SFX Whistle Music Music Tracks Ahead Brought to you by Rancho de Tia Rosa, a Mexican restaurant serving the Phoenix area since 1990.

Raildreams, a designer and builder of custom model railroads since 1994.

Eaglewings Iron Craft.

Offering custom-built, products along with overhead systems and portable layouts for the garden railroader since 1997 Hi, I'm Spencer Christian.

On this episode of Tracks Ahead, we'll visit a garden layout in Scottsdale which has a whimsical theme.

We'll meet a young railroad artist with a talent for realism, and we'll visit the windy city - Chicago, for a little holiday magic.

While many think that steam engines are a long gone item, they are still around.

They may not be as numerous as they once were, but you can still get a look at the technology that helped shape the nation.

And there is a new group of people - young people - who are keeping this technology in the present.

Annc: There was a time when this nation was young that steam locomotives were the workhorses that transported the bulk of goods and people from one place to another.

Today, there is but a small group of remaining steam locomotives that have become living, breathing museums of that bygone era.

The preservation of steam technologyhas been headed up by a small group of individuals who acquired their knowledge of steam engines during the 1960s and 70s.

But as these preservationists begin to age, one wonders, who is learning from them?

Who are the "Young Guns" that will keep alive the legacy of steam for future generations?

Still in his early thirties, Wolf Fengler is a part time train aficionado who has brought his engineering expertise to the world of steam restoration.

Wolf: Well, It's a way of connecting the past experiences of people, whether it was an immigrant family coming across and settling in the new world or grandpa who used to work on the railroad.

This was a very vital part of America for a long long time.

The passenger trains and the freight trains, and it's a way of bringing that together to modern generations.

You can see it in a static in a park or in a picture, but until you're up close and hearing the sounds and smelling it and seeing the steam come out it doesn't quite sink in right.

And that's part of the reason for the restoration, because we want future generations to understand that.

Annc: Matt Casford is a member of a crew that restored and is maintaining a 1941 Santa Fe locomotive.

Matt: We work every Saturday, and there's a core group in the organization the mechanical group, the mechanical guys, that that spend every Saturday turning bolts and lapping valves and just taking care of the little things on the loco.

It's all taught by the old, by what we call the old heads.

They've been around forever, and unfortunately we're losing a lot of them.

Every month, because they're all WWII vets.

And I try to learn, I try to just become a sponge when I'm around them.

Just soak up as much of the tricks of the trade that they can hand down and, you know, the information they have is priceless.

When I step behind the controls, you really have a sense of power that the engine has, and it's yours to, to encourage or to restrain.

I mean, and there's nothing like it.

I mean, this engine is just so powerful that it.

It's just, it's humbling to be behind the controls of this engine.

It's amazing.

It's every little boy's dream.

Annc: Learning about steam technology is a daunting challenge.

There are no schools in which to enroll, except for the school of hard work.

Still in his early 20s, Kelly Lynch is currently such a student at the Ft. Wayne Railroad Historical Society.

Kelly: I started coming out here probably around the age of 12 to do actual work and after working on the Ohio Central I came back and I said I really wanted to do something that made a difference.

Whenever I see someone doing something I'll chase them down and ask them, you know, why are we doing it this way?

How do you do this?

If I see someone going out and if the crew's going out on the road with a loco, I'm like "Hey, do you guys need an extra fireman?

You going to be alright today? "

And I'll make it known that I want to go out and learn and they've been really supportive and that's just basically how its done and I will, I will ask people, "Look, what's the job that I can do?

What's the thing nobody else wants to do? "

and I'll do it.

I think steam technology, especially like the loco, it represents uh a time and a place when there wasn't a push button society.

Uh there's a lot of discipline.

There's a lot of care.

There's a lot of um maintenance involved.

And a lot of people aren't used to that today, I mean we have computers, you know, and stuff like that.

So, the loco itself, I mean steam technology is so alive.

It's sound and its smells and it looks really cool.

So, I mean it's a time machine basically and it's something worth sharing with people that don't know about it.

Annc: Though only in his mid thirties, Paul Dalleska already has over 15 years of steam experience.

Paul: There's a lot of people who enjoy the thrill of seeing a steam loco operate.

Comparing steam to a diesel loco a steam loco is very exposed as to how it works the pistons, the cylinders, all the moving parts on the outside.

And I really do think that steam in general is kind of an addiction.

Once you get exposed to it you become interested it's hard to get it out of your system.

You're driven by some strange force to stay involved & keep doing stuff with it.

The engine that I started working on was the Northern Pacific 328.

It's a 10 wheeler that MTM was running in the 80s & 90s.

It's a very trim Rogers built 10 wheeler.

The plate says Alco but it really is a Rogers engine.

