1. sports
2. hunting and shooting

Dispatch
the
The newsletter for Watco Companies, Inc. and Watco Transportation Services, Inc.
October 2010, Volume 11, Issue 10
Pensacola switching team a safe mix
by Tracie VanBecelaere
Managing Editor
can boast having a pro wrestler in their midst.
When not switching railcars Carr’s alter ego Gunnery Sgt. Kage jumps into the
ring and takes down the competition.
Peanut butter and baloney, popcorn and milk, french fries and Frosty’s: these
Carr said, “As a former Marine, I thought being a pro-wrestler would be easy.
are some unique combinations that sound strange but some people think are the Boy, was I ever mistaken! There’s nothing easy about it at all. I got smacked
absolute best. That’s how Billy Davis feels about his switching team at Pensacola; around by the Wild Samoans for a solid year of training before I was ever alhe has a baker, fireman, pro wrestler, farmers, rabbit raiser, and fishermen and
lowed to step foot in the ring. Since then, I’ve been in the ring with WWE Super
hunters switching railcars at the Florida location. That’s quite a combination but Stars such as Rikishi, the late Umaga, Road Dogg, Bullet Bob Armstrong, Ganit works well as the operation has been both safe and profitable since its start up
grel and the Uso Brothers.
in 1994.
And, as if I haven’t had my tail kicked enough, I get it at home too. My wife
The team switches cars for Ascend Performance Materials and Exxon Mobil.
Lynette is also a pro-wrestler. There’s nothing like getting power-bombed in the
Ascend Performance Materials produces nylon
kitchen before dinner to say I love you. In retroused to make carpets, car parts, parachutes and
spect, I think it may be healthier to just stick to
many other items. The team consists of four
switching railcars.”
two-man crews and one two-man track mainLapierre is another hunter on the team but
tenance team. Altogether the crew has amassed
what he enjoys hunting is bargains and special
92 years of service and both Davis and Maurice
items to buy, sell and swap. Like his counterMcGinnis, conductor/engineer, have been at the
parts on American Pickers, Lapierre scours sales,
location since its inception and McGinnis has
junk yards and garages for hidden gems.
been with Watco switching a total of 19 years.
“My 11 year-old daughter has gotten into
Another duo, Roger Kelley, head of track main“dumpster” diving with me and she’s usually the
tenance, and Jeremy Findley conductor/engineer,
first one in every time,” said Lapierre.
have both been at the location for 13 years each.
The farmers who can help feed the crew are
Good things must come in twos as both conKelley and Clark. Clark has been farming since
ductor/engineers Anthony Allender and John
the late seventies. When he’s not busy switching
Clark have hit the decade mark in Pensacola and
cars he’ll be pulling a ten gang plow with his red
keeping the twos going, Robert Carr, conductor/
Mahindra tractor into the sunset.
engineer; Shaun Rodriguez, conductor/engineer; Pensacola, Fla., night shift: left to right: conductor/engineers MauKelley has three acres out in the country and
Eric Mantz, track maintenance and Joseph Lapi- rice McGinnis, John Clark, Robert Carr, Timothy Dykes and Billy
raises and sells rabbits as well as growing buterre, conductor/engineer, have each been with
terbeans, peas, squash, corn and tomatoes in the
Davis, location manager.
the switching location for two years. Timothy
spring and summer. In the fall and winter his
Dykes, conductor/engineer is the odd man out,
crop consists of turnips, kale, onions, mustard,
being the only one who has been there for three
cabbage, spinach and carrots. He also plants a
years.
food plot for the deer to munch on when food
Hunting and fishing is a popular sport in the
becomes scarce.
area and many of the switching team likes to
Of course, when you’re taking about feeding
hunt and fish in their spare time.
the crew, baker Rodriguez has a cheesecake that
“Deer, turkey and duck are all popular game
is out of this world. He’s spends much of his free
in this area,” said Davis. “But the size of the
time around the holidays making cheesecakes
deer here are generally smaller than the ones up
for friends and family.
north.”
