(whistle blowing) (theme music) Announcer: Support for Tracks Ahead is provided in part by Kalmbach Publishing Company and its on-line video magazine, Model Railroader Video Plus.

And by Walthers.

(theme music) Spencer: Hi, I'm Spencer Christian.

On this episode of Tracks Ahead, we'll hop a train that makes Hollywood magic come to life--- have a bite to eat on the Columbia Star dinner train--- and check out a layout in Iowa that's a link to the owners own past.

But next, we'll explore a new Indiana arboretum and see how it is embracing it's area's rail history Time to get started.

Narrator: Set amidst wise and majestic oak trees, the Taltree arboretum in Valparaiso, Indiana, provides a majestic backdrop for an impressive historic garden railway.

(natural sound, music and train sounds) Taltree's Founders Damien and Rita Gabis decided to pepper nature's silence with the sounds of the great American railroad..... Just on a slightly smaller scale.

Damien Gabis: We were approached in 2004 by some fellows that were officers and founders of the Ill-Iana garden railway society.

And they wanted to know if we'd like to host their garden here at Taltree because it would be available all the time for visitors.

Narrator: James Melton Co-founder and vice-president of the Taltree arboretum garden foundation made it a point to blend the sights and sounds of the railway garden with the abundant beauty located throughout Taltree.

James Melton: It's magical, absolutely magical.

Especially when the frogs start coming in from the pond, you know, and hear their croaking.

And every engine has a somewhat different sound to it, and we can program a number of sounds into various types of engines that we have.

I had a train when I was 5 years old, and I had it running when I was a kid... and when I retired I built a large layout in our basement, O scale, Lionel.

And so I just had a natural attachment for it.

Narrator: Taltree's garden railroad open to the public in the summer of 2011 .

The half acre exhibit requires extensive preparation and nature- sensitive construction.

Landscape architect Richard Hitz created the realistic mountain, canyons and water features at Taltree.

Richard Hitz: They wanted to build mountains, and coal mines and prairies, and so my job was to take all of those elements, and get trains out of the basement of the building and up to a mountaintop, and figure out how that all happens.

The trains can only go at a 2 percent slope at 2 feet per hundred, and we had them moving almost 14 feet in elevation, so we needed it.

That's why we have so much track on this perimeter, because it's all going up to the mountains.

Narrator: Horticulturist Nancy Marshall selected the unique micro-flora found throughout the over 9 different vignettes representing specific periods in American railroading history.

Nancy Marshall: Everything is in to scale here, that's what we tried for.

One inch is 10 feet, so we wanted to use a lot of miniatures, and miniatures only grow a quarter, so we'd like to use as many miniatures as possible, and then we went from miniatures to dwarf, so there's some very, very unique plants here.

Narrator: Barbara Becker helped plan the exhibit .

Barbara Becker: My role in the garden was the story rather than the construction, and so I was planning what we would say and how we would say it.

And doing the research for the historical accuracy of the story.

When I came in with my team, we were looking at this from the visitor's point of view; How do was create a really engaging and rewarding experience for visitors, both in terms of physical comfort, how far can we ask them to walk, and telling a story- because we know that people like stories.

Any time you can tell a story, you're golden.

And also telling a story that a lot of people don't know anymore.

Narrator: All this hard work has resulted in an elaborate display that delights visitors of all ages.

Conductor Dave Simkowski is responsible for the simultaneous operation of 7 different trains that meander through the many landscape settings Dave Simkowski: Right now we only run 7 trains at a time out there.

We have a digital command control, DCC system, that we utilize to operate the trains.

We have a Zimo control operator operations handheld device.

All the trains we have, mostly steam-era engines, from the 1860's to the 1920's, we tried to concentrate on- to show the building of the railroad across the country, and how it effected the country.

We start with the building of the railroad.

Then we have a couple of vignettes that show the prairie, the prairie towns as they were built up because of the railroad.

Narrator: Visitors at Taltree are led through pivotal moments in American history... all told through the stories of the great American railroad.

Dave and his staff of volunteers built and maintain these historical vignettes.

Dave: We have probably 10 volunteers who come on a consistent basis and help me out - I could not keep up with this if it wasn't for the volunteers that come through here.

Craig Meinbresse: As a volunteer here at the railway garden, I am responsible for helping to keep the trains going.

Early on when Taltree asked the volunteers to come out here, we worked on the scenes, the vignettes.

We helped put some of the buildings together, weatherize them so that they look like they've been here for a while.

Place the people and arrange things.

Narrator: Taltree strives to not only entertain, but educate visitors of all ages.