I spent about a year working on 261 and then I have kind of a long term relationship with the White Pass and Yukon 69 between working on it in Nebraska, and then again in Wisconsin.

And of course the 464 and the 10 wheeler here at the Huckleberry.

Annc: Michael Manwiller was born to railroading and has already assembled an impressive steam resume.

Michael: Primarily it's 4th generation ithe family.

Steam loco is unlike any other piece of machinery that's out there that I can really think of or anybody that's every really been around machinery I think would agree.

Just all the different nuances that go along w/ the machine.

The personalities of the equipment.

Plus it's like a living breathing way to the past of what once was.

It's a reminder of the way things used to be.

Annc: John Rimmasch is another young gun who has been working on steam locomotives since his early teens.

John: I became interested in trains like so many others in society do.

It was a first childhood memory of mine.

I remember a train go around the Christmas tree and this particular train wasn't just any train; it was a steam loco.

And even to this day I have that steam loco in my collection and that loco brings back a lot of very fond memories particularly that Christmas.

But as I grow and as I've gotten older I remember that steam loco and it really instilled in me a love for steam locos for big trains.

It gave me a passion.

I feel it's important to preserve steam technology, not necessarily for the technology, but for the history of it.

We are quickly losing, in our society, the group of people that remember, that directly remember riding behind a steam loco when they were children.

And if we don't preserve this history, we're going to lose it completely.

And we won't be able to say to my children, or to my young boys, "This is what a steam loco is. "

We'll only be able to say to them, "This is what a steam loco was. "

Annc: It's comforting to know that the steam technology that literally built this country is being preserved by yet another generation of dedicated rail buffs, in order that future generations might experience it in action.

There are many more individuals around the world who continually toil to keep the preservation of steam very much alive.

Next we'll take a look at one of the most fanciful garden layouts you could possibly imagine.

It comes from the mind of Brian Casull in Scottsdale, Arizona, with a little help from J.R. Tolkien and friends.

Annc: Have you ever heard of a train layout that was "imagineered? "

That's exactly what Brian Casull did when he built his family's backyard garden train layout.

While so many model railroaders take great pains to reproduce specific locations and periods of time, Brian decided to let his imagination run wild.

Sometimes you need inside information to understand what it all means.

Every nook and cranny of this one-quarter acre railroad has a meaningful name and story to it.

The two main lines are home to towns that include Gondor and Hobbiton and even a version of Phoenix; they pass the Oliphant Canyons and the forest of Lothlorien.

Warring factions struggle, strange minerals are mined, and an old robber baron named Fezziwig dominates the worlds with his brewery and warehouses.

The stories go on and on.

Brian: I'm a big fan of Tolkien and it became very obvious to me that the natural terrain that we had here on the hillside fit Tolkien's Middle Earth.

It was a no-brainer to put the tower of Almondine on the huge hillside, it was the watchtower.

And, of course, the escarpment and the gaps and the large stone faces very easily became the Gap of Rohan.

Annc: Even the name of this layout, the "Snort, Bear and Widget Railroad and Mining Company," is a bit of a puzzle.

It's the nicknames of the Casull's three children - Thomas, Lisa and Nancy who are now raising families of their own.

And their Mom, Rebecca, also has a major influence on the layout.

Rebecca: Brian likes to call me the superintendent.

I'm the one who says, "Yes, you can do this or no, you can't do that.

You can go this far and no farther. "

My idea with the RR was to for it to harmonize with the natural beauty that we have with this property.

And I think we've done that really well, with the stonework, the waterfall, the water feature as well.

Annc: Brian is also especially proud of the water feature at the center of the layout.

It leads the eye to a new wooden trestle and two Eaglewing Iron Craft bridges.

Brian likes to start new layouts every few years.

He completely tore down his old "Snort, Bear & Widget" layout to make room for this one back in 2006.

Now, the layout is built on cinder block and the track work is ballasted and glued in place.

Four trains can run simultaneously on the two main lines, climbing grades up to 3.5 percent.

Brian: The workhorses are the Little Critters.

The little switching engines that I'll triple head and double head .

We have one big LGB prototype diesel with prototype sound.

And then we have my newest addition which is a mallet, a articulated 2-6-6-2, also with sound.

There are also some sundry small 0-6-0, 0-4-0 and a couple of LGB European prototypes that are on the layout as well.

Annc: Brian is proud to say that he had to develop a whole new skill set in the construction process.

Brian: As a physician, a medical physician in pediatrics, we did a lot of thinking, not much hands on.

I had to become a carpenter, a landscaper, an electrician, a painter, a rock mason, among other things.

So the first thing I'm proud of is that I actually learned how to do that stuff.

I know more about electrons now than I ever wanted to know.

Annc: He's also proud of what he can give back to the community by using his creation.

