In memoriam: Larry Helscher

Larry Helscher, PMRRC Member #150, 1921-2016
Larry Helscher, PMRRC Member #150, 1921-2016

The members of the Pasadena Model Railroad Club are saddened to announce the passing of Larry Helscher, Member #150.

Larry was born in San Jose, California, on May 7th, 1921, the only child of Larry and Beatrice Helscher. He was raised in San Francisco, and remembers looking out the windows of his high school and seeing the Golden Gate Bridge being built.

Larry was drafted into the military in October, 1942, and served with the Army Air Forces in Hawaii, the Philippines, Okinawa, and Japan. Larry was a radio operator in a variety of airplanes during WWII. In January 1946 he reenlisted and was stationed near San Francisco flying in RB-29s that patrolled the Russian border, ostensibly performing “weather observation”. Larry described one mission as chasing a cloud clear across Canada and all the way to Great Britain. Whether or not that cloud strongly resembled a Russian aircraft is a matter on which he would not comment.

After being honorably discharged in 1952, Larry studied television technology at the RCA Institute in New York City. He worked briefly in the Midwest before moving to Hollywood to work for the CBS network.

A childhood summer spent in San Rafael led Larry to fall in love with the Sacramento Northern Railway. He also enjoyed watching the Southern Pacific and Western Pacific railroads, and as a young man he worked as a clerk at the SP’s Bay Shore Shops.

Larry joined the Pasadena Model Raiload Club in November 1984 and remained a member for over thirty years, primarily serving on the electrical crew. When the club first began experimenting with Digital Command Control for our McSweeny branch line, Larry eagerly dived in and took an active role.

“Even in his 80s, he embraced new technology,” remembers PMRRC member Don Phillpott. “He was like that guy in the commercials, the Most Interesting Man in the World. He was very enthusiastic about working with Digital Command Control. And he was always a gentleman.”

Don recalled a time when Larry was in a wheelchair after a fall in which he fractured his wrist and hip. The electrical crew was discussing an issue on our Port branch, and Larry insisted on being wheeled over to one of the openings, crawling under the layout, and having his wheelchair pushed in after him so he could take an active role in the discussion.

Along with his interest in railroading and model trains, Larry was an avid sailor. He owned his own sailboat and was a member of the Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club for 50 years.

Larry died of natural causes on October 2, 2016, at the age of 95. He was interred with full military honors at the Riverside National Cemetery, and we are privileged to have his flag of honor at the club.

Larry had no children, and regarded the Pasadena Model Railroad Club as his family. He provided generously for the club in his will, leaving a substantial endowment that will allow the club to perform much-needed repairs to the building, complete our DCC conversion, and make financial investments that will ensure the club’s future. For this, as well as his friendship and devoted service, we are exceptionally grateful. Highball, Larry!

Scenes from the Fall 2016 Open House

A big THANK YOU to everyone who joined us for our Fall 2016 Open House and grand re-opening! We had a tremendous turnout, and everyone who joined us was very patient when we had technical glitches (like when we blew the most difficult-to-change turnout motor on the entire layout).

Some scenes from the Open House:

crowd

Something we haven’t seen for over a year — members of the public lined up in the aisle to see the Sierra Pacific Lines in action! For many of us, this was the most gratifying sight.

zionyard

Here’s Zion Yard, stocked full o’ trains. As always, we tried to give our visitors a good variety: Passenger and freight, steam and diesel, Western and Eastern roads.

Doublestack stringline at the Fall 2016 open house

So, did we mention glitches? Here, a set of double-stack cars derailed and tipped over heading out of Midway Yard. Oops.

lotsotrains

What we like best: Trains, trains, and more trains. Now that we are running under Digital Command Control, we can bring even more cool stuff to the rails. The SP Black Widows and the UP Centennials behind them all have sound and light effects, and the railroading action was better than ever!

Now that the Open House is behind us, it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get back to work — we still have the eastern end of the railroad to convert, and that includes Alhambra yard, which posts the biggest challenge. Once again, thank you everyone for joining us, and we’ll see you at our Spring 2017 open house!

Our open house is open!

Our grand re-opening is underway! This past week, we opened our doors to the public for the first time since we began our DCC conversion. (Sorry, no pictures, as your Webmaster was dispatching the railroad… and the less said about that, the better.)

This was our first “real” operation under DCC, and it went pretty well — we had a few technical glitches, but for the most part, things ran smoothly. (Thanks to all who were here for being so patient!)

Our open house continues this weekend and this coming Tuesday, and we hope you will join us. Details can be found on our Open House page. See you soon!

Correction: This story originally mentioned the open house taking place next weekend. The open house takes place this weekend (11/19 and 11/20) and Tuesday evening (11/22) only.

How do you get to the Open House? Practice, practice, practice!

First, allow me to show you a sight that hasn’t been seen in about a year:

First cars loaded into the Zion yard

That’s the Zion freight yard, stuffed full o’ cars! We’re officially up and running on the western end of the railroad, from Midway to Zion; now we need to get cars onto the rails and organized into trains. (And lemmie tellya, you don’t appreciate a re-railing ramp until you’ve had to load a massive freight yard with a couple hundred cars.)