Madeline Grimm: We have 9 vignettes, and one of them, our Lincoln funeral train, is a local vignette, because it show how as a country we expanded because transportation is what made that possible.

We're really lucky to have 23 docents that work with the program here, and they teach educational programs to learn about our vignettes as well as all of our educational programming here and present the programs to the public and teach them things about nature and what they are coming to look at here at Taltree.

Narrator: As the oak trees sturdily grow, so will the railway- expanding along its own frontier while Taltree completes its next phase of development.

Damien: We plan to expand to the west of the phase one garden that represents the modern steam era and diesel era.

We have industrial vignettes there and urban vignettes.

We'll continue to expand our educational offerings and at the end of this summer, the field that's behind you, we will be using for a concert venue- we'll be building a stage there, and it'll be like the lawn at Ravinia.

Narrator: This young railway will certainly mature together with the oaks at Taltree.

Spencer: Preserving both nature and rail heritage earns Taltree a place on your must-travel list.

Coming up, a California railroad that caters to both tourists and the movie industry.

But first, an Iowa layout that harkens back to the owner's own history.

Narrator: In a quiet basement in the middle of West Des Moines, Iowa, Jerry Mickey has built a link to his past... a past spent playing pool with retired farmers, getting a haircut on Saturday night, and walking to town to watch freight trains pass.

(music) (model train horn) Until he was 16 years old, Jerry grew up on a farm in Millersville, Illinois, a town with a population of roughly fifty people.

It was this time and place that had the biggest influence on his hobby, which has been growing in his basement over the past 15 years.

(model trains running) Jerry Mickey: I think everyone has a period in their in life that's made an impact.

The layout is not totally committed to the 50s and 60s, but primarily it's the 50s and 60s.

There are many things on the layout that are from my childhood memories that are sometimes maybe more important than they should be.. if they're important to me, they are there.

Narrator: Since Jerry was young, he's wanted a layout, but his family never could afford it.

The first opportunity to own a train happened in 1993, after he visited Doug Dubay's Valley Junction Railroad layout.

Jerry: So I bought a set from him.

Took it home, put it on a ping-pong table, and it grew and expanded into this today.

This is the 4th or 5th layout.

(music) Jerry: Current layout dimension size is 46 feet long.

It ranges in width from 4 feet to 14 feet.

It's a walk-around layout.

It's irregular because of the size of the basement and shape of the basement.

That's one of the things about this hobby.

It'll expand and take all the space that's available.

There are two levels to the layout.

The upper level is primarily the Illinois Central, or trains that ran in central Illinois when I was a kid.

The lower level is Union Pacific, and it also includes a lot of the railroad they have taken over.

Narrator: In addition to keeping the memory of the old "Main Line of Mid-America" running, the layout's name is nostalgic as well.

The Bear Creek Railroad is named after a seventeen-mile stretch of country road located next to Jerry's family farm.

Bear Creek Road was also near one of his favorite boyhood playgrounds.

Jerry: A neighbor during my childhood built a baseball diamond in his pasture.

Kids from our surrounding community and the farms, we'd play another team from an adjoining town.

They guy who built it would take his truck over, pile in about 12-13 kids into the back of his truck, and we'd play a sand lot baseball game on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

Now if he did that today, I don't know when he'd get out of jail, cause driving kids in an open truck down the highway would be frowned upon.

But at that time, it was great fun.

Narrato: Besides having the knack to recreate colorful moments from his childhood, Jerry is also a gifted artist.

While many model enthusiasts buy ready-made structures, this layout is completely built by hand.

Jerry: When I built this layout, started in 2006, I already had several Buildings that I built myself I used those, other ones though, I discarded if I hadn't built them.

The next change is the yard, which I don't use very much.

Taking that out and putting in a 4H fair.

I have some of the buildings already done, but...

I've been doing this 15 yrs ...

I've improved my technique over that time.

Some of them are older, and not looking like what I think they should look like.

I'll just take them out, throw them away, and build a new one, and you have to continually challenge yourself, change something and build something new, but it's the journey, it's the building, that's the important part and the fun part.

Narrator: His loyalty to fun becomes obvious when you really get close and peek inside the buildings.

The more you look, the more his meticulous detailing begins to emerge.

Jerry: I'll use anything that I think if it looks real.

The materials that I use, I use basswood, I use a foam product called "hykeudr" which is a German co.

It's very light foam with a brick exterior on it.

The most single building that has the greatest interior is the station house that building took 3-4 months to build...the inside of that building has 22 lights, about 60 people, I it was a lot of fun building that one.

(music) Narrator: Keeping his hands busy has been therapeutic as well.

The hobby was especially useful before he retired from a 36 year career at JCPennys.

