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Jerry --
I practically lived in Old Town during the Railfair that opened that museum! Had my kids trackside along Roseville Road the morning UP's Challenger and FEF rolled into town for the event. Chased the 4449 out of town at the end of the fair! Crazy week, as I recall. The scent of coal smoke from the 8444 (before she had her number restored to 844 and was converted to oilburning) seemed to stick to everything -- me included -- for weeks afterward. You must have been there yourself, I'd imagine.

As to train stores hereabouts, yeah, I'd say I'm pretty well-situated. The part of town I live in -- Eagle Rock -- is smack-dab between The Original Whistlestop in Pasadena and several pretty good shops in Burbank/North Hollywood. And just to round things out, Allied Trains is only about a mile from where I work . . .

Things are tough, alright!;)

-- Paul
 
Paul,
I made two trips at the opening of the Museum, man what a show! I lived on the west side of the valley north of Sacramento. The SP line runs next to the old hiway 99W, got to drive right next to the 4449, what a sight. Black smoke and all.:thumb: I will bet THAT THE EPA would not let that happen now.:cry:
Later,
Jerry
 
Remember that line well, Jerry. Made a number of trips back and forth on it between Portland and San Francisco when I was growing up, back in the glory days of the Shasta Daylight and Cascade.

As to the 4449's Railfan trip, I remember her pulling into the station that night, just before full dark, her low moan of a whistle at full voice as she smoked up the I Street Bridge. The dusk was punctuated by flashcubes going off until you'd have thought it was the 4th of July sweeping into town a little early that year.

And it might as well have been, for the noise people made . . .

Me included,
Paul
 
Paul,
Did you by happen to ever see the O scale layout built by Godfrey Human?
He had a large layout in the basement of his house in Tehama. Actualy I think it was in a little town called Gerber. Thats on the old hiway 99 also. Just south of Red Bluff. Called the South Shasta Line. Most all of the stuff was scratch built. Very nice layout, most of the layout was based on the SP line from Tehama to Dunsmuir. He used some of the dirt and rock from the sites that he modeled. He had a open house every other year, on the off year he had a steam thrashing bee with old live steam tractor and such.
Don't know what ever happed to Him or the layout.
Later
Jerry
 
Jerry --
I never saw it in person, no, but I do remember it from articles (and at least one memorable cover photo) in years-ago issues of Model Railroader. As I recall, his premier passenger train (modeled after the Daylight, naturally enough) was called the "Bluebonnet." Did you get to see it?

What always struck me was how his South Shasta Lines looked more like 50s-era Southern Pacific than the actual 50s-era Southern Pacific did! I wish I still had some of those old articles, come to think of it, with their black-and-white photos. I'd be interested in seeing how they stand up to today's "state-of-the-art" modeling and photography. (I suspect his work would hold up pretty well; John Allen's does.)

And you're right about the town being Gerber. I think his family may still do something with the steam tractors on off-years, now that you mention it.

Regards,
Paul

P.S. You got me curious, and so I did a quick Google on this layout -- the man's name was actually spelled "Humann," incidentally, and found these references:
"California Steamin'," from [i]Steam Traction[/i] magazine's Winter 1981 issue, at http://www.steamtraction.com/archive/3655/ ,
"The Trains All Stopped At Gerber," a 1996 webpage from California Technologies, at http://www.catechnologies.com/corning/history/trains.html ,
and finally,an earlier thread from this forum at
http://www.the-gauge.com/showthread.php?p=231044

Interestingly, if he's still around, Mr. Humann would currently be 93 years old. (Apparently, he was still active as of a 1993 Railroad Model Craftsman mention.
 
Paul,
Sorry about the spelling of the name. It was the best the old brain would do.
Yes, I got to see his layout several times. Once by special invite with a group of club members. His farm ( house) was real close to the yards that were at Tehama. I am not sure if that is what got him going on the lay out or what. Boy I, just pitched some old newspaper clipings of one or two of his operation days.:cry:
You are right about the" Bluebonnet"
Later
Jerry
 
Jerry --
No sweat about the spelling. What difference should a single 'n' make? (For the life of me, I couldn't have remembered Mr. Humann's first name until you brought it up.) He and his wife -- according to one account I've read -- spent something like 40 years building and improving that layout. I would really like to have seen it.

Funny thing, but I keep thinking about how some of the photos I saw as a kid reminded me of Espee's trackage through the Salinas Valley. But then I can remember seeing a few stretches up toward Tehama that could have passed for that area.

In any event, I do envy you!

Regards,
Paul
 
Paul,

When you get to my age I am lucky to recall what I did 5 minutes ago. I think I might have a copy of a Model Railroader that has some information about Mr. Humann and his layout. I will see if I can't put my hands on them.

Later
Jerry
 
Jerry --
I myself am closing in on that dangerous age, so I can relate. I know you're cleaning out some of your stuff (by all means, don't trash those old mags!!), but it would be great if you could locate some of those old articles. By the way, I noticed on that other thread a reference to the earliest articles about the South Shasta Lines in Model Railroader having appeared around 1962 -- which isn't as I recall it. I'm thinking, though, that the earlier references I distinctly remember (including a memorable cover shot of the Blue Bonnet steaming over a highway overpass and a flatbed truck loaded with hay bales) might have been in MR's sister publication, Model Trains (which was absorbed into MR along about '61 or '62).

Good hunting!
Paul
 
Paul,
I did find one old (1976) Railroad Model Craftsman that had an artical about the South Shasta Lines. May of 1975 to be extact. Not a lot of color photos, but the truck with the hay bales at the underpass is one that is in color. One of the Blue Bonnet Special too. This also make note of an artical being published in March 1951 about his building the SP enginehouse that was in Gerber.
Later
Jerry
 
I must have somehow missed that issue, Jerry. Funny, but now that you mention it, I can't remember ever having seen a color photo of that layout. The truck and the hay bales and the underpass are undoubtedly the same ones, but the photo I was thinking of is definitely a black-and-white, and it was on the cover of whatever magazine (circa 1958-60). Either that, or I'm a lot closer to that age we were talking about the other day . . .

Regards,
Paul
 
Paul,
If you are interested there are several issues of MR that you might have that have photos.
May of 1984 and April of 1992.
Got that from the MR index site. I would do a link but I don't know how? Lucky to get the putter to turn on and off.:oops:
 
coaster said:
Thanks, Jerry, I'll check for those issues. Soon as I can remember where I filed them.:oops:
-- Paul
Click to expand...
Well I have all my MR in binders. Still takes a little while to find what you are looking for.
15-20 years of MR. lots of shelf space.:D
Later
Jerry
 
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