# My Dream Train



## monte williams (Jun 25, 2017)

Greetings, Folks,

My name is Monte. I was named after _Monte Walsh_, the adaptation of Jack Schaefer's novel; the 1970 movie, not the Tom Selleck remake. (Oddly enough, I have yet to see either movie, although I did read the novel in my teens; I see the '70 film is available in its entirety on YouTube, so I suppose I will see it finally).

A quick warning: this post will be a bit different.

First, though: I do love trains. I had a brief but all-consuming obsession with them when I was young; my grandfather worked at the railroad, and my mom would frequently draw simple cartoon trains for me to color when I was little.

I also love toys, primarily action figures. And dioramas and miniatures never fail to captivate me.

And yet I do not collect model trains.

Understand: I admire the heck out of them, and they top the list of Things I'd Pursue If I Were Rich. (Legos are on the list somewhere, as well... come to think of it, I suppose the list consists of nothing but model trains, Legos and real estate, ha ha ha). Not that one needs to be rich to pursue model trains, of course; it's just that I am always pushing my hobby budget to the limit as it is, without adding something completely new to the mix.

In the meantime, there is one train I do want. Desperately, in fact. But I don't believe anything like it is for sale, and even if it was, it'd be out of the range of my budget by a comical margin. Still, if any audience would sympathize, I reckon it'd be you fine folks.

This here is the train I want, although I'd be content with just its engine:









If I understand correctly, the train is the creation of Doug and Nancy De Berg. The photo appears courtesy of Mark Paulson's blog post concerning the Kansas City National Narrow Gauge Convention in 2014. Here's a link, which you should definitely click because there are tons of amazing photos to behold:

https://markpaulson.wordpress.com/2014/09/


(Is Mark a member of the forum? If so, thank you for the fine photo!)

Setting aside the fact that it's simply a breathtaking train and a staggering feat of ambition and skill, why do I want this train?

Because it appears to be purt near perfectly to scale with the Old West toys I photograph. These are mostly Lone Ranger and Tonto figures, and they are based on the maligned and off-putting 2013 film starring Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp. (The movie is a mess, but I found much to admire in it. That said, the toys took on a life of their own in my imagination, and are only tangentially connected to the movie in my mind these days).

(Such is my ignorance, I am not certain whether this train would be anachronistic in an Old West setting!)

The figures are approximately seven inches tall, and man alive, whenever I look at that train above, I want to photograph The Lone Ranger and Tonto on it. (I also want to commission someone to create for me an Old West Transformer of a train engine in the same scale, but I figure I've already taxed the patience of everyone on the forum sufficiently for one day without adding giant robots to my meandering post.)

Here is a link to my Old West album on Flickr:

https://flic.kr/s/aHsjXxLLAN


It's full of portraits (hundreds of them, captured over three years in and around the Snake River Canyon), some stirring and some strange, some light in tone and some bleak and creepy, mostly of the Lone Ranger and Tonto, although a few other characters make cameos here and there.

Here are some recent highlights:









































































While I'd happily surrender all my spending money for the next six months to procure a train the size and style of the one pictured near the top of this post, it is good on occasion to want something you cannot have; they say the chase is better than the catch, so I will continue happily daydreaming about this giant train... and its robot mode, ha ha ha.

Thank you for your patience! I'm looking forward to checking out more of the photos on the forum.

Cheers,

Monte


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## Guest (Jun 26, 2017)

Welcome aboard, Monte. I loved the Lone Ranger and Tonto when I was a child in the '50s. The 2013 movie was really disappointing when I first saw it. I compared Hammer and Depp to Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels and found them wanting. The second time I saw it I viewed it as just a western, not the Lone Ranger and Tonto and then I somewhat enjoyed it, but not enough to spend the time watching it again. I did like the trains in the movie.

If you just want a locomotive and one or two freight or passenger cars for photos you could scratch build them. If you used a scale of 1.25" to the foot it should look right. You wouldn't have to power the locomotive, just make it look good. Either of these locomotives would look right for the old west:

















I don't remember the time frame for the Lone Ranger but probably the wood burning loco, the red one, would be more appropriate than the coal fired loco.

If you want to have a live steam loco that you can ride on like the one in your picture I believe you have to build it though I never seriously looked into it since I have never had the room for such a toy. A non operating loco would be big but fairly light and relatively easy to transport to locations for photos.

