My first layout

I was recently browsing through some old snapshots, and came across a group that I photographed on my first layout. That was when I lived at my parents’ home in Glendale, CA. It was simply the Model Railroader annual layout project, the Evergreen Central, published in the November and December 1953 issues. (I should mention that in an earlier post I mis-identified it as the previous year’s project, the Pine Tree Central. That error was in this post: https://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2018/09/thoughts-on-operation.html .)

Like most MR projects in those days, it was a very simple track plan, and very complete directions were provided for building it, down to which size wood screws and how many, how many feet of hookup wire, and what size can of walnut stain. They recommended Tru-Scale plain roadbed and Atlas track, but influenced by my days as a teen member at the Glendale Model Railroad Club, I used the Tru-Scale roadbed with milled ties. I laid the rail by hand, using Varney spikes. Below you can see some of my pencil notations on the plan, for a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood.

When built, my layout looked just like the photos in MR. An overhead view is shown below, photographed in our backyard, though the layout lived in the garage.   

I built a small cabinet for layout power sections, complete with track diagram, and a holder for the Scintilla power pack, as you see at right.

I never got past this stage, except for adding some track. But I did run trains, sometimes pretty long ones (probably my entire car roster at the time), behind  a Mantua Pacific. I also had a Model Die Casting 0-6-0 for switching.  

I collected some buildings, a Suydam ice house and deck and what I think was also a Suydam cardstock warehouse building, and added a second siding, as you can see here. The loco is the 0-6-0.

The following month, MR had a cover story on scenery for this layout, but I never did any of that part of the project, being intimidated about creating scenery.

This was fun, and of course instructive in learning a little about layouts, wiring, and so on. My dad helped me build a system of ropes and pulleys so the layout could be hoisted above the family car in the garage, and lowered down onto sawhorses when I wanted to operate. But of course it was only a few years until high school and. . . you know, cars, girls, sports . . . and the layout was no more. But I enjoyed doing as much as I did.

Tony Thompson