PHOTOS BY PAT DAVIS UNLESS NOTED The Morada Belt Railway This HO scale layout is set in the west during the steam/diesel transition era/Dave Stanley


of which I often saw either in person or pictured in magazines. As a child, my father’s birthday surprise to me was a 4′×8′ starter layout he and a family friend had constructed, fol- lowed a few years later by a garage layout we worked on together: the At- las track book’s “Big Panhandle” plan. Although never completed, the seed for a substantial model railroad had been planted.


A 40


s a lifelong model railroader, I dreamed of someday building a large home layout, examples


Finding that “perfect” home Past memberships in the Sacramento and (now-defunct) Lodi, California, mod- el railroad clubs kept the dream alive, as did a pair of small switching layouts I had built over time. It wasn’t until 2003, however, that the opportunity for that ultimate HO railway presented itself. My new bride, Shirley, and I were shop- ping for a home in a location that would shorten my commute to work and be reasonably close for her, as well. Mora- da, a rural, picturesque settlement lo- cated between Lodi and Stockton, had


just the house for us. A 20′×20′ out- building in the back, perfect for a model railroad, sealed the deal. And, what a deal it was! The house


was in serious need of updating, hav- ing been built in the early 1970’s. As for the “train room,” well, it needed a major overhaul. The roof leaked, the walls were exposed studs, the floor was open wood slats, the front and rear alu- minum-framed sliding glass doors were so badly warped they wouldn’t close properly, and the only electricity to the room fired a pair of shop lights.


JANUARY 2014


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