By the way, your photos of the Lone Ranger are really cool. :thumbsup:


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## alaska railroad (Oct 20, 2015)

Nice post monte. I don't know if you will ever get the loco you peruse. But I will say never give up! I said the same thing for years. Although my dream locos are in ho scale, I dreamed of owning a BIG BOY, A 3 TRUCK SHAY,the DEWIT CLINTON, the PRUSSIA, and the JOHN BULL. And lately the sd70mac ALASKA RAILROAD loco. I now own them all, and believe me they are my pride and joy. I know my dream locos are easier to find, they are locos I desperately wanted for a long time. 

My theory to my posting is never give up monte.someone can build your dream loco. I have seen it done. I visited a loco builder that used to build rare locos, in miniature gauge.. 
Good luck....

OH, and I still have a few I want. One is the steam TRIPLEX LOCO. Oh what a beautiful loco, but very expensive. However some day I will have one..


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## monte williams (Jun 25, 2017)

Country Joe said:


> I loved the Lone Ranger and Tonto when I was a child in the '50s. The 2013 movie was really disappointing when I first saw it.


Funnily enough, while I was always aware of the character, I had never paid much attention one way or another... and yet the movie still disappointed me. There's nothing wrong with not taking a property seriously, but that movie _never_ took its protagonist seriously. It made it hard to invest in the danger and drama. I complained afterward that the whole thing reeked of "franchise shame," as if Disney was embarrassed by the property... in which case, why resurrect it in the first place? So weird.




Country Joe said:


> If you just want a locomotive and one or two freight or passenger cars for photos you could scratch build them.


Which is to say _one_ could. 'Cause _I_ sure couldn't! I have no skills in that area. I'm wondering, though: if I end up teaching at a school that has a shop program, maybe I can get the shop students to make something for me!




Country Joe said:


> You wouldn't have to power the locomotive, just make it look good... If you want to have a live steam loco that you can ride on like the one in your picture I believe you have to build it though I never seriously looked into it since I have never had the room for such a toy. A non operating loco would be big but fairly light and relatively easy to transport to locations for photos.


Oh, precisely: I would feel no need for it to operate. I just need it to look good.  And the portability issue you cite is a huge, huge consideration; I have a few quarter-scale Ninja Turtle figures measuring roughly eighteen inches tall each, and man is it a chore lugging them around on a shoot. I'd need the train to be as light as possible, which would probably be a tall order.

One I could actually ride would be a hoot in theory, but I doubt I'd utilize it for that purpose frequently enough to justify it, and I'm too much of a curmudgeon to invite the public to do so. One benefit to a full working train, though: having the tracks and such in place already.

If I were crazy-rich I'd love to have a third of an acre or so turned into a giant train display in scale with my action figures. Imagine the possibilities!




Country Joe said:


> Either of these locomotives would look right for the old west:
> 
> View attachment 321242
> 
> ...


Wow! Gorgeous!




Country Joe said:


> I don't remember the time frame for the Lone Ranger...


1800s, if memory serves.




Country Joe said:


> By the way, your photos of the Lone Ranger are really cool.


Thank you! And thanks again for the suggestions.

One alternate idea I've had is to buy one of those basic, cheap train sets they sell during the holidays. While it's wildly under-scaled and lacking in detail, I sometimes photograph action figure silhouettes at sunset, and I found that I can move one toy closer to me to make it seem larger than it is; theoretically, if I move the train very close to me and the Lone Ranger further away, I could perhaps make it look like he and Silver are chasing the train, or what have you. The issue there is that I would want smoke from the train in the silhouette. It's always something!



Not Very Long Ago for Those With Long Memories, Not Very Far Away for Those With Long Legs 
by Monte Williams, on Flickr​




alaska railroad said:


> Nice post monte. I don't know if you will ever get the loco you peruse. But I will say never give up!


Thank you! I hope you're right! Since I capture my photos outdoors, it will prove an interesting challenge to make the train look believable in a photo without the natural setting ruining the sense of scale; I frequently have to remove leaves or weeds that shatter the illusion as it is. Plus, I'll have to consider what to do about tracks. Sheesh.

Thanks again for the warm welcome and encouragement, fellas!


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## VegasN (Mar 14, 2016)

Really cool pics!! Very creative eye.


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## monte williams (Jun 25, 2017)

VegasN said:


> Really cool pics!! Very creative eye.


Thank you!


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Now if you want the Lone Ranger you have to
go back to Radio...1940...from Detroit, WXYZ
and other stations around the country.

http://www.jimramsburg.com/uploads/1/0/7/4/10748369/lone_ranger____10-28-40.mp3

By the way...that web site is a treasure trove of the
Golden Age of Network Radio with deep research
and hours of actual broadcasts. The Jack Benny
shows are my favorites. 

Don


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