock, real moss, real plants and trees.
There
was a nice assortment of turn of the century style locomotives and cars, and
the towns and buildings were done in the period style.
This was Jack’s first run of the year, and he was a
little
anxious that all would go well. I think it was a tribute to his
engineering skills, as the day rolled along just fine. The rain had finally
stopped, and it was a clear bright day which was quite welcome on a day that
took us outdoors.
McCLOUD RAILROAD/MT. SHASTA DINNER TRAIN - SEASON 7
April 13-15, 2007
The first day of this segment involved simply driving
about five hours north from the Bay area, to Northern California. The
McCloud Railroad had it's origins as a logging railroad, on the slopes of Mt.
Shasta, which is north of Redding. The weather here was bright and
sunny, and the late spring snow sparkled on the mountain top. Once we
got into town we decided, since the weather was nice, the sun was shining and
the sky was blue, to shot around the town before checking into your hotel for
the evening. It was still early with good light and rain was in the forecast
so we took advantage of the nice weather. The town had a real small town feel,
not many people
around in the city, it seemed like the most popular place was the post office
where everybody seemed to be going to pick up their mail. After we called it a
day we checked into our hotel, The Railroad Park Hotel in Dunsmuir, about 16
miles south west of McCloud. Our hotel is a line of railroad cabooses, each
fixed up as a single unit hotel room. Dave would have loved it.
Today we started at the heritage Junction Museum, and
worked
with
volunteers, Bob and Betty Gray. Betty has been a resident since 1937,
and Bob started here with the forest service in 1941. They were both
delightful and quite knowledgeable about the history of the area, and the
origins of the railroad. Once that portion was completed, we headed for
the dinner train. We grabbed two interviews, one with the president of
the railroad, Jeff Forbis, and a second one with John Signor, who was serving
as conductor. John has worked with us in the past on the Tehachapi Loop
segment. It was good to see him again. Then it was off to shoot the food
preparation, and then the dinner itself. The train rolled out of the
station right on time, and the patrons (and us, as well) were treated to Beef
Wellington and a host of delicious delicacies. As this trip is an
evening run, we'll have to return tomorrow for the exterior shots during
daylight hours.
Our cabooses were cold last night. The heat gets turned off during
the day, as it is warm. But then we didn't get back until after 11, so
the evening chill had crept in a little cat's feet. But we hauled out of
bed, and as promised, the railroad ran a special day time run of the train.
Doing this is actually pretty easy
for
us, as there is no race and chase the train. All you have to do is ask
them to stop and wait. We can set up, get the shot, and move to the next
location. So many thanks to the staff and management of the McCloud
Railroad for their help in getting this segment completed.
BRUCE PETTY LAYOUT - SEASON 7
April 16, 2007
Today
took us to visit with Bruce Petty, and look in on his shelf layout. This
long, but narrow Ho layout is a recreation of the Burbank portion of the
Southern Pacific, circa 1962. While simple, there is an amazing amount
of detail in the setup. Bruce works hard at authentic scenery and
backdrops, and did some on-camera weathering for us to use in the segment.
He also had a camera car; one which sends out a signal to a nearby TV set so
that you can really get down into the layout.
Everyone finished in good
time, and were off to Sacramento to spend the night. Jack grabbed a
flight back to Milwaukee, and John and Gail headed to the hotel using Dave's
nifty little GPS unit. The only problem was that even though Hilton
national reservations had made the reservation back in January, the hotel was
not yet open. Fortunately, the manager was nearby, and worked things out
so that accommodations were secured just another 70 miles down the road.
Tomorrow the trip continues to Los Angeles.
YOUNG GUNS STEAM - CASFORD & FENGLER - SEASON 7
April 17-18, 2007
The drive into Los Angeles was uneventful, except for the customary traffic.
But the GPS lead the crew straight to San Pedro, where they met up with Matt Casford and Wolf Fengler, both young
men who are carrying on the tradition of
steam railroading. Their charge is the #3751, owned by the San
Bernardino Railway Historical Society. This ex-Santa Fe Northern class
(4-8-4) was built around 1927 and served in the New Mexico Division for much
of it's life. Retired in 1953, it was sold to the Society in 1985 for
one dollar. The condition of the sale was the locomotive had to be
restored to operating condition. This was accomplished in late summer of
1991. We picked this time to visit, because the Society was having an
educational outreach program. That meant that the locomotive was fired
up. And so were the 4,000 school kids who came through to see a piece of
history. Wolf and Matt did a nice job on the interviews, and we spent
time on both days shooting them interacting with the kids, and working on the
locomotive.
LOS ANGELES RAIL TRANSIT - SEASON 7
April 19-20, 2007
When people think of Los Angeles, they think of freeways. But there is
an extensive rail system here, some of it brand, spanking new. Between
the Metro Transit Authority and MetroLink, there is a vast network of subway,
and above ground rail passenger transit. It makes one wonder why
Milwaukee won't see the light. If commuter rail can work in this
car-intensive culture, it should certainly work in Wisconsin. But I
digress. Because the Los Angeles basin is so large, Dave hired ground
producer to set up the interviews, determine locations and just do the general
on-the-ground planning for these two days. The individual was Joe Lessor,
president of the Los Angeles Rail Historical Foundation. And he was
worth the money. The day started the famous Los Angeles Union Station.
Out of the hotel early we caught the rush of commuters in the station.
We got the station interiors, MetroLink, Amtrak, and the MetroRail Gold Line
in operation. We grabbed a couple of nice sound bites with
representatives from MTA and MetroLink, and were on our way to various
stations on the Gold Line. Rather than being all stamped out of the same
mold, each station is representative of the area. For example, the
Chinatown station has an oriental motif. We worked the subway stops
today, mainly because it was raining above ground. Joe did a great job
for us, and we never would have been able to accomplish this in just two days.