Brian: We open up every spring for the Make A Wish Foundation, and over Christmas for the Phoenix Children's Hospital.

And my wife is a volunteer at Wild at Heart, which is a raptor rescue center.

And we always have their Christmas Parties here and of course the trains play a major role.

We also open it up to the neighborhood for block parties.

Because I think if you do this by yourself, and a tree falls in the forest and nobody sees it, what have you got?

Well, you've got a dead tree and nobody knows about it.

I'm a pediatrician.

I play with kids.

I play with toys.

I can still that.

I'm an old guy and I can still play.that's one of the big satisfactions - being able to play.

As with any railroad, work is never done, and Brian plans to continually upgrade and expand the operation.

Soon, we'll meet a Toronto area artist who has a passion for placing technically accurate subjects in believable settings, with particular attention to lighting, shading and texture.

But first.

Chicago!

The name evokes images of the Sears Tower, the Hancock Building, the loop, and the El.

Lately, though another image comes to mind - that of Navy Pier.

In the summer, it is a garden of 50 acres and a jumping off point for rides on Lake Michigan.

But around the holidays, Navy Pier becomes host to something else.

Annc: No trip to Chicago would be complete without a stop at Navy Pier.

Originally known as Municipal Pier Number Two, it opened to the public in 1916, and was at the time the world's largest pier.

Used as a Navy training facility during World War 2, by the mid 1970's the pier had fallen into disrepair.

Refurbished in the early 1990's, the Pier is once again a year round shopping and entertainment destination.

It becomes a special site at Christmas, because at that time, is becomes home to Winter Wonder Fest.

And no Holiday display would be complete without a railroad.

But it started small.

Will: The very first year of the Winter Wonderfest, a gentleman from downtown Chicago asked Navy Pier if they would be interested in having some trains as a part of the Winter Wonderfest.

He provided some HO trains, they provided some ceramic buildings and about four tables and it was all set up and it became a big hit.

Annc: But the layout didn't stay small.

The festival committee quickly realized that a larger display was needed.

Enter fate, along with theater and set designer, Clarke Dunham.

Will: They were able to connect up with Dunham Studios, which is a company from upstate New York that builds primarily Broadway type theatrical scenery, who had available a train layout that had originally been built for CitiBank in the late 80's for use in the corporate lobby in Manhattan for the holidays.

By the time of the second Winter Wonderfest, it was available, Navy Pier purchased it, it came here and made it's first appearance as a part of the Winter Wonderfest in 2002.

When originally built, the display was designed to represent areas in and around New York State.

It was designed to represent Weehawken, New Jersey, as you would look towards Manhattan in 1945.

The upper Hudson River Valley in 1955, and then the third side represented the 1939 World's Fair.

When it was to come to Navy Pier, obviously some things needed to change.

Weehawken, New Jersey stayed pretty much the same.

The original upper Hudson River Valley was reconfigured in minor ways to give you a greater representation of some of the things you might see as you traveled between New York and Chicago via train.

The third side, instead of being the New York Worlds Fair, was completely redone to be a panorama of the downtown Chicago area.

Annc: A layout this big takes dedicated volunteers a good deal of time to construct.

When not in use, the layout lives to two, 53 foot semi trailers.

So each year, the setup becomes a challenge.

Mike: The first year we set this up, it took myself, Will, four carpenters, it took six days to erect the building, drop in the layout sections, and actually have the trains running.

We worked from pictures we had taken on the first setup that Dunham had done, when he set it up.

Annc: When Clarke Dunham sold the layout, he offered one piece of advice - "Find someone to run it who understands model railroading. "

Mike: Having been in the model railroading hobby for quite some time, Will and I, it's aided us by being able to go in and fix broken scenery, do track work and repair, we've actually had to go in underneath the layout and rewire sections of it that had been damaged or had just worn out after extensive setup and teardown of the unit.

Annc: It takes a lot of trains and rolling stock to keep the visitors interested.

Will: For the three rail O gauge trains, all of it is provided by MTH electric Trains as a cosponsor of the Station at Navy Pier.

The HO trains are all owned by Navy Pier, having come either with the display when it was originally bought from Dunham Studios, or being purchased since then by our company on behalf of Navy Pier.

Mike: The controls for all the trains are up in the control tower.

It's all run off of relays.

We can run trains in trail through blocks, and run as many as four sets of trains on the HO running on the inner and outer loops.

Annc: With trains running and running for hours on end, maintenance can be daunting.

Mike: Maintenance sometimes is a nightmare.

Cause you consider we're running all these trains, eight to ten to twelve hours a day.

They have to come off and get regular maintenance as far as oiling, cleaning, just to keep them all running.

The show runs approximately from early December, through the first week in January.

