Live Steam 70th Anniversary Meet Memorial Day Weekend

Garibalde Figureroa and Dakotah Russell testing the live steam tractor. Garibalde is a “live steamer" and Dakotah is along for the ride.

Welcome Live Steamers, Railroad Hobbyists, and Modelers. The Los Angeles Live Steam Railroad Museum is hosting their 70th Annual Meet over Memorial Day Weekend, May 22-25, 2026. Their layout is located near Travel Town at 5202 Zoo Drive, Griffith Park, Los Angeles, 90026.

LALSRM Club members invite you to join in celebrating 70 years of live steam railroading in beautiful Griffith Park. They, as well as guests from all over California and the US will be gathering to enjoy live train operations (steam, diesel, and electric), special exhibits, camaraderie and bountiful food with like-minded folks.

Scheduled events run from noon to 6 pm on Friday, 9 AM to 7:15 PM on Saturday, and 9 AM to 1:30 PM on Sunday. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner is available for purchase at the event.

For questions contact Nick Suncin, President at nsunzzz@gmail.com or 323.788.3033.

Double-headed steam on the high iron!

Two double-headed Santa Fe Northern locomotives rolled across Boggs Bridge recently on the layout. The celebration was for having both Broadway Limited locomotives up and running for the first time in more than 6 months.

The lead locomotive was on its first run since the locomotive wiring harness to the tender was replaced. A short had caused one of the wires to overheat and melt the plastic harness, Broadway Limited notified the club’s newest member, Roland Hermann, that they did not carry the harness for the earlier versions of their 4-8-4 locomotive models. They had replacement parts for the current models only.

After moaning and groaning and trying to find parts elsewhere, Broadway sent an email stating that they had the wiring harness in stock after all.

Roland quickly put in an order, received the replacement part, and was able to install the new wiring harness with little difficulty. Santa Fe 3761 was able to join sister locomotive 3764 on the head end of the massive reefer block for their first run together.

Thank you Roland!

Trains Roll on the Narrow Gauge!

Bob’s narrow gauge passes the upper power house of the Angel’s Flight replica adjacent to the narrow gauge track.

The narrow gauge has had a rnew section reopened after years of inactivity. Bob Grimm, Narrow Gauge Department Head, has extended the narrow gauge run after repairing track on the loop. You can see Bob lurking in the background and peering between the trees.

This test run over the newly opened track is the first time a train has been on this section of the line since the track was laid more than 30 years ago. Yes, it’s been in place for 30 years but never had the electrical and turnout problems debugged and corrected until now. Way to go Bob!

Highball!

New Officers Elected to Fill Board of Directors Vacancies

Open positions after two resignations of Directors required a special election to fill out all positions on the Board of Directors. The special election to fill open positions was held at the regular Quarterly Business Meeting on April 10, 2025.

The 2025-2026 Board Members are:

The new board takes office immdiately. Board members serve the remaining terms of 1¼ years until the Annual Business Meeting in July 2026.

Parade of Blue on the Highland Pacific

Rey Castillo, the recently-elected Chief Clerk of the Highland Park Society of Model Railroad Engineers, brought his Blue Comet to last Wednesday’s run session. His photo captures the two “blues” in Del Mar Station.

This photo show Rey’s Blue Comet, a named train operated by Central Railroad of New Jersey, and Arie Korporaal’s Blue Goose locomotive, the only streamlined steam locomotive operated by Santa Fe and used mostly on passenger trains between Chicago and La Junta, Colorado..

Rey’s excellent model trains and good photography enhance the layout of the Mighty Highland Pacific Railroad. We plan to feature a video of the Blue Comet that Rey made recently. Stay tuned.

New Officers Elected at Annual Business Meeting

A new Board of Directors was elected at the Annual Business Meeting on July 10, 2024.

The 2024-2026 Board Members are:

The new board takes office on August 1st. Board members serve a term of 2 years.

Annual Business Meeting, July 10th

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Highland Pacific:

This is a reminder that our upcoming Annual Business Meeting will be held at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, July 10, 2024.

The meeting will be held at the clubhouse located at 854 Broadway, San Gabriel CA, 91776,  If you can not attend please submit your proxy.

This annual meeting will be consequential as all active members in good standing will be voting on a new slate of officers, adopting the annual budget, updates from departments, plans for painting the club building, plans for repairing the building roof, and a discussion of DC, DCC, and a dual layout.

Your voice is critical. Your vote is critical. Be there or be square.

NOTE: If you are unable to attend the meeting, sign the Proxy Form included in your mail from the Chief Clerk and return to at the club’s address: 854 E Broadway, San Gabriel, CA 91776. Important: Your proxy must be in writing, our Bylaws do not allow proxies by phone.

National Model Railroad Association Set to Visit Highland Pacific Railroad

It’s true … the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) has added the Highland Pacific Railroad to its tour schedule in early August. The Tour Committee is preparing the tour booklet as we speak.

We have been told that tour buses will visit us on Monday, August 5th or Wednesday, August 7th. We do not know the time as of yet.

More importantly, we need you to be here to put on the best operating show of our well-known model railroad. Adjust your vacation, ask for a day off for tour day, come.to the club on Wednesday evenings and help get the place cleaned up, made ship-shape, are ready to wow.

This is our moment to shine and we need you to be here from now to the August tour date. Come on down. Help get the place ready. Put your mark on the layout. Run a vacuum cleaner. Wrangle a rug cleaner. There are lots of jobs to do and we need lots of members to help get it done.

Let’s put on a good show for the rest of the country. Let’s create the best impression of our favorite model railroad for visitors and give them something positive to remember about the Highland Park Society of Model Railroad Engineers.

76th Anniversary Open House Set for April and November

Pennsy Duplex. Model by Marc Thrasher

It’s official. The 76th Anniversary Open House is set for Saturday, April 6th, from 11 AM to 5 PM. The festivities feature our massive HO-scale layout in full operation: freights, passenger trains, local and peddler freights, commuter, and the famous doodlebugs. You can walk among the trains and observe the trains up close and personal.

There will be a big raffle, food and drinks for purchase, and admission is always FREE. Donations are gratefully accepted.

The gala Open House will be repeated again the first weekend in November, Saturday, November 2nd and Sunday, November 3rd.

Memberships available. Call (626) 285-1031