In the News
The Big Little Large Scale Train Show
Feb 10, 2004
By Dan Haog |
Author
Bio
I started opening my layout as an 'open house' five years ago in order to show the general public what garden railroading is all about.
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I started opening my layout as an 'open house' five years ago in order to show the general public what garden railroading is all about. One particular goal I had envisioned for this annual event was to enable people that live out of this state to see how Arizona garden railroaders adapt their hobby to the climate, and how they create such diverse layouts. 
Also, this event enables railroad clubs around the greater Phoenix metro area to come together to promote garden railroading. My layout and home have been a great way for me to market my business, and both have assisted me in designing and refining garden railroad products. The backyard layout features two waterfalls and lots of bridges and scenes. It is also filled with numerous plants and vegetation, which enhance the color and texture of the layout, giving it a true 'garden' appeal. The patio is also railroad-themed, and there is an overhead train system, which navigates the circumference of the patio. Indoors, there are more trains; two overhead train systems, which cover nearly every room of the house. Since we began in 1999, we have seen attendance increase every year - last year's event drew nearly 700 people. We have also been able to get several garden railroad-related vendors to have displays at the open house to demonstrate their products on a small scale so that people can see what else is available.
The first open house only featured my layout; we have since grown this to fifteen layouts including my own for people to visit and enjoy. We are hoping that people will come from out of state to enjoy a weekend of garden railroading with us. This year we have even more vendors that will be participating. The ABTO (Arizona Big Train Operators) will once again have their club's portable layout on display for the enjoyment of all. And, as a special bonus, we will have a booklet containing maps, pictures, and descriptions of each of the layouts that will be open for viewing. It will be $5.00 per person for a booklet or $10.00 per carload. It won't cost anything to visit my layout; the fee is just for the booklet to see the other layouts. You can call ahead and reserve your booklet ahead of time or buy one at any of the other layouts. This money will go to the ABTO club, which will support the portable layout and will go towards the National Garden Railroad Convention, which will be here in the Phoenix metro area in 2008. Here is some information on this years show.
5th Annual Wild Eagle Railroad Open House
Saturday, April 17th from 12:00pm to 5:00pm
Sunday, April 18th from 12:00pm to 4:00pm
Located at 4007 N. 22nd. Ave, one block south of Indian School Rd. on the east side of 22nd Ave. Look for the banner out front. If you're going to be visiting us from out of town this year, below are some hotels and RV parks you may be interested in. It is recommended that you make your reservations as early as possible. La Quinta Inn
Located at 2725 North Black Canyon Highway
(800) 523-8699 Covered Wagon RV Park
Located at 6540 North Black Canyon Highway
Rates range from $21 to $36 depending on length, type of hookup, and the number of people in the party. (602) 242-2500
Other Open Houses
- Get Address and Maps from the Eaglewings Iron Craft web site
John & Anna Damkier
Bedford Falls RR
Times: 9:00am-12:00pm Sat
Bedford Falls RR was established in 1999. The time period is 1950's (more or less). We mostly run first generation Diesel freight trains. The main line is RC/battery operation and the trolley line is powered rail. Layout is 22ft x 55ft with about 150 ft of track. Kal Miller
Whiskey Flats Railroad
Times: 12:00pm-5:00pm Sat and 1:00pm-4:00pm Sun
The Whiskey Flats Railroad has been in the planning, developing, and construction stage since 1990. A total of 9000 lbs of sand, 4000 lbs of dirt, and 110000 lbs of crushed granite was used to provide the various grades and elevations. The 800 ft of track meanders around and through many different types of rock, copper ore, petrified wood, and log tunnels. The theme of the railroad is based on the southwestern United States in the mid 1890's and associated mining operations as can be seen with actual ore carts used as a background for the railroad. Much of the rock and wood specimens came from the mountains of central Arizona. Terry Liesegang
Times: 10:00am-4:00pm Sun
The general idea behind the layout is a mountain railroad in the arid desert, transporting ore between the RGS, D&RGW, and the C&S. Steam power, both coal and oil. Live steam operation also.
Richard & Norma Dodge
Rockcreek Railroad
10:00am-2:00pm Sat.
