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Layouts
K.C. Marshall's Amazing Garden Railroad Adventure
Jul 25, 2007
By KC Marshall |
Author
Bio
Well this is a long one if you are willing to stay tuned. My layout has never really caused me injury, but... I have been a type 1 diabetic for over 35 years, and I can rate my layout by body parts.
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Noel Widdifield: Until early May of this year, I had seen K.C. Marshall's postings on LSOL.com and had come to appreciate that he was a very good modeler, but really didn't know much about him. I have learned a lot about him over this past month and want to share something of K.C.'s story with you. 
K.C. lives in Oakdale California and has a railroad called the Kitbashed Corrupt and Decrepid Rail Way (KC&D RW). He grew up in the town of Yelm, Washington just south of Fort Lewis. While growing up, K.C. became fascinated with railroads and logging railroads in particular. His favorite real railroad is the Burlington Northern before it merged. His website has the logos from his favorite railroads.        
As he grew up he saw a lot of logging activity and that formed the basis for theme of his current railroad. He started with N scale for many years, but when his wife wanted the garage back, he looked at HO for outdoors and then decided on Large Scale. He describes his current railroad as a steam to diesel transition period around the mid 40's time period. The railroad is a logging and mill pike with two ponds and two waterfalls including a millpond with operating lumber mill. It is mainly a switching layout with about 250 feet of track and 30 turnouts. It is a dog bone design with lots of sidetracks and passing sidings. 
As you can see, K.C. has a pretty impressive railroad, but there is more to the story of his building it than just another great Large Scale railroad construction. How many times have we said to ourselves, I really would like to do more with my railroad or get started with my railroad, but ..............? We all make excuses for why we don't start, expand or improve our railroad. It is easy to find reasons for not doing more. I hope that K.C.'s story will show us that many of these excuses are an easy way out of doing more with what we have. Do you remember the Tuesday's Topic from early May, Have you ever been injured while working on your railroad? Over eighty of you answered that question and most of the answers were examples of minor cuts, bruises and scrapes. Peter Eaton reported a new aortic valve and one artery replaced, but for the most part the injuries and accidents were pretty minor. K.C. sent an email to Jon with his story and we want you to hear it too.
Well this is a long one if you are willing to stay tuned. My layout has never really caused me injury, but... I have been a type 1 diabetic for over 35 years, and I can rate my layout by body parts. I started out with N scale, had my entire 2 car garage loaded with a two level N scale layout with a few hundred feet of track, 48 turnouts and over 300 pieces of rolling stock. I started loosing my eyesight because of my illness and had to take it down for lack of being able to see it. I went through 5 years of eye surgery and was able to regain most of my sight, good enough to drive and go back to work. Since my N scale was put away in the attic, I decided that I needed bigger trains to be able to see them as long as I could. I went to G scale and started looking at the back yard. After receiving approval from the CEO (my wife), I started in the back yard. One of the first things that was required by the CEO was if I was going to build the outdoor layout, I need to have a Koi pond. I started by digging the hole. During the digging process, I inadvertently broke my ankle by a fluke household accident. Well with my leg in a cast to hold my ankle together, I finished digging my 41/2-foot by 12-foot diameter hole. I then laid the rubber liner, chicken wire and started forming the mortar sides to hold the water. Not knowing the bare hand/lime issue, about half way through the mortar sides, I had chemically burned my hands so bad, I had to stop and wait 3 months for them to heal and then finish the job wearing special padded gloves. 
In the meantime, my ankle refused to heal and the decision was made to amputate my left leg below the knee. Once this was done and I recovered from this, I finished the pond mortaring and built the brick tunnel and waterfall on crutches or butt level. 
I then started laying track in a small area around the pond and through the tunnel. After about 6 months I received prosthesis for the missing lower leg, and my wife and I decided to take a small weekend trip to Santa Cruz to celebrate my new walking ability. After returning from the trip, we discovered the makers of the artificial leg had incorrectly formed the socket, thus creating an internal knee problem that resulted in the amputation of my leg above the knee. While I was now one legged and recovering, I decided I needed another smaller mill pond on my layout, so at butt level, I started digging the 2-foot deep pond on my inner layout for my new mill pond and waterfall. This was all done sitting on the ground, with pick and shovel and dirt moved by placing it on a sheet of canvas and pulling it to a new dirt pile. I moved dirt and rock and put a rubber liner into the new pond and was able to complete it in about 3 months. 