And the crowds have averaged 450,000 to 500,000 for the first three years.

Will: Its enjoyable for Mike and I come here and observe the people enjoying the trains.

Our business had always been doing trade shows and special events for corporations, and to add our hobby of trains to it is a great thing.

We really only get one complaint from parents here.

Some of them have a hard time getting their children to leave here to go see Santa.

Annc: When you visit Chicago over the holidays, make sure that you take the time to stop at Navy Pier.

Not only will you experience its restored grandeur, but you'll get to see a little slice of holiday railroad magic at the same time.

Music RR Sound Effects.

Annc: The silence of Lake's Superior's pristine North Shore is broken by the roar of churning wheels from the Canadian Pacific Railway's train #1 making its way west across the wilderness.

It's 9:30 in the morning; flange squeals resonate from the deck-truss bridge high above Little Pic River.

And far away -- in another place and time -- New York Centrals premiere passenger train, the 20th Century Limited, advances west to Chicago at Breakneck Mountain along the Hudson River.

Both of these historic railroad scenes were painted by David Oram, an artist who's technical accuracy, attention to detail and creative prowess have made him one of the most sought after railroad painters today.

Although he's only 34, David obtains enough commissions to paint railroad on a full time basis.

He received his first commission when he was just 17 from his photography teacher.

Now his works hangs in collections across North America and Europe.

Based outside of Toronto, David paints in his apartment and owes much of his success to his website: www.davidaoram.com.

There, readers can find out the stories behind the paintings and the trains themselves.

David: Some other people's ideas, some times the story starts before the painting, the story's brought to me, other times the painting starts and the story develops as the painting progresses.

So the painting I'm working on now is titled "B&O Family. "

The person that commissioned the painting has done a lot of research into the crew and the train operator that was based at Lester, Ohio.

Originally the train operator was going to be in the far distance near the train station but he's since found the train operator still lives today and he has agreed to let us put him in the painting.

So we're going to move him to the foreground, more closer where somebody can recognize him, and he can recognize himself, he's 92 years old.

So paintings do change as they progress.

Sometimes I start right on the canvas, sometimes I start with a full sized sketch.

And if I start with a full sized sketch, what I normally do is transfer it to the canvas.

So when I start with a full sized sketch, I can work out all my proportions, I can work out the placing of the train and the buildings.

It's easier to work on the paper than it is on the canvas.

It's easier to erase on paper than it is on canvas.

So I can move things around on paper.

So once I have the drawing finished, I transfer it to the canvas and then I can start my painting, in which I normally work with the sky, and work forward.

Annc: His privately commissioned paintings can cost thousands of dollars, but high-resolution prints cost far less.

People can order original paintings or prints online.

David: A Giclee print is a high resolution reproduction of the original painting, and could be either printed on watercolor paper or the canvas.

First I take the original painting down to my printer, who photographs it with a high resolution digital camera.

He then color matches the digital file to the original painting so that we as close a match as possible to the original painting.

At which time he shows me a proof, and if we both agree that the proof matches the original, we then produce prints from that file.

Annc: Although he had some formal training at the Ontario College of Art, David is largely self-taught.

He has a passion for placing technically accurate subjects in believable settings, with particular attention to lighting, shading and texture.

Everyone who loves trains knows that railroad aficionados are notorious for their demand for realistic detail.

This makes painting trains a particular challenge for David.

David: I work from photographs.

From my own or from other photographs that have been provided to me.

I also work from books.

I do research on the internet.

Sometimes it's my own photographs.

If say a building still exists, I'll use existing photographs or photographs that I've taken of the building.

Annc: When the painting is done, David hangs it up and gives himself time to view it -- sometime for several weeks -- just to make sure that everything looks perfect.

David: I just love being able to recreate a moment in time.

If it's for me or if it's for somebody else, if it's their memory, to be able to bring that memory back to them means a lot to me, to be able to put the viewer back into that moment in time.

That why I love my paintings to have that kind of detail, sort of a moment when you want to get lost in the image.

Annc: David's paintings have been showcased in magazines, such as The Mainstreeter and Branchline magazines.

And lucky viewers of David's paintings are taken to places and times that would be utterly impossible otherwise.

David's works hang in collections throughout North America and Europe.

In 2000, he was commissioned by the Canadian Pacific Railway to paint a portrait of one of its steam engines.

Well that's it for this episode.

Please join us next time for more, Tracks Ahead.

Music Tracks Ahead Brought to you by Rancho de Tia Rosa, a Mexican restaurant serving the Phoenix area since 1990.

Walthers, manufacturer and supplier of model railroading products; serving the hobby since 1932.

Eaglewings Iron Craft.

Offering custom-built, products along with overhead systems and portable layouts for the garden railroader since 1997 Music