If there’s ever a fire in Rodriguez’s kitchen
Allender is one of the switching team memvolunteer fireman Findley will be there to cool
bers who enjoys hunting. He escapes to the
things off. Findley has been a member of the Esmountains to indulge in his hobby as well as
cambia County and Baldwin County Volunteer
spending time with his family and riding motorFire Departments since 1995. He has recently
cycles.
been promoted to to the rank of Lieutenant in
The facility that they switch cars in even has
the Baldwin County Volunteer Fire Departa shooting range that they are allowed to use
Pensacola, Fla., day shift: kneeling left to right: conductor/engineers ment. He was introduced to the vocation at
as well as an off-site golf course and gym. One Joseph Lapierre, Jeremy Findley and Billy Davis, location manager.
an early age with both his father and mother
sport practiced by one of the team members
Second row standing left to right: Eric Mantz, track maintenance, and being involved in the fire department and EMT
that is a little unusual is pro wrestling. Not too Roger Kelley, head of track maintenance and conductor/engineers
services.
many of the switching teams across the country Anthony Allender and Shaun Rodriguez
“People often ask why (Continued on page 3)
Dispatch page 2
the
Sabine Parish, Louisiana - Home of Watco’s Zwolle mechanical shop
wins Dixie Ponytails World Series
By Tracie VanBecelaere
Managing Editor
Congratulations to the Sabine Parish, Louisiana 11-12 year girls softball team on winning the 2010 Dixie Youth Ponytails World Series! Assistant coach Kelvin Matthews is an
inspector at the Zwolle, La., Watco mechanical
shop and his daughter, Caroline, was a member
of the team. These girls began post-season play
on June 25 and were undefeated in both District
and State tournament play going in to the
World Series tournament.
The World Series began on July 31 in
Grovetown, Ga., and the Sabine team won 6
games to take home the Championship trophy.
The girls defeated teams from North Carolina,
South Carolina, Mississippi and Virginia winning against North Carolina in the ChampiKelvin Matthews, Zwolle, La., inspector with
onship game 4-3 on August 4.
daughter Caroline.
Left to right: Assistant Coach Kelvin Matthews, Adrianna Phillips, Alex Rivers,
Alyssa DeLatin, Caroline Matthews, Kaitlin Davis, Averi Rivers, Caroline Settle,
Bailey McCleary, Amber French, Caitlyn Corley, Coach Clay Corley, Hannah
Lancaster, Ashley Lafitte, Assistant Coach Todd Lafitte.
Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad hosts Bomb Squad training
By Tracie VanBecelaere
Managing Editor
Things really weren’t much of a blast at the Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad
(KO) in Wichita, Kan., on September 23. But that was a good thing. The KO
and the Wichita Police Bomb Squad held a joint training exercise in the KO’s
South Yard using KO equipment. The drill allowed the bomb squad to practice
search, identification, disabling of trip devices and detonation procedures of
IEDs (improvised explosive devices) which were hidden on a KO train set up
expressly for this purpose.
The bomb squad utilized their skills with the help of two robots, to achieve
success in their training and were extremely grateful to the team at the KO and
Watco for their cooperation and attention to detail.
Representing the Wichita Police Department as the team leader and instructor
was Officer G.L. Kyle along with several bomb squad team members. Assisting
from the KO was : Brad Hayes, assistant general manager, Chad Taylor, assistant
trainmaster, Herb Lamkin, roadmaster and Dan Brewer, mechanical manager.
Representing the safety department was Barry Karlberg, safety instructor.
All agreed it was a very safe and educational day with each group learning a
Right: the large robot is being used to drag the “body” away from IED switch. Below
left: smaller robot shows off its dexterity by climbing over the railroad tracks. Below
right: Wichita Bomb Squad preparing to arm large robot with high pressure water cannons. This robot is controlled by a fiber optic tether line of around 3,000 ft.
little more about the other so that if an emergency situation were to occur both
entities would know they could depend on each other to handle it in a timely
and safe manner.
