My layout aboard the USS Bon Homme Richard, and aircraft carrier during the Korean war.

[Anonymous]

I would like to know if there have been any other layouts aboard ships. Mine was the only one aboard that ship and, since my junior officer, ENS. Duane Dunwoodie, was also a model railroader, we had a lot of interesting operating sessions, particularly during rough weather when the grade changed continuously. My layout was 40"X80" , just as big as my bunk and was stowed under the top bunk over mine. At the time, I had just one roommate, although there were three bunks in the room. The design was just a loop of premounted brass Japanese track with a reversing route and two sets of sidings off each end of the reversing route. Since the radius of the turnouts had to be fairly small, they were handmade without the use of a track gauge. They operated well and we didn't have any derailings as a result of their construction, although the rough weather and high seas did cause a few.

[SP4449]

Hi [#welcome]

Any pictures of the layout and its operators?

[Anonymous]

The layout is now in my basement, but it isn't availablefor a photo and there is one photo from that time, but I'll have to locate it. When I do, I'll try to post it here.

[rrinker]

I take it you are not the guy who had a shipboard layout that was featured in MR back in the 50's or 60's? I wonder how many others there were.

[cwclark]

The only layout i had in the Navy was the ones I dreamed about building one day from the pictures in MRR magazines..If i tried to build one aboard ship it would have been tossed overboard on the first compartment inspection...I guess the officers had it made..enlisted men were kicked to the curb when it came to building stuff aboard ship...Chuck[:D]

[rrinker]

haha yeah, if I recall the one featured in MR way back, that guy was a lieutenant.

Rank hath its privilege.

[Anonymous]

I was a LTJG and the ship's electronic repair officer. At the end of WWII, I was an ET2C and received my commission in 1948 after I completed university. Since I had been an enlisted man, I knew their problems and did what I could to minimize them. We had a good relationship between us and it showed once when we had a field change kit to be installed in one of our radars. We had picked up the kit at San Diego just before leaving port. When we got to Pearl, we had to conduct air group exercises but as soon as they were over, we started the job. I told the guys that I wanted some volunteers to do it and I sould see if I could arrange special liberty afterwar. There were so many who applied that I couldn't use them all so we set up work shifts of 2 hours each. I worked with the first two shifts and the only gripes I heard were that a couple of guys weren't awakened for their shifts and the previous ones worked right through the next shifts. I did manage to get the liberty for them. One guy later signed up for a tour extension for another year.

[Anonymous]

I found the picture, but I don't know how to add it to this note. I can add pictures to email and have done so many times.

[rrinker]

You need a place that can host the pictures. Photobucket works well and it's free. You upload the pictures to Photobucket and then under each one they even give you the code that you cut and paste into your message here and your photo shows up. For this type of board you want the IMG tag - Photobucket gives you 3 options for each picture you upload.

http://www.photobucket.com

--Randy