Once I received new full leg prosthesis and learned to walk again, I started laying more track in a 30 power block system, wiring the track and built a central control building for track control. I also designed my own air switch control system for the 30+ turnouts I placed on my layout. The track was now in a configuration so I could actually let the train run on its own and build more of the layout. 
We decided to go on another weeklong vacation to see the Great Navaho Indian Reservation and Monument Valley in Northern Arizona and Southern Utah. While at Monument Valley in August, we went on a guided day tour of the reservation that took us deep into the backcountry. It was just my wife and I, and our female Indian guide. We were in a 4x4 pickup and way in the backcountry at about noon when the truck got stuck in the soft drift sand, with no shade in sight. It was a place that the radios and cell phones would not work. We were there for about 2 hours when I asked the guide if could try to get the truck out, as I was an avid 4-wheeler in my youth. It was an automatic, and I was able to drive using my one good leg. I started the truck rocking inch by inch back and forth, and after digging, pushing and easing it for about 30 minutes we were able to get the truck out. We finished the daylong tour about 4 hours late. Little did I know that while we were attempting to dig the truck out, I got a blister on my good foot, causing an internal infection, and after we got home a week later, I had to go the hospital again, this time they amputated my right leg below the knee. Well now I am in a wheelchair, so I design my layout to be wheelchair usable by laying raised wood walkway around the entire layout so I could get to most of everything on the layout. What I can't I get to with the wheelchair I am able to get it at butt level. 
At the time I decided to add an addition to the layout that required the laying of 200 wall blocks and 2 yards of dirt fill. I made and leveled the footing, moved the blocks one at a time and moved the dirt bucket by bucket until it was finished. I now needed to build a wheelchair accessible workbench so I could build and work on more buildings for the layout. 
I built a 16' by 30 inch outdoor workbench for my saws, wood and tool storage. I also have added battery control to my layout, along with the track power system that is still operational. As you can see I am a determined person that will find a way to accomplish what I think needs to be done. I forget to mention that during this past 12 years, other than the time I was blind and on disability getting my eyes fixed, 3 years time, I have been employed full time during all this. I have never missed more than 5 days at one time of work. Before I lost my eyesight, I was a heavy equipment field mechanic working the central valley of California. When I was on disability and having my eyes worked on, I went to community college to earn a degree in computer programming and now work as a computer tech at a community college.
I can drive (all our cars have hand controls), can wear prosthesis if I wish, or use my wheelchair (much easier) to accomplish whatever we deem is needed around the house, work, layout or mechanic work. So I can measure the layout by had or had not body parts. 
And I am proud to say that my wife and I are about to celebrate our 20 year wedding anniversary. Without her help, guidance and understanding, I would not be here today, literally. Sorry to bore you all with this long story, but thought I would inform all that no matter what I have had to go through personally, others have had it worse, I work with them daily. Signed, KC P.S. we don't do vacations anymore, we joke about it at home and work that whenever I go on vacation I come back missing body parts. I can't afford that much longer :), and it is difficult to get a detailed steam engine outside to the layout on my lap using my Armstrong wheelchair. One thing I did not mention in my original email is the only reason I was able to do this is because of a live kidney transplant from my brother on 7/11/96 that started me recovering from my illness. He saved and thus extended my life. Everything else is easy thanks to that.
Noel Widdifield: There is nothing else to add. Thanks K.C. for sharing you life and railroad with us. Check out Also check out K.C.'s railroad on You Tube
| Comment |
| Another of the great members of this forum.. Several others who have passed on made it so much more fun.. Richard, and K.C. etc... Great inspiration and fellow train enthusiast.. Elaine |
| Elaine Haggenbottom - 11/27/2012 - 07:06 |
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