“Relating to the public in a positive manner and being good stewards of the
communities we operate in, are reflective of the fine, folks who make up the
Watco family. This is just another example of that friendly cooperation,” said
Neal Jacobs, general manager of the KO.
Dispatch page 3
the
Stanley transload
team rallies
around member
By Tracie VanBecelaere
Managing Editor
Kevin Roth, pumper/operator for Watco Transload
Services (WTIS), Stanley, ND., always thought he was
part of a something special but a recent event brought
to light how true that really was.
About a month ago Roth’s 19 year-old son who lives
in Seattle, Wa., was diagnosed with a non-cancerous
tumor which is extremely close to, or entangled, with
the jugular. Roth was obviously very concerned as only
a parent can be, waiting to hear whether his son would
have surgery or not; then when was the surgery going
to take place; and then how could he get to Seattle as it
was an expense he wasn’t expecting.
In Stanley, they work two crews 4 on / 4 off. Both
crews heard about Roth and his son and secretly collected over $1,000. They all met in Minot, ND., at a
local restaurant under the pretense of needing to have
a full team meeting. They didn’t want to do this at the
facility, they wanted to present the money to Roth as
one team-not two crews.
When Roth was presented with the gift he couldn’t
speak for a moment and then was able to get a thank
you out before he sat back down and tears began to
roll down his face. After the gathering Roth called the
terminal manager, Duane Helms and said he spent
twenty plus years in the military and has a lot of friends
in the area but this amazing gesture from his team was
something he never even expected and he didn’t know
what to say other than thank you.
Roth said, “This story isn’t about me or my son, it’s
about my team and how proud I am to be a part of it.”
Pensacola team
(Continued
from page one) do this, I reply, it’s not for the
I
money or the glory but for the satisfaction of helping people
in their time of need,” said Findley.
Mantz has also served as a firefighter but he was in a
completely different setting. He served for four years in the
Navy aboard the U.S.S. Eisenhower and made one tour to
the Arabian Gulf to support the ongoing war in Afghanistan
as a Navy Shipboard Firefighter and Armed Security Watchstander.
A former native of Maryland, Mantz enjoys fishing and
going to the shooting range. He and his wife Virginia have
been married for eight years.
McGinnis and Davis have been at the location the longest,
a total of 33 years. McGuinnes has been with the company
for 19 years and says he joined the Watco Team for the “long
haul”. Prior to joining Watco he served in the military for
17 years. He likes to trap, fish, hunt and watch football in his
free time.
Davis also enjoys sports, he can be found cheering on the
Florida Gator football team or the local ice hockey team.
As far as teams go, Davis said he is very proud to not only
be a part of the Pensacola Team but that the feeling extends
to the entire Watco Team as well.
SKOL Customer Lafarge Cement
reaches safety milestone
Congratulations to South Kansas and Oklahoma Customer Lafarge Cement in Fredonia, Kan., on
reaching a safety milestone of going five years without a lost time incident. This accomplishment is
particularly significant in the construction materials industry, since on any given day employees work
with heavy machinery, large mobile equipment, high heat, confined spaces or heights requiring tieoffs.
“Safety is considered a core value at Lafarge and an ethical responsibility for every employee,” said
Sean Brennan, Plant Manager at the Fredonia Cement Plant. “It’s not a box that we tick or something
that we cross off our to-do list - it is ingrained in our culture and it’s how we do business. It’s important to each one of us and even more significantly, it’s important to our families, “ added Brennan.
Pat Cedeno, Watco’s vice president of sales and marketing Central Region, said, “It is no surprise to
see a quality organization like LaFarge, who strives to be an industry leader, reach such a milestone.
Our good partners at LaFarge’s
Fredonia facility have long focused on safety and are a great
example to all of us in this regard.
We congratulate them on this
tremendous accomplishment and
look forward to our continued
partnership together.”
