Model railroading in Arizona ?

[Anonymous]

I'm in the process of moving to Arizona and would like to learn about model railroading there. From what I've seen it's assumed that everyone's hobby is golf ! Is there much activity in HO scale? How do modelers not into garden model railroading cope with the lack of basements?

[cacole]

What part of Arizona are you moving to? While it's true that there are too many golf lunatics out here, that's because the weather is so good year-round and so many people are retirees who have moved here from back yonder. There are some cities out here that are nothing but retirees. Garden railroading is popular because of the favorable climate, too, but most 'gardens' are desert landscape. Water is too scarce and expensive to have much greenery, except in the Phoenix area where they are on the Central Arizona Project canal that channels water from the Colorado River.

Here in Sierra Vista in the SE corner of Arizona, we are at over 5400 foot altitude so we don't have that scorching heat like Tucson, Phoenix, Gila Bend, and Yuma.

Model railroad clubs are scattered throughout the state, so you may wind up near enough to join one.

[Anonymous]

332 days of sun

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply. We're moving to Mesa for now, and then to a new home in Queen Creek, (south of Mesa), if things work out. I've been a model railroader for over 40 years so I've accumulated a lot of stuff which currently resides in a 1200 square foot basement. I didn't quite have the basement filled with layout, but that's where I was headed! I've built basement layouts in Rochelle and Bolingbrook, Illinois, Edgemont, South Dakota, Fenton, Missouri, and Trinidad, Colorado, so moving to basementless Arizona is going to be a change.

[cacole]

Since there are no basements here, some people actually have rooms added onto their houses for layouts. Ron Kuykendall in Tucson has six layouts in his house, and had a room added for nothing but an HO layout.

The Cochise & Western Model Railroad Club in Sierra Vista has a 20 x 40 foot HO-scale layout built into a concrete block building that we rent from the local water company. Rent is only $10 per year since it's basically an abandoned building that is uninhabitable. We couldn't afford to move with rental rates what they are.

[Anonymous]

nwbatman,
I have a workshop and one of my layouts in an old remodeled 8'x20' camper. It works out pretty well. (AC is a must)
I'm about 80 miles north of Mesa, but get down that way once in a while. There's a few MR clubs in the Phoenix area and a fare amount of train shows.

[Anonymous]

One of the serious modelers from Atlas who lives in Tempe has a three car garage, third stall
for his layout.

[cacole]

There are real railroads running in the Queen Creek area, primarily copper mine shortlines. Mesa, and the entire Phoenix area, is miserable in the summertime, with temperatures approaching 120 degrees because everything is concrete and asphalt. The average summertime high temperature climbs every year as more and more land is paved over. Queen Creek is not nearly as hot or congested, but at the present rate of growth it's going to be a suburb of Phoenix in about 10 years.

[Anonymous]

I'd heard of Ron Kuykendall from a friend of mine who recalled an article on one of his layouts. I knew he lives in Arizona, but didn't know what city. My wife's daughter and, more importantly, granddaughter, live in Tucson. We'd heard of a "museum" with a train layout in Tucson, but it wasn't open when we were there in March. It may be more tinplate than scale, but I hope to check it out some day.

As I recall GATS ocassionally does shows in Tucson and Phoenix. And I've seen notice of a swap meet in Phoenix at the end of July. Are these big events?

[cacole]

The museum you are referring to is the Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Museum. I have never visited it, but have heard that they have several layouts on display, ranging from N through G, and even some live steam. It seems to be open only one weekend each month, but not on any set schedule, and not year-round. They seem to be a very independent lot.

They do hold a swap meet twice annually at the Rodeway Inn, at the corner of Grant Road and I-10 in Tucson, that is a better show than the GATS held at the Pima County Fairgrounds. Their show is being held this weekend, in fact.

Ron Kuykendall's layout was featured in Alan Keller's Great Model Railroads video volume 21.

I've never been to the GATS in Phoenix, but have been told that the one in Tucson is bigger. If that's really the case, the one in Phoenix must be a pretty dismal affair, because the one in Tucson is not that great. It seems to get smaller and smaller every year, with fewer and fewer dealers represented. This can possibly be attributed to the closing of many local hobby shops, who simply cannot compete with Internet sales. Tucson used to have at least 4 hobby shops -- today, only 2 remain, and one of them has very little to offer.

In my opinion, the best hobby shop in Arizona is An Affair With Trains on Bethany Home Road in Phoenix, if you model HO scale.

[AntonioFP45]

Though I've never visited, there are two statements I can make relating to Arizona:

From me, a salute to Ron Kuykendall. Super good HO layouts! Inspiration for the layout I'm currently designing.[:)][:D][8D][:p]

Arizona & California Railroad. This Santa Fe spin-off has a simple yet very attractive paint scheme. [:D][tup]You'll probably run into modelers with models of A & C units.

Cheers in Run 8!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing your opinions on train shows and shops. I've only been to Roy's Train World in Mesa; I'm anxious to find An Affair with Trains. And wouldn't you know I won't get to Arizona in time for the show in Tucson. We'll arrive in Mesa Wednesday afternoon IF I can get all my stuff packed and it fits on the truck!

There seems to be quite a difference in GATS shows, sometimes even in the same city. What makes a show a success varies, too, especially if you go looking for something in particular. Even if there aren't many vendors, if one of them has that hard-to-find item you've been looking for, it's a GREAT show! When I lived in St.Louis I belonged to the Midwest Valley Modelers club which had a portable layout that we set up twice a year at the GATS shows. That was fun, sharing the hobby with others.

[cacole]

You and I seem to be following each other around -- you mentioned St. Louis and Colorado. I was born and raised in Southern Illinois 60 miles from St. Louis, and spent a few years in St. Louis assigned to the Army Counterintelligence Field Office that used to be in the Mart Building at 12th and Spruce, before the Gateway Arch was built. The Mart Building was owned by a railroad, and I think was torn down to make way for the Arch and its attendant park.

We have three members in the Cochise & Western Model Railroad Club here in Sierra Vista who moved from Colorado to Arizona. I spent some time at Fort Carson, Colorado in 1973, but would not want to ever go there again in the Wintertime. Colorado is nice in the summertime, but winters are something else. I prefer Arizona in the wintertime.