So it's off for home. Travels start in earnest in June.
The
layout is entered through the bottom half of a Dutch door. The makes one
crawling in and drag the equipment under the layout. I (Jack) stayed on my
knees, under the layout, for most of the day to stay out of the way of the
videographer. 
Railroad in the Catskill Mountains near the
Hudson River. The walls of the room were custom painted to give the illusion
of distance and allowed for rivers to actually flow from the painted wall
scenes to the layout itself. We shot the
interview with Ed first within his layout, which took about 15 minutes.
The rest of the day was spent running trains with the operators so we could
obtain the best camera angles and give viewers the most interesting view of
the railroad in motion.
(Dave) One thing I always thought was a
great idea on this layout was the dam. Ed used a waterfall and high
bridges to make an interesting corner. And to hold the water, he added a
dam at the layout's edge. Neat trick!
The backdrops add a lot, and the scenic areas are well crafted. As I
said, I always liked this layout, and thought that there were some very nice
things in it. That, couple with the excellent track work and smooth
running engines, made it a real showpiece.
it took quite some doing to run this railroad. Jack had a whole
operations crew, about 15, on hand today to run the layout. The layout wrapped
around from the back yard along the side of the house to the front yard. As
with all garden railroads, this was set in a living environment that
incorporated real rocks and dirt, plants, trees, and waterfalls. So it subject
to the weather and the elements, just a
s
a real railroad. And just when you thought that the weather wasn't
enough, Jack introduced another element - live steam. So he not only had
to overcome the challenge of the yard landscaping, but also the hill in
the backyard and the steep grade. All the scenes look real, because,
well, they are real. Real rock, real moss, real plants and trees.
There
was a nice assortment of turn of the century style locomotives and cars, and
the towns and buildings were done in the period style.
anxious that all would go well. I think it was a tribute to his
engineering skills, as the day rolled along just fine. The rain had finally
stopped, and it was a clear bright day which was quite welcome on a day that
took us outdoors. 
Shasta, which is north of Redding. The weather here was bright and
sunny, and the late spring snow sparkled on the mountain top. Once we
got into town we decided, since the weather was nice, the sun was shining and
the sky was blue, to shot around the town before checking into your hotel for
the evening. It was still early with good light and rain was in the forecast
so we took advantage of the nice weather. The town had a real small town feel,
not many people
around in the city, it seemed like the most popular place was the post office
where everybody seemed to be going to pick up their mail. After we called it a
day we checked into our hotel, The Railroad Park Hotel in Dunsmuir, about 16
miles south west of McCloud. Our hotel is a line of railroad cabooses, each
fixed up as a single unit hotel room. Dave would have loved it. 
with
volunteers, Bob and Betty Gray. Betty has been a resident since 1937,
and Bob started here with the forest service in 1941. They were both
delightful and quite knowledgeable about the history of the area, and the
origins of the railroad. Once that portion was completed, we headed for
the dinner train. We grabbed two interviews, one with the president of
the railroad, Jeff Forbis, and a second one with John Signor, who was serving
as conductor. John has worked with us in the past on the Tehachapi Loop
segment. It was good to see him again. Then it was off to shoot the food
preparation, and then the dinner itself. The train rolled out of the
station right on time, and the patrons (and us, as well) were treated to Beef
Wellington and a host of delicious delicacies. As this trip is an
evening run, we'll have to return tomorrow for the exterior shots during
daylight hours.
for
us, as there is no race and chase the train. All you have to do is ask
them to stop and wait. We can set up, get the shot, and move to the next
location. So many thanks to the staff and management of the McCloud
Railroad for their help in getting this segment completed.
Today
took us to visit with Bruce Petty, and look in on his shelf layout. This
long, but narrow Ho layout is a recreation of the Burbank portion of the
Southern Pacific, circa 1962. While simple, there is an amazing amount
of detail in the setup. Bruce works hard at authentic scenery and
backdrops, and did some on-camera weathering for us to use in the segment.
He also had a camera car; one which sends out a signal to a nearby TV set so
that you can really get down into the layout.
Pedro, where they met up with Matt Casford and Wolf Fengler, both young
men who are carrying on the tradition of
steam railroading. Their charge is the #3751, owned by the San
Bernardino Railway Historical Society. This ex-Santa Fe Northern class
(4-8-4) was built around 1927 and served in the New Mexico Division for much
of it's life. Retired in 1953, it was sold to the
Society in 1985 for
one dollar. The condition of the sale was the locomotive had to be
restored to operating condition. This was accomplished in late summer of
1991. We picked this time to visit, because the Society was having an
educational outreach program. That meant that the locomotive was fired
up. And so were the 4,000 school kids who came through to see a piece of
history. Wolf and Matt did a nice job on the interviews, and we spent
time on both days shooting them interacting with the kids, and working on the
locomotive.
days. The individual was Joe Lessor,
president of the Los Angeles Rail Historical Foundation. And he was
worth the money. The day started the famous Los Angeles Union Station.
Out of the hotel early we caught the rush of commuters in the station.
We got the station interiors, MetroLink, Amtrak, and the MetroRail Gold Line
in operation. We grabbed a couple of nice sound bites with
representatives from MTA and MetroLink, and were on our way to various
stations on the Gold Line. Rather than being all stamped out of the same
mold, each station is representative of the area. For example, the
Chinatown station has an oriental motif. We worked the subway stops
today, mainly because it was raining above ground. Joe did a great job
for us, and we never would have been able to accomplish this in just two days.
So it's off for home. Travels start in earnest in June.
