A couple of goodies from my trip west to Portland, Oregon this week...
First, I visited to Vic's Hobby Supply on Broadway... Vic himself invited me down to see the O scale empire down in the basement. He's been scratch building UP Passenger cars, among other things, with incredible detail.
Next, I hiked around Portland to take in some of the sights. Since it was April, I didn't have to worry about ... er... sun angle....
The MAX light rail. You can ride it for free to get around much of the downtown. I also rode it back and forth to the Airport for $2.30. Quite a bargain. Unlike here in the east, in Portland when the roads get clogged up, they don't build more lanes, they build more rails... there's a lesson in that somewhere.
Here's one of the many commuter trains that run between the cities of the northwest. This one is actually going west across the river (that's the pusher going backward). This bridge is neat because the lower deck can lift independently of the upper deck, so barge traffic can pass with minimal disruption to road and light rail traffic above.
and of course, Portland's Union Station is magnificent temple of the railroader's art!
That evening, I caught up with Doug O'Grady from here on the forums, and he graciously drove me up Vancouver Avenue to the Columbia Gorge Model Railroad Club. Everyone I met there was friendly and welcoming, and the layout is a magnificent rendering of the local geography.
The visitor aisle represents the Columbia River, with the layout representing the railroading that takes place on the north and south banks. This is the view from the operator's pit.
The layout is extremely well detailed, and well worth a trip across the continent to see! Here's the rest of the photos I took during my visit.
Special thanks to Doug and the rest of the crew at the CG club.
Wednesday was a night of merriment with my new colleagues. We stumbled in to the Green Dragon, which deserves to be modeled.
This part of the bar is open seasonally, and main part is in a big old garage building across a courtyard. There were many noms and suds enjoyed by all.
Thursday, Rick Ernst met me at Hobbysmith's, and we checked out the Ntrak club's rig in the basement.
Rick scratched out many of the structures on the club's modules.
We left there and headed to the home of Rob Carey, who has an amazing N scale layout depicting Tennessee Pass in Colorado. Rob's been published several times, most recently in N Scale Railroading.
That's Rob on the left, me in the middle and Rick. These are some top notch model railroaders, and really nice guys as well. But enough of that... here's the layout:
Royal Gorge
Absolutely amazing! But wait! There's more. We left Rob's, then went to Rick's house... He's not quite as far along as Rob, but this layout is going to be blow mind when it's done.
As you enter the room, you find yourself in the Columbia River Gorge, looking at the main line of the Spokane, Portland and Seattle ...
The town of Camas will host a giant paper mill, one of the major industries on the SP&S.
As you can see, Rick is a real hatchet man when it comes to scenery.
He also likes to tinker with structures.
The whole presentation is outstanding, and sets some pretty high standards for both operation and a appearance. I couldn't have been more impressed with the work of both Rob and Rick. And again, the best part is they're both as welcoming and friendly as you can be. My thanks to Doug, Rob and Rick for helping me have such an enjoyable time during my stay in Portland. I can't wait to go back!
Lee
