Steve Smith Rides the Rails into Town

View fullsize

Seve Smith works the Del Mar Passenger Station to ready a train for departure.

Steve Smith, former member and long-time friend of the club has been in town the past several meeting nights. Steve, a conductor for the Union Pacific Railroad, commutes between Los Angeles and Las Vegas when his name comes up on the extra board at the Los Angeles Service Unit. He is waiting for his transfer to the Las Vegas Service Unit. 

When not running one to one scale trains he models the Union Pacific. He says his favorite modeling era is "today." 

Some members remember Steve visiting the club when he was a kid who could barely see over the layout edge. Of course, he is much taller now and much, much older. Come on down and get reacquainted with Steve.

Happy Birthday Highland Park Society of Model Railroad Engineers, Inc.

Today the Highland Pacific Railroad is 68 years old.

April 1, 1948 is the official founding date of the Highland Park Society of Model Railroad Engineers, Inc. Thanks to the farsighted men who got together and formed the club, still going strong 67 years later.  

Again, here's a special shout out to George Boggs who is one of the founding members of the Society. He is the only surviving member of the original group of founders. Thanks George!  

Highland Pacific Railroad Operating Session—March 30, 2016

Timetable 7

The next Highland Pacific Railroad operation session is scheduled for Wednesday, March 30, 2016 beginning at 7:00 P.M.  Timetable #7. above, will be used for this operating session.

We will again use our "old school" track assignment method of operations where you will control the turning on and off of your own blocks along the railroad from your own cab. Clearance from the Dispatcher is still required so that he knows where your train is and where it is going. The turning on of your blocks will assign track power and will align switches for you along the railroad.

Movements to and from yards still requires clearance from either the Dispatcher or Yard Masters. Train movements will be by the timetable schedule so do not leave before assigned times or until the train you are to meet has passed. So bring a watch or another form of time keeping device (cellphone or smartphone). Always remember to turn off unused blocks behind you.

Remember that Class of Trains and Westward trains have right-of-way over Eastward trains. Therefore, this will give you guidance as to where you will need to take sidings for meets. Extras and locals are low men on the totem-pole and will have to stay out of the way of higher class trains, unless they receive specific helping orders from the dispatcher.

Likewise locals and peddler freights will need to be mindful of scheduled trains when working industries at Bayshore, Blue Island,  Deka, Doring and Pinehurst.

The Dispatcher will be available to assist should trains run late or if there are additional extras that are to be run. Use the closed-circuit phones to contact the Dispatcher or Yard Masters if you have questions or need assistance.

17 Highland Pacific Railroad members are needed for a full operating session. You are needed to serve as crew for one of the following positions:

• Trainmaster
• Dispatcher
• 5 Main line Cabs
• 2 Conductor/Switch-man for assisting mainline trains
• Vista Yard Operator
• West End Yard Operator
• Bayshore Harbor Operator
• Delmar Passenger Terminal Operator
• Roundhouse/Diesel Shop Hosteler
• Doreing Local
• Blue Island Local
• Pinehurst Local

Be there or be square.

Google Street View Goes Model Railroading

Google Street View is downsizing. They've taken us deep into the seven seas and up perilous rock faces but now, they're taking us somewhere very small: Hamburg's Miniatur Wunderland, a huge model train set. Miniatur Wunderland is also available via Google Maps.

To immerse us in the tiny world, Google developed a set of tiny cameras that they sent onto the tiny roads and train tracks.

Modified from Popular Science, "Google Street View Takes Viewers into a Miniature Train 'Wunderland'

James Keena Named Man of the Year for 2015

General Superintendent William Chappell presents the 2015 Man of the Year Award to James Keena.

James Keena, a 25-year member of the Highland Park Society of Model Railroad Engineers, Inc., the Society's highest honor. James has been one-man workforce the past several years. He serves as the current Paymaster of the club, a position he has held for 4 consecutive 2-year terms.

James also is the driving force for the "always under construction" Del Mar City scenic area that sits atop the Del Mar Passenger station. Further, Mr. Keena, while doing the duties of Paymaster and the "Mayor" of Del Mar City, he coordinates all scenery projects on the layout as Scenery Department Head. 

Congratulations Mr. Keena. You deserve the award of your peers.