The Rockcreek Railroad represents a early 40`s through late 50`s working type railroad. It is a point to point system with a built in continuous loop. A typical train of mixed freight and passenger runs from Rockview to Glendale with stops in between. Dennis & Dana Busby
Sunset and Boulder Railroad
Times: 10:00am-2:00pm Sun
This narrowgauge layout is modeled after the C&S route that served the mining community of Sunset, Colorado from the town of Boulder during the late 1930's and early 1940's. The layout was designed in 2001 with construction of the hardscape beginning May of 2002. The construction of the railroad began September 2002 and continues. The mainline and spurs were completed January 2004 with final system testing scheduled for March and open for viewing mid April of this year. The Sunset and Boulder Railroad has over 300' of LGB and Aristocraft track with 19 turnouts from LGB. The system is powered by LGB MTS Digital Remote and contains over 600 feet of underground wiring. Five tunnels, six wood bridges and and two long tressles add interest to the multi-layered design. Buildings are kit, kit-bashed and scratch built. The S&B RR currently has two C&S Moguls providing the power to climb the 3 degree grades pulling the rolling stock featuring LGB and USA freight and passenger cars. Landscaping and final ground design will continue this spring featuring desert ground covers and dwarf trees. The layout has an automatic drip irrigation system for those warm Arizona summers. Detailing the layout with people and vehicles will be ongoing this next year. Terry & Adrienne Haas
A & T Express
Times: 9:00am-4:00pm Sat.
Our layout is a work in progress. We started it in the summer of 2002. We knew that we wanted a waterfall feature, so we enlisted a person who knew about waterfalls. Well, it turned out that the waterfall was taking over the whole corner of the wall with three water spouts, a large rock, and it almost rose above the block wall. Terry and I discussed the issue of the waterfall's size, and we decided to halt construction. After taking several months to reflect and rededicate ourselves to this undertaking, we contacted Rick Cartwright to help us. We figured we should go right to the professional track-layer himself. Along with advice and suggestions from numerous club members, especially John Meyers, we finally have the kind of layout we can enjoy and grow with. This layout runs behind our pool in an area that is 50 ft. by 8 ft. by 16 ft. It is raised 24 in. using six layers of landscape block and 20 tons of dirt. There is 200 ft. of track with two bridges spanning the waterfall; a hand-made 8 ft. diameter trestle, a double girder bridge, and a wooden trestle bridge. The train runs up, down and around on multiple levels. We don't have much landscaping done or final building placement yet, which makes this a never-ending project. However, we hope you will enjoy seeing the ground roots of a layout. Besides this new layout, we also have a dog-bone track out front and a separate 15 ft. girder where a trolley moves in and out from our mailbox. It was quite a hit during the open house we had at Christmas. All our neighbors know when we're running the trains because we turn on the flashers of our authentic RR crossing signal that sits at our front door. Hope to see many of you at our open house in April.
Paul Bartholomew
Phoenix Albuquerque and Barstow
This one year old layout is just getting started. The two connected loops total 400 ft of track at less than one percent grade. A pair of Eaglewings Iron Craft bridges span a small wash. This private line was constructed by Empire Builders Railroad Designs. Gene & Roberta Frank
G & R Desert Railroad
4134 W. Pershing Ave. Phoenix, AZ
(602) 866-2014
The G&R has passed it 2nd anniversary and continues to grow. My wife and I decided to build a garden railroad with no particular vintage (not modern day) and many stops along the right-of-way. The current loop is 26' by 55' featuring small towns, bridges and trestles, a 6' tunnel and a 20' passing siding. We are running full track power which allows visitors to run on the layout. A mixed bag of Steam, Diesel and Railbus power our freight and passenger trains. The future will bring a second loop that will be interconnected with the original. A spur track will lead to an equipment storage barn and a third area of track. Included in our plans are a small lake, car barn, more bridges and lots of buildings and people. Ed Dunshie
MMI&E Railroad
Times : 9:00am-4:00pm sat & sun
The MMI&E magical Railroad has approximately 600 feet of track in two separate raised modified dog bones. Most of the locomotive power, both steam and diesel, is LGB with just a sprinkling of Accucraft and a pinch of MTH. The remote control for the railroad is supplied by the LGB multi train system (MTS) with decoders installed in each locomotive. The trains run through so much lush landscaping that you will not believe you're in the desert (lots of shade for viewing). There are half a dozen or more bridges, both wooden and steel, including a replica of the famous New York City Hell Gate Bridge measuring over 18 feet long. Also a pond with water fall and a little Mexican village complete with cactus and a mariachi band that plays music when the train passes by. The trains wind through a shed that later becomes storage area when they are no longer in use. The railroad is always under going changes but is always available for viewing. Jerry Oyler
Rock Ridge Railroad
(623) 815-1939
The Rock Ridge RR is operated primarily with track power, on over 250 feet of track. The trains are late steam and early diesels. Locomotives and rolling stock are from Aristo, Bachmann, LGB and USA. In it's fourth year of development the rail road depicts Arizona from 1930's late 1950's The desert terrain features cactus, simple dwellings, a nine foot Tunnel and a four foot steel bridge leading to a small work shop, which also doubles as a train storage area.
