Southern Utah

SOUTHERN UTAH

This quarter has seen quite a bit more activity in the Division than the one before.

As usual, November was our annual open house layout tour.  The second weekend each year we open our homes up to the public so they can enjoy, albeit a short time, the hobby of model railroading that gives us so much enjoyment and fulfillment.

On this year’s tour were three garden layouts, five O scale layouts (4 Lionel and 1 P:48), one HO and one N scale layout.  Attendance seems to get better each year as we improve our advertising.  This year Terry Schramm recorded the highest attendance with over 600 visitors, up from last year’s high of just over 400.

Next year’s open house already has problems on the horizon as the division and local club come to grips with liability insurance issues and 100% clubs.  Let the drama begin.

November is our most hectic month as we participate in our local hospital’s annual Jubilee of Trees fund raiser in addition to our open house.  Last year we refurbished a HO layout and donated it to the hospital where it was auctioned off at their gala dinner for $5000.  This year they invited us back, asking for another layout.  However, we didn’t have one to refurbish so we had to build one from scratch.  Things went kind of slow at first, having started planning the layout in April.  As time moved on, we didn’t seem to keep up and it was questionable as to whether or not we would be done in time for the jubilee.  We must work harder and faster when crunch time arrives because we did get it finished and had one day to spare! 

Special features in this year’s layout included numerous animated signs, vehicles with operating head and tail lights, building lights (interior and exterior), operating traffic signals and an operating Bavarian band.         Unfortunately, the powers to be at the hospital got greedy and put the layout in the silent auction this year and it sold for the opening bid of $2500.  If we do this again next year, one of our conditions will be that it is auctioned off in the gala dinner live auction.  Hopefully we’ll be smart and take a year off.  Here are a couple of photos of the layout.  More photos can be seen on our web site at www.colorcountrytrains.org.

In addition to building the hospital layout, our local Veterans Home asked if we could build a layout for the residents in the home.  Finding it hard to say no (we’ve got to get better at that), the Lionel guys took on that project and it was unveiled in the home on Veteran’s Day.  Here’s a photo of the layout.  We’ve got to teach these Lionel guys how to do scenery!

We ended our year with a fantastic Christmas party.  Our attendance increased to 35 this year, up 14 from last year.  The his and hers toilet plungers did not reappear this year but we did have a great gag gift that consisted of a tube of Pringles potato chips and a live gold fish.  Put the two together and you have “fish and chips”!  Some of us are still laughing over that one and wondering what happened to the gold fish.

That just about rounds out the winter quarter for Division 20.  We look forward to another active year of model railroading in Southern Utah in 2015 and hope yours is as well.  The days are getting longer and that means summer is just around the corner so start planning those vacations.  Maybe some of you will get down our way and if you do, we encourage you to give us a holler and we’ll show you some southern Utah hospitality.  As always…

Keep your hand on the throttle and your eyes on the rail.

Doug Whetstone

Superintendent, Division 20