GandersTrains.Com/Larry's Training Center

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MTH Amtrak Northwest

Olympia Beer Boxcar

Larry at Olympia's Centennial Amtrak Station

Larry's Training Center
Olympia, Washington
January 2012 Edition
www.ganderstrains.com

Thomas, The Tank Engine, Hood River, OR

Above, the Amtrak stop in South Olympia, Larry meets Thomas The Tank Engine at Hood River, Ore. Below Left, 4449 Daylight visits the "Centennial Station." Middle, Ryan Arreola with the SP Daylight he calls "Steam Cloud." and, right, nephew Andy Rohrback with an engine from his famous John Deere collection.

Welcome To Folks Interested
In Northwest O-Gauge Model Railroading

This is a great hobby and I like to share some of the fun with you. My name is Larry Ganders and I live in Olympia, Washington, USA. Email me by clicking here: Larry Ganders E-mail

Larry is a hobbyist Enjoying Northwest

Roadnames in O-Gauge Three-Rail

Larry specializes in Northwest road names such as Great Northern, SP&S, Northern Pacific, Milwaukee Road, Union Pacific, Southern Pacific, Burlington Northern, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, and so forth. He models for the steam-to-diesel conversion years, about 1955 to 1965. He has modeled in O-Gauge since a youngster, tutored by the late Spokane Valley Hometown Hardware Owner Fred Hecker.

Larry's first model engine was a Lionel Santa Fe switcher purchased in the 1960s. This was the General Mills-owned era of Lionel Trains.

Mabton & Yakima Valley

Larry grew up around some of the great Northwest rail lines. He watched steamers with bells ringing, switching at Mabton in the Yakima Valley.

Wishram & The Columbia Gorge

He saw and rode the SP&S 4-6-6-4 Challenger at Wishram and watched trains lumbering through the Columbia Gorge on both Oregon and Washington sides of the river.

Hangman Valley & Spokane

He heard the haunting horns of the great diesels running along the cliffs of the Hangman Valley near Spokane. He rode in the orange Empire Builder cars pulled by an F3, his favorite consist.

Pasco and the Columbia Basin

As a one-time newspaper reporter, he wrote and photographed the last of the hobos at the Pasco hump yards.

Olympia & South Puget Sound

Most recently, He's enjoyed the new Amtrak Talgo and the Coast Starlight that runs through South Olympia. There's nothing like the rumble of the Genesis engines by Safeco Field during a Seattle Mariners game.

MTH, Lionel, and QSIndustries

Larry's operating layout utilizes features of the Mike's Train House (MTH) Digital Command System (DCS) and Lionel Trainmaster Command Control (TMCC) operating schemes. He also has QSI and conventional locomotives.

Categories of Larry's Collection

The Burlington Northern Family


Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway	Northern Pacific Switch Engine	BN Santa Fe SD-40-2	Great Northern F-3	Burlington Northern Dash 8

Southern Pacific, Milwaukee Road and Logging


Southern Pacific GS4 Northern Daylight	Milwaukee Road E-8 Diesel	Weyerhaeuser Shay Steamer	Milwaukee Road Hiawatha Steam	Milwaukee Road Hiawatha Observation

The Union Pacific Collection


UP "Doodlebug"	General Motors EMD SD90 Diesel	UP FEF Northern	UP EMD E-3 Passenger	UP Switch Engine

Old Toy Trains


Lionel Lines 2046 4-6-4 Hudson Steamer Made in 1950	Lionel Santa Fe Switcher Made in 1960s	New York Central F-3 Early Lionel Diesel Made 1949-54	Lionel Lines 224E 2-6-2 Steamer Made 1938-1940	Lionel Tinplate 2657 Caboose 1938-41

Carpet Training

Easter Sunday, 2011

Bob's New York Central:
Early Lionel F-3 Diesel

In between permanent layouts, Larry has taken to "carpet training" in 2011. He is pictured with Bob Plotts running a vintage model diesel engine purchased by Bob in the 1950s. The New York Central F-3 was among the first two types of model diesel engine manufactured by Lionel trains beginning in 1949. It came out shortly after General Motors built the first real 1,500-horsepower F-3 engines between 1945 and 1949. The F-3s were used for both passenger and freight trains. Bob's locomotive is one of the original Lionel 2333-20 models manufactured in both NYC and Santa Fe until 1950. Bob estimates that he purchased it in 1954 in Spokane, so it is at least a 57-year-old toy train. With a little lubrication and maintenance, it still zooms around the track like it did when Bob was a lad. And the "A" unit still carries a D Battery that makes the horn blow, a horn technology that reportedly gave Lionel fits during development in the 1940s. Lionel must have perfected it, because this model still blows its horn on command today. (Photo by Roseanne Plotts.)

