Ellison, anyone?

[Anonymous]

In several of my recent discussions about toy trains and model railroading, both on and off this board, there has been a common thread ~ Frank Ellison's name has come up. It's led me to wonder if there is a more than just a passing interest in learning about him and his Delta Lines Railroad.
Mr. Ellison was a prolific author (over 116 articles!) in the 30's and 40's. He was a pioneer in actual 'operation', and had a group of modelers that helped run his 50' x 53' "O" gauge basement layout (with a dirt floor; can you believe it?) for many years. His premise, taken from his family's theatrical background, was that the trains are similar to actors on a stage (the layout), that scenery and buildings were merely backdrop, and that the play (operation) was 'the thing'. He was one of the first to convert from center-third-rail to outside-third-rail, and pioneered the idea of a 'scale clock', complete with "smileposts"! His artistic talent and thoughfulness helped pave the way for the likes of John Allen, Malcolm Furlow and Frank Sellios.
Sadly, his Delta Lines railroad was lost in a move from its home state of Louisiana to Massachusetts. However, it is believed some rolling stock and buildings, scratchbuilt from heavy cardboard and basswood frames, still exisits.

My goal in this thread would be to determine if enough interest exists to warrant forming a loosely based fan group, which could exchange solid information about Mr. Ellison's operation, surviving "Delta Lines" operators, building and painting techniques, and perhaps even discover what happened to, or the whereabouts of, the buildings and rolling stock, much of which had been destroyed in that ill-fated move. I believe it would also be advantageous to revisit those classic magazine articles and revitalize a fading facet of this hobby.
Many of Mr. Ellison's articles appeared in MODEL BUILDER and MODEL RAILROADER magazines of the day. Following the information in a couple of those articles, I have built 2 structures, and I must admit they fit more in line with the 'feel' of Lionel postwar trains than the currently manufactured plastic ones, and I found the experience rewarding and relaxing.
We've researched like crazy about Lionel AF, Kusan, AMT, Ives, et al; why not modeling history? Trying to trace the roots of YOUR collection may reveal that you have a VERY interesting piece of history!
With anticipated excitement, I await your reply.

trainbud
Scot Kienzlen
www.roxburyrailroaders.org

[Anonymous]

Scott,
I like the idea. In fact, over the summer I went to the Toy Train Museum in Strasburg, PA. In their research library, I was able to locate "The Model Builder" magazines. I made a copy of one his building articles which was for a milk depot. I liked the way it turned out. It now sits on my layout as a small freight station. Now if those articles can be reprinted in their entirety.

HMH

[Anonymous]

Thank you, HMH!
The Milk Depot, eh? That's a cute little structure! Congratulations on your effort.
With 41 'reads', I must assume there is some interest in this; and believe me, you're not the only one who has suggested to me that they would like to see reprinted articles.

Mr. Keller, how about it?
CTT would be THE premiere magazine to resurrect these structures. While I am, without a doubt, NO Ellison, I've had fun reproducing his efforts. There's a certain satisfaction that comes from making one of his structures and placing it on your layout to be used. For myself, there's a feeling of pride and a certain feeling of accomplishment. Like I mentioned in my first post, I sure think they have a better 'feel' than the 'big footprint' animated accessories being offered.

Perhaps a series could include the reproduced effort, with a commentary that 'overlays' Mr. Ellison's original text. Toy trains of the past seem to be for those of us who enjoy a 'hands on' approach. This series might be a way to help keep the 'Classic' in CTT.

With best wishes to all for a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season,

