Estes Valley

ESTES VALLEY - DIVISION 5

The Estes Valley Division celebrated a successful 2014 Rails in the Rockies.  Road conditions resulting from the flood of last September reduced the number of attendees, but not by a lot. 

Al Hovey from Albuquerque, NM was there with a very popular scenery clinic.  Al was a really busy fellow for both days.  Clinic participants happily went home with small scenery modules, each a unique bit of individual work.  Al’s instructions were about ‘what to do’ with the Woodland Scenics materials, not exactly ‘do it this way’ as some might direct.  While each small diorama included the same features, each was an individual’s own work, and each was unique, even mine. It is duly noted that many of the clinic attendees were not model railroaders, but were interested and learned by the clinic.  This is Al below, in the yellow shirt.

Thanks to both Al and Lowell for being on the line, all day, for both days of Rails in the Rockies 2014.

Another of the well-used items at Rails in the Rockies was the Estes Valley Kids Layout.  The somewhat classic 4X8 Lionel layout was rebuilt last summer to improve the reliability and make it more robust.  Robustness is essential because the large number of kids really do make it work.  The several operating accessories have push button switches to activate them and they are used with great enthusiasm by the young railroaders in training.  The log unloader is about the most popular, there are two of them and they are working just about all day long.  Thanks to the Estes Valley guys for making the Kids Layout seen below.  The kids had a great time and many of them will be back next year to play with the layout again.

Sunday afternoon, as the two day event was drawing to a close, the much anticipated drawing for the two trains sets donated by Lionel took place.  A fair crowd gathered around the west end of the mail hall to watch Estes Valley Superintendent Bob Trump supervise the drawing.  One of the Lionel train sets went to a lad that was present to receive it.  The second went to a youngster living ‘in the valley.’  This writer would have the pleasure of making the delivery, so the train set went home with us.

A few days later, we received an email from Laura Trump saying that the winner was Nikita Marlin, daughter of John & Sanali Marlin.  After a couple false starts, I connected with the family and made arrangements to deliver the Lionel train set.  I had no idea what an enjoyable experience my wife Sheridan and I would have meeting the Marlin family.  Nikita is a bright and energetic girl and was really excited to have her own train.  Nikita is beaming in the photograph below.  Nikita’s remarks about her own train and something faintly heard about dad’s trains caught my attention.  It didn’t take long for me to realize that Nikita’s father John was a model railroader, and of some report I might add!

We were introduced to the basement family area and the Marlin family layout.  I say family layout because it really is a family endeavor.  Nikita’s mom, dad and younger sister Ria all work on the railroad.  Nikita showed us how easy it was to control a locomotive, while mom helped straighten things out for our unplanned layout tour.  

The final photograph reveals that Nikita is probably a serious operator, and knows how to connect to the layout at the very well done industrial switching area.  Car cards and waybills show that this Lionel winner is ready to operate.

It was a delight to see the Marlin family sharing the fun of model railroading.  John told me that he was known to visit the Boulder Model Railroad Club on occasion, and that he might work on being a bit less of a loner.  I hope so; he has a lot of talent to share.

That is some of what the Estes Valley Division people have been doing lately.  Not included are many other individuals and groups that helped make The Estes Valley Division’s 2014 'Rails in the Rockies' successful.  Some names I cannot remember, and I failed to take photos as well.  There is always the next time. 

The next Estes Valley Division report will be more about the division members and local modeling activities. 

Rex Beistle, April 2014

ESTES VALLEY DIVISION HAS LOST

SUPERINTENDENT BOB TRUMP

Friday evening, April 25th, 2014 at 10:30 P.M., the Trump family lost loving husband, father, and grandfather Bob Trump.

Unknown to us, Bob was a bit off of his game at Rails in the Rockies 2014.  Bob’s short battle could end no other way.

The Village of Estes Park, Colorado, the Estes Valley Model Railroaders and the Estes Valley Division of the NMRA’S Rocky Mountain Region have lost a good friend, a very good friend indeed.

This photo of Bob was taken at last year’s Rails along the Rio Grande convention.  Bob was doing what he enjoyed so much, sharing his skills and enthusiasm for scratchbuilding.  Bob was, in this photo, describing the home built saw that he used to cut his own timber for the O scale mining structures that were his favorite modeling subjects.

A sampling of Bob’s structure work will be included in the Longmont, CO museum this summer.  The display of 'Planes, Trains & Automobiles'  will open May 24th.  The agreement with Longmont to display some of the Estes Valley On30 layouts in this display was made by Bob early this past March.  Bob wanted to include the layouts in the Longmont Museum exhibit because “… it would be great publicity for our … talented modelers.”  Bob always gave others credit for what was happening in The Estes Valley.

Notice regarding arrangements will be published when they are known. 

Rex Beistle

Estes Valley Division

Rocky Mountain Region

NMRA