The SKOL has been serving
Lafarge North America’s cement
plant since 1996 when the line was
purchased from the BNSF.
The Lafarge Cement plant in Fredonia, Kan.
Junction City Mechanical Team
celebrates Summer Spike
A promise is a promise - so when Junction City,
Kan., mechanical shop manager Keith Egan, told
his team he would bbq for them if they reached
their Summer Spike goal, they held him to it.
“Our goal was to cut our incidents in half,
the guys did a great job and I’m really proud of
them,” said Egan. “Next year wer’e setting our
sites on zero incidents.”
Egan did say that next year he’s hoping for a
cooler day to cook on, “I think the team enjoyed
watching me sweat over the hot grill, but if that’s
what it takes, I’ll do it again.”
Top right: Keith Egan, Junction City, Kan., plant manager , grills up some hamburgers and hot dogs for
the luncheon. Bottom left and right: Junction City Team enjoying lunch after a successful Summer Spike
program.
Dispatch page 4
the
Students find Watco U classes beneficial
by Tracie VanBecelaere
Managing Editor
“graduated” from the university.
Rachael Peterson, director of
training and organizational development, said the classes have been
very successful.
“We’ve had some great conversations and ideas come out of the
participants in the classes. EvWatco U classes are under
eryone seems eager to get back to
way and so far three classes have
their teams to apply what they’ve
learned to everyday situations.”
Alex King, general manager of
the ABS said of the class, “Dynamite! A very dynamic class. I
have been looking forward to this
developmental leadership training
since joining Watco. It is extremely
important that as leaders of this
company we base our daily decisions on our foundation principles.
Watco U gives us the education
and tools we need to take this to
the field and extend our reach to all
team members.”
Shasta Stump, vice president of
sales and marketing East Region,
Watco U Class #1, left to right: Dan Linden, Dave Hambrick, Jack Lewis,
said, “For learning to take place
Tim Holan, Rachael Peterson, Duane Helms, Mike Pollard, Shellee Currier,
with any kind of efficiency and
Jason Lloyd, Dennis Gardner, Jane Harden, Aaron Smith, Aaron Reedy,
retention the student must be moKristie Jiminez, Bill Richmond, Jana Austerman, Troy Forbis, Chris Spear,
tivated. Without a doubt the team
Bob McElwee, Stu Towner.
members who have had the opportunity to attend Watco U are just
that - motivated! We are motivated
to delivering our Foundation Principles on a daily basis and focused
on encouraging all team members
to do the same. The skills learned
during this course will not only
bring us as individuals to a higher
level but our company as a whole.”
Daniel Greer, mechanical services vice president of sales for the
Southeast Region, said, “For those
of us that have had the privilege of
attending Watco U, it has provided
us with additional skills and the
knowledge to be better and more
Watco U Class #2, left to right: Sofrona Howard, Ted Kadau, Jim Herman,
effective team leaders, coaches, and
Gary Wagenseller, Steve Prokopich, Russell Hamm, Bob Cunningham, Dave
colleagues.”
Perault, Rachael Peterson, John Snow, Don Nutt, Danny Greer, Laura Schmidt,
Becky Fearmonti, senior marJohn Peek, Jack Lisle, Neal Jacobs, Debbie Ross and Robert Martinez.
keting manager for
the SKOL, said of
the class, “Everything starts with the
Customer and grows
from there; it was
refreshing to hear
this message repeated
throughout the
course. It’s phenomenal that management is putting the
time and resources
into training it’s team
members. Rachael,
Bob and Eddie have
done a fantastic job
Watco U Class #3, left to right: Rachel Peterson, Matt Lewis, Jana Austerman, Bob McElwee,
and I look forward to
Tom Garrison, Jimmy McClain, Shasta Stump, Sam Ricci, Brian Simpson, Sara Hanson, Knut
Hansen, Christopher Slasinski, Jerry Carter, Kevin Wingate, Jim Meyer, Chad Jasmin, Dena attending classes that
will be offered in the
Patterson, Joe Keys, Alex King, Keith Egan, Charlie Sigley, Becky Fearmonti, Amy Parady
future.”
and Rodney Gordon.