Jerry: When I was working it kept me sane at night.

I'd come down here and be building something and all the cares of the day, everything you were worried about, the sales, the markdowns, .. every expense you were responsible for, you could forget about that when you was down here.

Narrator: Over the past 15 years, it's obvious that Jerry has benefitted from tinkering with trains and town layouts from his past.

However, his dedication to the hobby is more altruistic than that... Jerry: When people come down to see my layout if they say wow, then we are successful.

(music) Narrator: Welcome to "The Movie Railroad."

Located in Ventura County California, the Fillmore and Western Railroad has a rich rail tradition.

Dave Wilkerson: Well the history of the line, it was the original coast line going up to Santa Barbara.

It was built in 1886.

And so it has a long, rich history.

Narrator: As times changed, other railroads took over a prominent transportation sources.

Fillmore and Western soon found itself seeking... another role.

Dave: In the 1990's, Fillmore and Western, Short Line Enterprises at that time, moved on to the property with a deal from the city of Fillmore and we started a tourist train and basically, a movie train.

Short Line Enterprises was founded a number of years before - they bought old railroad equipment from the studios.

And some of that original railroad is still here today.

Narrator: The new railroad mission involves the film industry.

The railroad is sometimes called the Route of the Chameleon, because much of what it does is make believe.

Dave: Producers and movie companies go to a lot of the different railroads in the country.

It's location, location, location.

Our fortunate location is we're right next to Los Angeles and Hollywood.

And so, a lot of our equipment goes off of the property and goes to different locations, and a lot of it stays here and they film some movies here.

Narrator: The railroad is also a popular tourist line, and visitors enjoy both the behind the scenes look at movie magic, and a scenic ride through citrus groves in the shadows of nearby mountains.

Narrator: As the train pulls out of Fillmore, passengers are treated to a wide variety of scenery.

Dave: The line is about 30 miles long and goes through historic California.

It's Southern California in the 1940's, 50's, 60's and before.

The towns we work here in Southern California are Fillmore, of course, and Santa Paula.

And they both have the old city look.

Narrator: If passengers choose, they don't even need to get off the train to grab a bite to eat.

On board visitors can enjoy a meal in a cafe car steeped in history.

Dave: We generally have our café parlor car on all the weekend runs.

It's a café on wheels.

(conductor: Ok, Folks, All aboard!

I'll take your tickets once we get moving) Dave: Basically on our weekend runs, we utilize Fillmore and Santa Paula.

It's 10 miles between the two, and it's about a 3 hour trip.

Narrator: Even though the railway tends to the needs of the film industry with fake scenery and make-believe props, the equipment in the yard and along the line is quite real.

Still, sometimes, the railway has to perform it's own movie magic, by modifying its equipment to ensure a realistic cinematic experience.

Andy Wilkinson: If the movies want it a different way, we'll build it to how they want it and make it work for them.

Building a tunnel out of shipping containers for 'Race to Witch Mountain' took us a few months to get done- a lot of welding.

And they put fiberglass on the ends of it to make it look like an actual mountain Dave: Well, the bridges are real... the tunnels are fake.

We got into a situation several years ago where Disney and us were working on a movie and they had to have the tunnels, so we built the tunnel, they put the façade on the front of it, and we dressed it and they helped do some dressing... And we've left it on the property.

It's 150 foot long, it looks like an old wooden tunnel on one side and the concrete on the other side.

Narrator: You've probably since the Fillmore and Western before- since they've done over 400 movies in the past 15 years.

Dave: There's been a lot of main line movies that have filmed on the property and most people don't even know it's Fillmore and Western because we dress so differently and we're capable of that.

Narrator: A great deal of effort and equipment goes into Fillmore and Western projects for the movie industry- but it takes more than just rolling stock to satisfy the film location scouts.

Dave: We have about 75 pieces of equipment here, and I would say about 20 of them originally came from the studios.

Very nice pieces of equipment that are really museum pieces and we do use them in the movies.

Andy: We got 2 GP35's on property, 2 F7's and 1 S6 right now- We got 1 2-8-0 consolidation out here that we totally stripped down, all the way to the frame and boiler and rebuilt it from ground up.

We got locomotive cabs- we actually have a model of a GP35 that's on an 18-wheeler chassis, you could drive down the highway if you wanted- it' all fiberglass.

Narrator: Wherever you look in the yard, you'll find props, lights and familiar sound stages- Dave Wilkerson: I have gone out and collected pretty much everything I want to collect as far as a train car goes- and we're just kinda waiting to see what happens next.

Narrator: And we too shall wait in anticipation for the next role- the next act of the Fillmore and Western.