Our next step: Practice, practice, practice. Though the track plan hasn’t changed, how that we have DCC, the Sierra Pacific Lines is essentially a whole new railroad. Dispatching is different and operating is very different. In order to be cab qualified, PMRRC members have to know the entire railroad, including where the blocks begin and end (no easy task with a 28-scale-mile mainline). Under DCC, the computer (usually) won’t let the operator overrun a block, but the operator has to know these points forwards and backwards in order to avoid the train lurching to an embarrassing (and unrealistic) halt.

Loading trains into the Midway yard

So for now, we have to run trains, run more trains, and run a few more trains — and who could complain about that? After all, we’ve been waiting a year to run trains on our railroad! Our test runs are also allowing us to do some final debugging; for now the railroad is running extraordinarily well, so well that it’s sometimes hard to contemplate the enormity of what we have completed so far.

We’re eager to share our updated railroad with the public at our upcoming Grand Re-opening and Open House, scheduled for November 15th, 19th, 20th and 22nd. You’ll find all the details at our Open House page, and we hope you can join us — we’re eager to show you our new railroad!

Join us for our grand reopening!

PMRRC Open House Spring 2015With over a year of work under our belts (and a bit more still to go), we’re just about ready to open to the public — and we are pleased to announce the dates for our Fall 2016 Open House!

The Pasadena Model Railroad Club will re-open to the public for our Fall Open House on November 15th, 19th, 20th and 22nd. For a complete schedule and details, check out our Open House page.

Digitrax controllerThis is more than just an ordinary Open House — it’s a grand reopening. For those who have visited us before, the scenery will look familiar, but underneath this is a whole new railroad.

Upgrading to Digital Command Control allows for big changes in the way we run the Sierra Pacific Lines, allowing us to move beyond the confines of fixed operating positions and the old block-control system. Operators will be able to roam the railroad with their trains, just as real-world engineers do, and mainline operations no longer need be split apart from switching work. We’re excited about the possibilities and eager to share our new railroad with our friends and fans!

We still have lots of work ahead of us, and we’ll keep you posted on these pages. Please join us in November. We can’t wait to see you!

Rollin’ on the west end!

A track cleaning train running under DCC on the western division, August 30, 2016
A track cleaning train running under DCC on the western division, August 30, 2016

Check out the above photo of your favorite 5,000 square foot HO scale model railroad. But this isn’t just any photo of your favorite 5,000 square foot HO scale model railroad. See that red arrow? That’s a train (albeit a very small one) on the main under DCC! (You can click the photo to zoom in if you are so inclined.)

Last night we successfully ran our test train over almost the entire western end of the railroad, from Midway to Upton. For those unfamiliar with the Sierra Pacific Lines, the railroad is organized alphabetically from Alhambra in the east through Midway in the middle to Zion in the west. So this means we’re operational under DCC from M to U. (We would have run through Vista but for a glitch in the Upton-Vista connector.)

This means we’re well on our way to our goal of having the western half of the railroad running by fall. Since the west end comprises the outer sections of the layout, an operational west end means we can resume our Open House schedule and open our doors to the viewing public this fall!

Mind you, we’re not there yet—we still have to deal with Zion yard, which, judging from our experience with Midway yard, will be no picnic. For Phase I of the project, we’re only converting the mainline to DCC-compatible Tortoise turnout (switch) motors; the yards will retain their “analog” turnouts (which use military-surplus motors from B-17 bombers). This greatly reduces our budget, but greatly complicates the wiring, as the turnout motors also control power to the frogs (the metal bits on the turnout that have to change polarity) as well as the surrounding track.

Nevertheless, it feels great to have a train on the Western main!

By the way, if you’re wondering what exactly is making up that silly-looking consist, it’s a pair of PRR Geeps surrounded by two track cleaning cars. Between time spent not running and scenery construction, the rails have picked up a lot of dirt, and keeping the locos running is a chore unto itself. (The Geeps were substituting for a pair of F-units, seen here during our Midway East pod test, that have dropped from exhaustion.)

Elsewhere in the photo you can see bearded apprentice Peter cleaning rails in Midway, while Frank (blue shirt, hidden behind the pillar) repairs scenery that got knocked around during the Midway yard work. In the background you’ll see Tim and club president Martin following PMRRC protocol by not looking where their train is going.

Meanwhile, car inspection continues apace; below you can see several dozen cars ready to return to the rails. Members, if you have rolling stock that you’ve checked out and tuned up (couplers centering, wheels clean, loose parts secured, etc.), please bring it in for inspection.