Customer First
in action
This section is to provide examples of the
Watco Team putting the Customer First
principles in action.
Randy Ogden with
Hexion at the Oklahoma City, Okla.,
transload facility
sent this message:
During my last
visit with Watco
I found that Watco
needed to address the
Sieve room and add more
shelving.
I wanted to let you know when I was there
yesterday, I found that they have done an
excellent job in adding new shelving and also
in maintaining product samples.
With the amount of product that is going
out of the location I think the Watco Team is
doing a great job.
Thanks for all your hard work Mr. Salek
and team.
***********************
The team on the Grand Elk Railroad has
been received compliments from many different Customers, below are two examples of the
feedback that they’re receiving.
Karl Kunisch, from The Anderson’s, one
of the Grand Elks largest Customers, called
general manager Rodney Gordon and told
him that since the Grand Elk took over serving Andersons rail needs they have exceeded
expectations. Due to our excellent service
they have received, he has increased his train
orders for the rest of the year by 20 percent.
This should enable The Andersons to accommodate the above average corn and soybean
harvest that Michigan is expecting this fall.
Daren Iser with Bulkmatice is a Customer in
Grand Rapids and sent the follwoing e-mail to
Rodney Gordon:
I would like to take this opportunity to
thank you and a special thanks to the Grand
Rapids crew for the way they conduct the
business. We at Bulkmatic are very pleased
with the “Outstanding Quality of Service” that
your crew in Grand Rapids has provided. We
rely and depend on their friendly, professional
service for us to be successful in meeting
our customer demands. As manager of the
Bulkmatic operation in GR its been a great
pleasure working with these guys and we look
forward to doing business with them and you
for years to come. Sincerely, Daren Iser
Dispatch page 5
the
TC
WA O
W
ORLD
This section is dedicated to the Watco Team
members to give you a chance to share what’s
happening in your corner of the Watco World.
Births
Charley Burgin King
Alex and Laura King are proud to announce the
birth of a baby girl on September 14. Charley Burgin
weighed 8 lbs. and 10 oz., and was 20 inches long.
Alex is the general manager of the Alabama Southern Railroad in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Charley was welcomed home by big sister Linda
Taylor who is 3.
Charley Burgin King and big sister, Linda Taylor.
Achievements
Justin Ziesenis
Justin Ziesenis, son of Lois Ziesenis, collections
administrator in the Pittsburg, Kan., office has re-
Justin Ziesenis
ceived his Fire Science degree from Crowder College
in Webb City, Mo. The two year program covered all
aspects of firefighting for both residential and industrial structure fires.
Ziesenis has just started with the Pittsburg Fire
Department and is also a volunteer firefighter for the
City of Frontenac. He served as a Junior Firefighter
for the City of Frontenac while in high school which
confirmed his choice in career goals.
He is also certified for underwater rescue and
recovery, has his EMT-B certification and is a storm
spotter for Crawford County. His family is very
proud of his accomplishments and his dedication to
reaching the first of his goals.
Community Involvement
The United Way Campaign was kicked off on
September 29 at the Pittsburg, Kan., offices with a
Breakfast Battle between Eddie (Two Taco)Arredondo, SVP human resources and Mitch (Biscuit) Becker,
COO Central, Gulf/East Region. Arredondo served
up breakfast tacos and Becker provided biscuits and
gravy. Tickets could be purchased for $5 per meal
and the breakfast with the most tickets purchased was
the winner.
Although Arredondo vowed to take down the
Biscuit with his two taco punch, Becker ended up
winning the contest. Both contestants contributed
the cost of the meal so the United Way was the real
winner and will receive $540 raised by the battle.
Arredondo said, “I had an early strategy with the
prime placement for my table, but unfortunately that
wasn’t enough to take the lead. It was a lot of work
but a very worthy cause.”