Old Toy Trains

Lionel Lines 2046 4-6-4 Hudson

Lionel Lines 2046 Hudson

This toy engine, previously owned by Karl Boehmke of Pullman, WA, survived flood damage. Made at the Lionel factory in the USA, this toy is still running after 61 years with the original whistle tender and smoke unit. Lionel modeled its post-war toy train after a real Santa Fe 4-6-4 Hudson engine that was developed in the late 1920s for carrying more passenger cars. There were a number of builders of the Hudson that was initially designed for the New York Central Railroad (which named it for the river.) The Santa Fe Railroad version was probably built by Baldwin. Until the Hudson, trains were limited to about 12 passenger cars. There are operational Hudsons today, including in Sonoma, CA. The fact that the toy engine has a silver stamped 2046 number on the side is what identifies it as produced by Lionel in 1950. Other versions followed in 1951-3 but none had the silver number. It was an early toy engine that offered Lionel's patented "Magnetraction," That means traction on metal Lionel track was assisted by a magnetic pull from the wheels. The 2046 is shown above in a December, 2011 photo running around Larry's office.

The 2046 still has its original smoke
;and it also has a whistle tender.

Featured Locomotives

The Western Star:
Great Northern FT Diesel

This model train by MTH sports the classic Great Northern colors that marked such passenger trains as the Empire Builder and the Western Star.

The favorite in my collection:
SP&S Challenger 910

Originally ordered by the Union Pacific Railroad, this "Challenger" steam engine model (above) was first pressed into service in 1936. It was distinctive in its 4-6-6-4 wheel arrangement (two sets of three drive wheels on each side of the engine) It handled unprecedented loads at 50 percent faster speeds than previous engines. Union Pacific's order to Alco for more locomotives was interrupted by the War Production Board for World War II. The board allowed production of the locomotives but insisted that they be delivered to other roads like the "Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway." I saw the original SP&S No. 910 engine in Wishram, WA along the Columbia River when I was a boy in the late 1950s and a Wishram photo of that same engine is below (Note the six drive wheels and the 910 number.) The "Rail King" model, by Mike's Train House surprisingly of the same exact 910 prototype, is shown above pulling into the village siding on Larry's attic layout. Below the 910 is a July 2006 photo of a Burlington Northern westbound freighter holding at Wishram.

1934, The Streamliner:

My featured collection addition is the "M10000." This was the classic Union Pacific streamliner introduced in 1934 as the passenger train of the future by President Averell Harriman. The unique aluminum hull was used to promote the opening of Grand Coulee Dam in Washington State by traveling through a large penstock. This model was produced by Mike's Train House for the RailKing line. The model comes equipped with Protosounds 2.

Feeling Blue In The 1970s

Great Northern had a blue paint scheme in the final years before merger into Burlington Northern. Here's a Mike's Train House Rail King model of the Great Northern in blue. The engine at left is modeled after the turbocharged GP-20, a common sight in the Pacific Northwest that was built by General Motor's Electromotive Division (EMD.) The prototype was last built in 1962 but operated through the 1970s.

There's even a blue caboose. The engine at left is Larry's SW1500 switcher, also in blue GN colors.

For more engines, click here for Larry's New Trains Section

Thanks for Visiting GandersTrains.Com!
Larry's Training Center

Scale railroading colleague Andrew Rohrback helps Larry carpet train a vintage 224E Lionel steamer.

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Nothing runs like a deere!*

* Larry's Training Center - Olympia is not affiliated
with Washington State University or John Deere but we're huge fans.

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