# George Schreyer’s Indoor Garden Railroad (Calif.)



## thecitrusbelt (Apr 27, 2011)

Hello –

The next tour sponsored by Model Railroads Of Southern California includes George Schreyer’s indoor garden railroad. This railroad and four other scale model railroads will be open on Saturday, June 25, as part of a tour of layouts in the Lake Arrowhead-Big Bear Lake area.

Gorge’s Geologically Improbable Railroad, Mountain Division, is a large scale railroad built in a 16' x 26' basement of a mountain cabin in Green Valley Lake, CA. This railroad started in 1990 with a Bachmann Big Hauler set and grew from there. The time period is the 1920s or so, but some time warping is evident. All motive power is steam and mostly Bachmann. Almost all of the rolling stock is Bachmann as well.

The railroad consists of about 400 feet of track, including yards and sidings, with the lines on three levels interconnected at a fairly complex interchange such that a train can get from any line to any other line without fouling the third line. The "inner" and "outer" lines can be interconnected with the scissors crossover into a "twice around" configuration. Branching off the crossover is a branch that climbs a 1 3/4 turn spiral inside a plaster mountain to the "upper" line which is really a loop to loop arrangement. The outer line, which goes around the perimeter of the basement, has a 6 track switching yard, a small engine yard, several sidings and a wye. The inner line circles the town and has a passenger station siding, a hidden staging siding, a spur at a freight station, an industrial/mine siding and two reversing cutoffs. The inner line is a folded dog bone with about half of the trackage hidden. The upper line contains another four-track switching yard, two stub sidings, a passenger station siding, and two reversing loops. The town features a standalone loop to loop automatically operating trolley line that goes into and out of the town to a hidden holdover stop under the scenery.

Location: 33356 Angeles Drive, Green Valley Lake

George’s other garden railroad in Torrance will be open on our July 30 tour.

Below are the schedule and descriptions of the layouts on the June 25 tour. Two layouts also will be open on June 26. This is a free event and you may bring relatives and friends. The tour is self-guided.

Be sure to check the group website the day before the tour to see if any changes to the schedule or layout lineup have occurred. If you would like a set of maps to these layouts and an area map for the whole tour, please ask. Persons taking this tour assume all risks and liability for their personal safety. Although I am the Moderator of this group, I am not responsible for personal loss or injury to those taking this tour.

If you cannot make this tour, more tours are being planned for July, October and November. If you wish to open your model railroad for an upcoming tour, please contact me.

Bob Chaparro
Hemet, CA
[email protected]
Moderator
Model Railroads Of Southern California
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Model_Railroads_Of_Southern_California/

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Layout Tour No. 25
Saturday & Sunday, June 25 & 26, 2011

John Acosta (HO, HOn3)
309 East Fairway Blvd., Big Bear City

John’s HO scale Gulf & Pacific Railroad is a freelanced analog DC railroad set in the mid 1960s in a mountain area. The layout is located within a climate-controlled garage in a room measuring 22 feet x 27 feet. The layout primarily features the Santa Fe, with the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific represented as well. Also featured is his father's railroad, the Gulf & Pacific. The track plan is a two-level walk-along shelf layout. Trackage is mostly Code 83 with some hand laid Code 70 on wood ties as well. The mainline run is about 120 feet long with 30 inch minimum radii for curves. Railhead height varies between 48" and 58" above the floor. There is also a short, steep HOn3 branch ending at a crumbling "ghost town". The several towns on the layout are all named after John's children and wife. One town has several scratch-built buildings resembling 1950 Palm Springs. Motive power is mostly diesels, with Shays for the branches. Through and way freights plus passenger trains operate point-to-point, with turntables at each end and at the middle with a modest yard. The scenery is at about 80 percent complete, and nearly all buildings are illuminated with detailed interiors. There are several photos of this layout on the Model Railroads Of Southern California website in the "Albums" Section under "Gulf & Pacific RR", with some short videos on YouTube under "jostaiii". The room is decorated with authentic railroadiana including an operating ex-SP Gyralite. Passenger step stools from all the above railroads add to the atmosphere. The layout owner is a licensed architect.

Harold “Stubby” Ent (HO)
105 E. North Shore Drive, Big Bear City

Stubby’s Railroad is a work in progress with lots of interesting train operations and partially sceniced areas. The layout sits on a 9' x 15' base and features both analog DC and DCC control options. There is a hidden staging yard, an old town with its own mining railroad and a two-track mainline. You can find everything from mountain to flat land operation including a reversing loop and mid-layout crossover. 

Rick Howland (N) (Open Sat. By Appointment – Call 909-878-3866)
41044 Big Bear Blvd., Space #2, Big Bear Lake

The Howland Pacific Railroad is an N scale layout housed in a 10’ x 10’ metal shed. Benchwork is old school open box style grid and sub-roadbed is 3/4" particle board with some plywood. It is a work in progress with minimal scenery. Rick enjoys running trains so the track plan is a three level four-track helix and what appears to be a double track main. There is a coal district (still under construction), a six-track hidden staging yard, a five-track hidden stub end yard, two small visible yards that allow for some switching, two reversing loops and one wye. The layout is wired to operate either analog DC or DCC with DPDT toggle switches, one per block. The control panels are temporary. 

Rick operates trains that reflect the late 40s and 50s to the late 70s. The Santa Fe is the primary railroad with Southern Pacific, Union Pacific, Western Pacific and Denver & Rio Grande Western all putting in appearances. Rumor has it the Great Northern has an overland bridge and drops in from time to time with a string of cars. A Museum Special, sponsored in part by the Norfolk & Western and Norfolk Southern private varnish organizations occasionally tours the layout. Steam can be found all though not in great quantity. Local model railroader Greg McGinnis donated a mini-city for the layout that is referred to as San Berdu. He built the town’s unique station from scratch.

Greg McGinnis (HO)
529 Temple Lane, Big Bear Lake

The Bear Valley Railroad occupies approximately 100 square feet in a two-car garage. The mainline runs for 200 feet twice around the walls and over two peninsulas with about half of the trackage hidden. Scenery is mountains to desert with a large town, trolleys and many industries. Most structures are scratch-built.


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

Thanks for the Info Bob. Say there neighbor are you the Bob who owns Dynamic hobbies? I have a small "L' shaped layout here in Hemet but not quite worthy of a tour. Maybe my next one!

I would love to visit these layouts being I am familiar with all the Area's modeled! Too cool!


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Bob,

Thanks much for posting the news/info here. I'm sure our forum guys will help spread the word.

(Now how do I get myself out to SoCal ?!?!?!)

TJ


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## kursplat (Dec 8, 2010)

tjcruiser said:


> Bob,
> 
> Thanks much for posting the news/info here. I'm sure our forum guys will help spread the word.
> 
> ...


flat rate box?

wish i was free that day


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