The author’s daughter shows off the layout at a meet (left). It can be operated as a dis- play using a custom programed microcon- troller or as a switching puzzle using a Nin- tendo Wii controller (above). The layout has lighting and scenic sound (below left).
Coupling and uncoupling are accom- plished with Micro-Trains couplers and magnets under the track with the loca- tions marked by model workmen. The use of a micro-controller also al- lows manipulation of other layout ele- ments. The main overhead lighting can be switched off, revealing the flickering TV in the farmhouse, and security lights at the mill and the glow of a burn barrel near the loading shed can be turned on. At the same time, the background sounds change from an ac- tual recording of the lunchtime whistle and mill operations to the evening sounds of frogs accompanied by a bark- ing dog.
These are prototypical
Willamette Valley frogs, mind you, and my dog, Mitsy, who will bark on com- mand if food is involved. One feature which has received posi- tive attention is the photo-realistic backdrop. I was able to combine panoramic photos taken at the mill with others of the nearby valley to cre- ate a nearly-seamless visual extension of the narrow layout. The backdrop was printed in two sections on matte canvas using a Hewlett-Packard large format inkjet printer, a perk of my day job as
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
and similar programs. – editors) Another interesting and rewarding ex- tension of designing and building the layout is virtual. I began blogging (
www.dawson-station.blogspot.com) my learning adventures early in the con- struction process. This has led to an ex- tensive website which includes photos and videos of both the layout and the prototype. A recent addition is a “virtual- scale” layout which allows people to ex- perience solving the switching puzzle from any Java-enabled internet browser. John Allen, in his 1972 article about his own famous Timesaver switching puzzle said, “Often, one plans and builds something that later shows it- self to be less interesting or of less val- ue than originally anticipated. Occa- sionally the reverse is true; the product proves better than hoped for.” For me, Dawson Station has turned out far bet-
an HP technician. (For those of us who do not have direct access to such a printer, i.e., most of us, some camera stores with digital labs can produce con- tinuous-roll prints on paper, vinyl or canvas several feet long and, typically, up to four feet high from JPEG files of panoramas assembled using Photo- shop®
ter than I could have ever hoped for. From a simple idea has come a realistic and fun to operate layout. Its portabili- ty has given me the opportunity to share it firsthand with numerous peo- ple at local events. The internet has al- lowed me to share it with even more. Modeling is about capturing a place and a moment of time of interest to us. While the Hull-Oakes sawmill contin- ues its operation and legacy nearly un- changed, the railroad that served it will be sorely missed. I’m glad I had a chance to see it and record its opera- tion. I am even happier that I had the chance to capture it in the way that only modelers can, for myself and oth- ers to see and operate for themselves. The Bailey Branch may now be idle, but trains will keep running at my Dawson Station for some time to come.
Additional resources: Carl Arendt’s Micro/Small Layouts for Model Railroads:
http://www.carendt.com. Dawson Station on the web, including photographs, video of both the layout and prototype, and the virtual-layout:
http://dawson-station.blogspot.com. Adrian Wyman’s Model Railway Shunting Puzzles: http://www.wymann. info/ShuntingPuzzles. Backwoods Railroads: Branchlines & Shortlines of Western Oregon, D.C. Jesse Burkhardt, Washington State University Press, 1994. Historic American Engineering Re- cord HAER OR-89, Library of Congress (
http://loc.gov/pictures/item/OR0449/), 1989.
Hull-Oakes Lumber Company’s
Steam-Powered Sawmill: A Case Study in Industrial Archaeology, George B. Wisner, Oregon State University Press, 1998.
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