Rolling stock inspected and ready to return to the railroad
Rolling stock inspected and ready to return to the railroad

Cars, cars, cars, cars, cars

With nearly all of the pods built, our DCC conversion is progressing rapidly; we expect to have the western end of the railroad up and running by October, and we plan to schedule an open house for the fall. (You heard it here first!)

cars

Of course, we can’t run trains if we don’t have trains to run, and clearing (nearly) all of the rolling stock of the railroad for our DCC conversion has given us the rare opportunity to inspect everything and make sure it meets our strict standards. This week we started working on our club-owned cars — cleaning the wheels and inspecting them for proper gauge, weight and rolling resistance and working couplers.

Getting the club cars back on the layout is a slow process. We generally don’t pull a car off the layout unless it derails, so many of these cars have been on the railroad for years or even decades with no maintenance. Some of them need serious TLC, and a few will have to be retired. Worn trucks are the biggest culprit; if a car can’t roll down a 2% grade on its own, we won’t put it on the railroad. (We could swap the trucks, but we generally sell off these cars instead. We’re not exactly hurting for rolling stock.)

As the club cars get done, we’ll ask members to start bringing their own rolling stock back. (Full members of PMRRC are allowed to keep their equipment on the railroad.) This should speed up the process greatly, as members are responsible for maintenance of their own equipment. Club cars we have to fix ourselves.

Needless to say, we love having members’ equipment on the railroad, and the more varied, the better. We don’t stick to any one era or location, so all rolling stock is welcome, and the cooler the better. If you’d like to see your own HO scale cars on the Sierra Pacific Lines, why not become a member?

We expect to be putting at least a thousand cars on the railroad, and probably closer to two thousand, so it’s going to be a long process. Your author just happens to be one of the club’s car inspectors, which means its time to stop writing and start inspecting cars. Anyone seen my Kadee coupler height gauge?

We have power!

20160715_F7_MidwayIt’s been a while since we’ve posted an update, and a lot of people are wondering how we are doing. The photo above should give you some idea: That’s an F7 at speed through Midway! (And yes, it’s running on DCC!)

We’re a long way from being done, but all of the smaller pieces we’ve been preparing are starting to come together into a whole. Most of the pods are built and in place, as are the Tortoise switch machines. We’ve wired track power to a large section of the mainline and we’re stringing our LocoNet cable.

Now, on a typical model railroad, we’d be in the final stretch… but this is the Sierra Pacific Lines. Although we’ve pulled some 800 lbs of wire out from under the railroad, there’s still a lot of wire that needs stay in place, and tracing the right ones (and the wrong ones), particularly in our three main yards, is a time-consuming task. Some of our old switch machines are staying in place, and that complicates things quite a bit. Still, we are now able to run DCC locomotives (and, theoretically, entire trains) over large sections of the main line — and that’s progress!

While the electrical crew works under the railroad, the scenery crew are working up top, building new scenes (like the mine we talked about earlier) and re-doing some old ones. We’re sure frequent visitors will notice the changes when we have our next open house.

We’ll try to update the site more frequently; as you can imagine, we have quite a lot of work to do. For now, it’s back to the layout floor…

Recycling the wire

Here’s what the wiring pile looks like now:

Empty wiring gallery

With the wire overflowing the gallery, we decided it was time to ship it out for recycling. We considered sending it by train…

Wire_gondola

…but none of our lineside industries were interested in four and a half million HO-scale carloads of wire. So we shipped by road in Tim’s pickup truck.

Truck_full_o_wire

Two loads, 800 pounds of wire at 33 cents per pound. Your webmaster argued the funds shoud be used for a new Atlas U36B for our Auto Train. (Sadly, I lost that argument.)

We’re making progress…

It’s been a while since we’ve updated our blog (blame the webmaster), but we’re making good progress. We have two of the main pods in place, Midway East and Midway West. Midway, as its name implies, is the mid-point of the railroad, and it’s also one of three major yards — and it’s now under DCC control!

The completed DCC pod for Midway West
The completed DCC pod for Midway West

On this blog, we’ve talked about the importance of bringing outside skills to the club. We’re very fortunate to have a skilled cabinetmaker as a member. Brian, who joined PMRRC in 1993 as a high school freshman, has been building the woodwork for our DCC pods.

Brian cuts wood for our DCC pods
Brian cuts plywood for our DCC pods

Meanwhile, work on our scenery continues. Zion Station, one of the landmark buildings at the western terminus of the railroad, has always sat at ground level. Now it has a sidewalk, and soon it will have a proper connection to the roadway, which means Sierra Pacific passengers will no longer have to teleport from their cars to the waiting room.

The new sidewalk under Zion station
The new sidewalk under Zion station

Most of the wire has been pulled, and last week we removed the relay panels from underneath the operating gallery. It’s a curious thing to be able to see the underside of the layout from beneath the old control panels…

The view under the control panels with the relay boards gone
The view under the control panels with the relay boards gone

Here are some of the relay boards. A lot of our old electrical components have value, so we’re salvaging what we can.

Old control relay boards
Old control relay boards

And for those who have been keeping track of our wire-pulling exploits, here’s the pile s far. It’s about to overflow the viewing gallery!

The wire pile as of 4/30/16
The wire pile as of 4/30/16