Scot Kienzlen
[e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Frank Ellsion was the author of over 100 articles that appeared in Model Builder, Model Railroader, and Railroad Model Craftsman magazines during the late 30's, 40's and 1950's. He also authored a popular book of the day : "Frank Ellision' on Model Railroads.
A true pioneer in the field, Frank was a master scratch builder, carpenter and scenic design genius. His work can be seen in the many pictures and articles that he wrote about his Delta Lines 53' x 50' scale O gauge layout which was originally located in a building (a garage or barn) on his New Orleans property. The Delta Lines took many years to construct.- estimated at over 20. Building the town of Raymondale alone took three years to do!!! All of the buildings were scratch built and all of the track was laid and sized by hand, by gluing rail stock to wooden ties!!! There were two large cities at the two terminal points- Chapelle and Fillmore and numerous small towns ( named mostly after family members) that were spread along 27 miles of scale pike. The Delta Lines was a masterpiece of RR modeling and an operating group of up to 12 people was necessary to run the layout to it's full potential. That operating group met weekly for many years and I believe assisted in the construction and/or maintenance. There were about 14 or 15 "regulars" that were involved. It was like a club of friends and associates.
Frank eventually sucombed to old age and perhaps ill heath and moved away from New Orleans to live with his daughter in the late 50's or early 60's After Frank moved the layout was disassembled and put in storage for quite a few years. It was finally sold in the late 60's packed on a moving van and headed to a new home in Boston.
Sadly the layout was lost. Years of termite damage (when the layout was in storage or in a barn/shed??) and water/ battery acid damage (when a moving van hit an overpass in the rain as it was being transported to a new owner in Boston completely ruined it. Many of the structures survived as did much of the rolling stock including a scale 5344 Lionel Hudson or two. These pieces are in the hands of several private collectors today. (Thanks to JB from FL. for providing additional details. )
What a great story for a large book. Hope that someone with step forward and author one. I would guess that not many of the original operating group are still with us. So if anyone wishes to begin writing and need to track down these folks and interview them, better do it now. I have most all the names of the people in the Delta Lines operating group and will be happy to share them with interested parties.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Dennis!
What a GREAT post!
C'mon, guys, how many Ellison fans ARE there out there? Surely in this 'digital age' (did they ever REALLY decide to call it that?) of digitally recorded sounds and synchronized steam rates and cruise control and computers programming model train movements (bet I got poor ol' Frank spinning) there must be SOME desire for a simpler, more relaxed approach to TOY trains, as opposed to the recent 'bigger, better, brighter, shinier' attitude that seems to be pervasive in the hobby.
Ellison reminds us of pride in craftsmanship in an era of 'make-do' model railroading. In fact, Ellison's railroad was powered not by electricity, but by wet-cell batteries, the kind you find in your car today! Ellison proved you don't have to have the most expensive, up-to-date materials available to still have a top-shelf operation.
Now certainly, we don't need to reach back and do it EXACTLY like it was 'back in the day', but I think it's important to continue to learn about varied techniques. We can still be 'politically correct' with Ellison's works; first by re-reading those articles, and secondly, by 'recycling' cardboard and other materials into works of art! Spend your money on the stars of the show... the TRAINS!
But let's get back to the real purpose of this post ~ to find those who are interested in, or have knowledge of, Frank Ellison's Delta Lines.Of course, there are probably many Ellison fans who don't have computers, right? How can we reach THEM? Does anyone know how to contact Donald McClune? He is purported to be a teen operator od the Delta Lines in the 50's.

[Anonymous]

Trainbud has made quite a few good points in that the Delta Lines was a model railroad assembled in simpler times. It was probably high tech in it's day, as it used a system of relays, switches, rheostats, an AC transformer (lighting only) and large wet cell batties that were taken from an actual Pullman railroad car. Apparently transformers of the day did not put out sufficient amperage to power a layout of 27 scale miles. Those batteries Frank used were able to put out 50 amps or more and after recharging, they powered the layout for hours. It also helped with matching as it kept all of the numerous sidings and divisions on the same power supply. Individual control was maintained at an operator control station each of which had a speed control which was just a rheostat ( variable resistor). There is so much written history surrounding the building and operation of the Delta Lines, but yet it only has a small following. Perhaps with time more model RR enthusiasts and collectors will take an interest in this significant part of history.

[lionelsoni]

Of course there were large transformers available in 1930. It is more likely that he preferred to run on DC. Operation is quieter and smoother. I do it myself, but with the rectifiers in the locomotives. The reason for the batteries was probably the lack of decent rectifiers. There were no silicon diodes; the copper-oxide rectifier had just been developed in 1928. (See http://www.thorneyhill2.freeserve.co.uk/metalrec.html .) Selenium rectifiers were still to come. A practical charging method for him would have been a motor-generator set.

[Anonymous]

As an individual who's still trying to abosrb all this as fast as he can, does anyone know of a 'definitive' book about the Delta Lines, similar to Linn Westcott's book on John Allen's Gorre and Daphetid?
If not, maybe we should pool our resources and develop one, before the time comes when we cannot.
All donations cheerfully accepted...... ;-)

[Anonymous]

I done the research and the only book on Frank Ellsion was the one that he authored called "Frank Ellison on Model Railroading" which was a practicel arrporach to building a model railroad. If someone decides to do a book on Mr. Ellison, his life history etc it better be done now. Franks friends in his operating group ( those who may still be alive) are all now all in their senior years. The "rest of the story" may be lost unless the research is started now.