Spencer: Railroading has a rich history in the movie business- the Fillmore and Western is one of several rail lines that ensure the film industry continues that tradition.

The elegance of dining on the rails lives on today in our next visit.

Let's head to the middle of Missouri to sample the fare offered on the Columbia Star.

Narrator: Where can travelers experience a bit of lost American history... and enjoy a four-course gourmet meal in just over three hours?

The Columbia Star Dinner Train.

The journey begins in Columbia, Missouri.

The city is located almost directly in the center of the state, making for easy access from both St. Louis and Kansas City.

And it's a perfect starting point for a trip by historic rail.

Mark Vaughn: The Columbia Star Dinner train is a fine dining experience that offers a five star meal and also gives our patrons the opportunity to ride trains and experience some of the same services that were offered to passengers 50 years ago.

Narrator: First to greet the passengers is a pair of F7 diesel locomotives, painted in a color scheme reminiscent of the Wabash Bluebird.

Both F7s are former Great Northern 364A 464A.

The were part of the Burlington Northern merger, and later went to the Seattle and North Coast railroad and then on to the Grand Traverse Dinner Train.

Narrator: The locomotives hold a special spot for the engineer.

Shane Riley: Well being an engineer is fun.

Like I say, I run freight railroads, like doing it.

But doing this you get to see people.

I say I like the dinner train because you get to see people, you see kids, you get to see some excitement, you know.

That's what I like about it.. Narrator: The coaches are also historic pieces of equipment.

Mark: Coaches were built for the Southern Pacific Daylight service in 1938.

Both of them articulated Pullmans.

So the interiors were completely renovated inside.

The seating was removed and they were converted to table tops.

And it was a pretty extensive renovation to those cars to get them to dinner train service.

We also have a 1950's CB&Q Havelock built baggage car that was converted to a full kitchen car.

Narrator: No frozen food on this train!

Food preparation is done right on board, and starts early in the day.

Scott Hampton: There's a lot that goes into each run, as far as myself and the staff.

In the days previous to the run I fill the train up with water.

We oversee all the deliveries.

That's fuel and food and alcohol and all that good stuff.

And then day of the staff comes in.

We light up all the ovens, start firing food, fill our steam tables, and start plating courses.

Our most popular dish is definitely the prime rib.

We start with a big piece of ime.

It's marinated.

We slow roast it right up until dinner time when its sliced thick, topped with a cabernet wine butter and natural au jus, and we prepare it with a garlic baked potato and green beans.

Really the best part of this job is the crowd.

We' have people who show up who are really excited to be here, and to have fun.

And that makes our job all that much more easy.

Narrator: All the work isn't in the kitchen.

The serving crews day also starts early.

Kris Tillotson: For preparation and getting everything in order for our runs, our dinner excursions and brunch excursions on the weekends, the crew has quite a bit that they have to get done.

Thi is a classy restaurant, so everything you see has to be clean, polished, straightened up, organized.

They have to put their linens down, fold their napkins.

All the silverware has to be hand polished, get their water glasses out, get tea brewed, coffee brewed, make sure the bars are all stocked and set.

And all our fresh garnishes that have to be prepared.

They've got their hands full.

There's a lot that has to be done before every trip.

This job in particular is really neat because we're on an antique train and it brings a lot, more of a touristy factor into the job.

So that's really neat.

I get to meet a lot of people who are really enthusiastic about trains and about this whole genre.

Narrator: With brunch & dinner runs year round, the Columbia Star annually serves around 10-12,000 passengers.

As we roll out of Columbia, it's time to relax and watch the sunset as the rolling hills of Central Missouri glide past the window.

As day turns to night, passengers unwind, and the smells of fresh vegetables and homemade sauces fill the cars.

Dinner choices attract every palette.

For some, this is a special occasion.

For others, it's a fun party.

Each is the center of attention as they drift back into the days of the romance of fine dining on the rails.

Colberts: I mean it's not very often that you get to go out on a nice dinner date and experience a train ride.

So it's been a lot of fun for me.

Just the atmosphere of it.

Narrator: Whether it's Saturday dinner or Sunday brunch, Columbia Star passengers are left with a brief look at the elegance of dining on the rails.

(music) Spencer: There's nothing quite like a gourmet meal on board a train like the Columbia Star.

And according to our crew, both the train trip and the meal were exquisite.

Well, that's all for this episode.

Please join us next time for more, Tracks Ahead.

(theme music) Announcer: Tracks Ahead.

Brought to you by: Kalmbach Publishing Company and its on-line video magazine, Model Railroader Video Plus.

Walthers.

Manufacturer and supplier of model railroading products, serving the hobby since 1932.

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