PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR Jim Younkin’s Mud Bay & Southern R.R. An N scale layout based in the Pacific Northwest/Paul Scoles S
ometimes I get lucky and stumble onto something really nice, and this was certainly one of those
times. When I first visited Jim Younk- ins in the fall of 2010 I was stunned by the view of a huge N scale layout that surrounded his basement stairway. It went in every direction and into sever- al rooms, with gorgeous Pacific North- west scenery everywhere. I was on a scouting mission for layouts that would be suitable for tours during the 2012 National Narrow Gauge Convention, to be held in the Seattle area over Sep- tember 12-15 of this year. Jim’s layout was so good that it more than made the grade as a tour candidate, and, no, it didn’t matter that it was not narrow gauge. Jim was exposed to trains at an ear- ly age with a Lionel set, eventually moving to HO as he approached his teenage years. Alas, as befell many of
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us, girls and cars pulled him in a differ- ent direction, ending his interest in trains. After high school Jim served in the Air Force for five years as a photog- rapher. Moving to Olympia, Washing- ton, after his military service, he land- ed a job as a city bus driver, “just until
something better came along,” he said. Well, the years added up, and Jim re- tired in 2000 after 25 years of driving in circles as a city bus driver, saying that he came to realize the job perfect- ly fit his desired lifestyle. Living in the waterfront city of Olympia, Jim quickly became interest- ed in sailing and bought a sailboat. Racing with other boats soon followed. However, racing sailboats kept him away from home most weekends, and he finally decided he needed a hobby he could pursue at home. By the early 1990’s Jim had redis- covered model railroading, and after considerable thought and a survey of his available space, he chose N scale. After building a four by eight layout on plywood he became interested in NTrak, and with a few friends in the Olympia area formed an NTrak club. Prolific at building modules, Jim soon
AUGUST 2012
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