Date Set for Annual Awards Banquet

Members of the Highland Park Society of Model Railroad Engineers, Inc. will assemble for the Annual Awards Banquet on Saturday, January 16, 2016
 at Cocos Restaurant and Bakery in Arcadia.

Drinks and fellowship begin at 6:00 PM with dinner at 7:00 PM. Presentation of awards will follow.

All members and guests can order individually off the Cocos dinner menu. Make your reservation for you and your guests with James Keena, Chief Clerk (pjkeenawhittier@msn.com). Cocos needs to know how many members and guests plan on attending so they can plan accordingly.

WHAT:     2016 Annual Awards Banquet
WHEN:    Saturday, January 16, 2016
WHERE:  Cocos Restaurant and Bakery
 MAP:    https://goo.gl/maps/sdASPnmJyiH2

2015 Open House of the Highland Pacific HO scale Model Railroad Club

Ray D. Olsen has produced a video shot at the recent 67th Annual House of the Highland Park Society of Model Railroad Engineers, Inc. Video clips start at the Western terminus of Vista Yard and work around the layout to the division point at Underhill. Thanks to Arie Korporaal for his clip of the Red & Silver "Texas Special" at Deka Siding.

Watch the video of the 2015 Open House on the Videos page.

Operating Session

The high humidity and high heat made the club rooms a welcome relief on operating night. The crew made a gallant effort to run trains but were stymied by the humidity. Frequent breaks for maiine cab operators was the order of the day.

Nonetheless, the group followed Timetable No. 7 and Train List of July 2015 to operate trains over the high iron of the mighty Hghland Pacific Railroad. About 70 percent of the trains made their final destination during the intense operating session.

The more members operate following the timetable and train list, the better we have become. While there are still challenges in timetable operations, it is becoming, well, fun.

Operating Session Focuses on Maintenance and Staging

View fullsize

Jerry Duncan's Super Chief approaches the entrance to Del Mar Passenger terminal while the UP City of San Francisco waits for clearance to depart.

An operating session on Wednesday night, August 26th, was used to restage complete trains, motive power, and rolling stock for the next timetable operating session.

Bill Chappell, Arie Korporaal, and Brian Hunnell worked the floor and mainline cabs. Dave Flynn, Pat Keegan, and Ron Merkel worked on various electrical projects.

Bill moved trains out of Underhill and Highland to Vista Yard and Arie moved trains into Del Mar Passenger Terminal and restaged passenger equipment as well. The operating session exposed a couple of items that need to be added to the maintenance list. A switchoint is broen in Doering Yard and the floor panel for Highland/Greely is inoperable.

While operation is fun, and the major purpose for the club, ongoing maintenance is a necessity. Come on down and help out.

Timetable Operation a Success

View fullsize

An NP reefer has been unloaded and waits for pickup at Deka Siding. 

What a night! For about 2 ⅓ hours the men of the Highland Pacific Railroad, Route of the Highlander, followed Timetable No. 3 to run mainline trains and local freight. Train Master James Keena spent several days and many hours getting the layout set to match the timetable. Kudos to James for organizing the layout in preparation for Timetable and Car Card operation.

Operations using a real-time clock began at 7 PM and concluded about 9:20 PM. The crew moved passengers, freight, and mail over the high iron. Other crews worked the yards and ran the locals. Trains ran on time (mostly) and we progressed through the Dispatchers Train Line-Up Schedule apace.

We had guests that visited the layout last week when we were setting up the layout for the Timetable session but there were no operations. They wanted to see the impressive Highland Pacific Railroad in operation so the returned for a second visit; this time when we were in full-dress operating.

Operators for this session were:

• James Keena, Trainmaster and Dispatcher
• Lindsay Smith, Mainline Engineer
• Bill Chappell, Mainline Engineer
• Gary Glaze, Mainline Engineer
• Dave Dodds, Mainline Engineer
• Bryan Hunnell, Vista Yard Operator
• Ron Merkel, Del Mar Passenger Terminal Operator
• Ron Wardwell, West End Yard Operator
• Pat Keegan, Blue Island Local
• Arie Korporaal, Doering Local
• Dave Flynn

Early standards checking of rolling stock, passenger equipment, and locomotives paid off handsomely. There were no equipment failures nor "bad orders" at any time during the session.

Come on down and operat your model railroad like the pros. Our next Timetable and Car Card operating session is scheduled for Wednesday, September 30, 2015. The fun begins at 7 PM. Be there or be square.