Bill & Herta Nagle
Indian Mountain & Mining RR und der Westerwalder Guter Zug
Times: 9:00am-4:00pm Sat
This layout is being built to enjoy trains, period. You will see no complicated routes nor complex radio controlled devices. The few turnouts are manually controlled, we abhor derailments. To further simplify the operation, there are 5 separate and independent loops; two for the European layout and three for the early American sections. Track power is utilized throughout, controlled from a central location. The European section is quite authentic. It represents the era from about 1940 to the present. The architectural styles have changed little, especially in the rural areas of Germany and Austria. The American Western layout is conventional including the Indian ruins that are a tourist attraction for the residents of the western town. The ASARCO mine complex furnishes employment for the residents. The unfinished double tunnel area will eventually facilitate a way for the upper level passengers to transverse their way down to the western down via a road, path, or steps, perhaps a cog train. A small RR station on the mesa will serve these folks, as well as shuttle passengers coming from a yet to be determined set of structures to be located down the south side of the house. Probably a mine or rural village. Planned also is a train parking area. We elevated the layouts utilizing retaining wall bricks from Home Depot. The fill is 0- 14 decomposed granite fines. The American layout's shape denotes its past life as a swimming pool. The structures are a combination of scratchbuilt (my wife built the large castle) and kits. The control shed is new and is in the process of being modified a bit to remind one of an old RR station. A bit of trim added to the present authentic colors will add to its charm. We need to add more human figures as well as weathering. It all takes time and money. Ennis & Marcia Thompson
Bonneyvill Mills Railroad
Times: 9:00am-4:00pm
December of '99 our railroad started in our front yard for Christmas. With Dan Hoag's help a temporary oval ran for three weeks along with our Christmas decorations. The original Bonneyvill Mills mill was duplicated in g-scale fashion from pictures by Doug Nolte. After Christmas we decided not to have the railroad in the front yard and it has taken along the side of the house and the entire back yard for people to view. Bonneyvill Mills is in Northern Indiana, so much of the layout pertains to Indiana. New York Central ran through the area, however, never came close to the mill site. The mill site was placed at it's present location (Bristol, Indiana & a national historical area) with the intention of being a portage area from the railroad to Lake Michigan. The entire layout is track controlled with battery as a supplement if breakdowns occur in some areas. We presently have two reverse units from the ends of the back yard and two loops with diorama scenes for all to observe. Many of ABTO club members had a hand in lots of the construction and electrical hook ups. Train engineers operate the switchless loops for all to see. Eaglewings Iron Craft have many bridges, signs, ramps,and elevated lines throughout the layout. In general this is a Southwest railroad with an Indiana flavor. The railroad is open for viewing during the Christmas season.
Charlie Downs & Karen Roderick
Bare Bones & Broke Railroad
Times: 9:00am-5:00pm Sat and Sun
The Bare Bones & Broke Railroad was founded in the summer of 2000 after a friend decided to sell his home and his garden railroad rolling stock and track. When we talked to the City of Scottsdale to see whether there was a problem in building a garden railroad in our front yard, we learned they had never heard of such a thing. After being bounced from department to department, we finally convinced the city that the railroad would not be an "attractive nuisance" and said "go ahead as long as you don't build anything more than three feet above the sidewalk. The railroad comprises two loops which feature an electronically-controlled 90-degree crossing. If two locomotives are approaching the crossing and a collision is eminent, the train that arrives first causes the other train to stop short of the crossing until the crossing is clear. The tracks for the Pacific Electric interurban streetcar line are mounted on the inside of the fence, and the big "Red Cars" travel climb the fence from one end of the line to the other and back automatically. Construction of the Bare Bones & Broker Railroad would have not been possible without the assistance of Dan Hoag and his company, Eaglewings Iron Craft, in Phoenix. Dan furnished the fence, the tunnels, the bridges, and the roadbed for the Pacific Electric line, and the unique train shed and its 80 feet of track where our rolling stock is sheltered from the weather and misappropriation. He also helped with construction of the roadbed and mountains. Phil Werner & Geronimo Vidales
The layout consists of four different tracks on the ground and two more on the mountain. On the ground there is one for the passenger train, one for the freight train, one for the trolley, one for the cog car that goes up 23 ft on the mountain. Where the terminal for the cog train is there is an additional two tracks that usually run European style trains, everything else is LGB. This layout is set up to run with the LGB multitrain system or the conventional mode. We started on this layout 12 years ago, There is about 450 ft of track. Also, there is a lake and a waterfall with a small river that goes to a different pond. Most of the bridges, some buildings, and the cog car track was build by our very own Dan Hoag. Top of Page
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