The next fund raising event in line for the United
Way will be a Chili Cook-off on October 15.
October Anniversaries
1 Year: Chet Ackerman, Bryan Anderson, Wesley Bailey, Lucky Baize, Vicente Barboza, Michael
Bigpond, Rebekah Bolton, Phillip Boppre, Eric
Bredvick, Merlin Bridge, Edward Brien, Earl Bruce,
Joseph Carlucci, Lynn Clark, Chad Davis, Joseph
Degenstein, Bryan Dervin, Tommy Dervin, Mark
Dryer, Dale Dunn, Kevin Flammang, Matthew
Gibbs, Mike Hainds, Buddy Hall, Joseph Hall, Chad
Holland, Daniel Hoover, Donovan Hudson, Chad
Jasmin, Elvis Johns, Todd Johnson, Derrick Keys,
Gerry Knutson, Craig Long, Ryan Manning, Jimmy
McClain, Michael Meadows, William Nash,
Dennis Neufeld, Coty Noe, Peter Pappas, Melissa Parker, Brian Pitt,
Kelly Rambel, Joel Reeder, Larry
Richardson, Michael Riley, Brannon Roberts, Nathan Saunders,
Chase Schachtschneider, Jeremy
Sepulvado, Stephen Smith,
Dustin Steele, Stephen Swafford, Verlan Tagestad, Michael
Toler, James Walker, Ray Watson,
Dion Weichel.
2 Years: Ralph Beshears, Mark Bowen, David Cain,
Brian Carter, Chad Cold, Lucas Conrad, James
Culbertson, Clinton Dansby, Thomas Dennis, Guy
Evans, Guy Evans III, Troy Forbis, Jesse Fought,
Karl Fuchs, Sherrie Garrett, Michael Harris, David
Heller, Justin Huguenin, Steve Janak, Jon Johnson,
Demarrio Lloyd, Sharon Marlow-Perault, Tung
Nguyen, Sharon Novotni, Kendull Phillips, Justin
Ray, Donald Savage, James Shoop, Bryan Welker,
Douglas Wolnik.
3 Years: Jana Austerman, Billy Barton, Gumaro
Castillo, Shaneena Clark, Chad Farmer, Priscilla
Ferguson, Ryan Gordon, Grant Holcomb, Roger
Howard, Diane Johnson, Richard Johnson, Chris
Mathews, Dustin Meshell, Dennis Newson, Armando Ortiz, Arturo Ortiz, Bradley Peck, Jed
Powell, Rikki Rainville, Steven Roland, Fernando
Rosa, Amanda Santana, Jason Seger, James Sterling,
Sterling Teague, William Way, Kim Young.
4 Years: Gregory Baker, Nathaniel Degraff, Jocelyn
Gates, Curtis Hanna, Tim Harris, Christopher Henning, Cody Johnson, Teri Kinyon, Jesse Lambert,
Garry Neumann, Keith Reed, Michael Richardson,
Matthew Stover, Asa Walker.
5 Years: William Bouse, Jerry Brightman, Brandon
Hammons, Dorothea Hurlbut, Annette Lane, Scotty
Presley, Jose Saavedra, Diana Scheffel, Delia Winegarner.
6 Years: Venson Bell, Galen Dyck, Bo Fox, Travis
Herod, Christopher Nielsen, Larry Schwarz, Jereud
Uscola.
7 Years: Marvin Albritton, Jeff Baum, David Hambrick, Charles McGinn, Michael Welch, Ricky
Wilcox.
8 Years: William Czapla, Earl Holt, Kevin
Nugent.
9 Years: Sandra Cohee, Scott Lynas,
James Wren.
10 Years: David Clapper.
11 Years: Lisa Berry, Thomas
Knight.
12 Years: Timothy Klapuch,
Norman Neal.
13 Years: Donald Brau, Becky Fearmonti, Heath Morgan, Brian Oleske.
14 Years: Craig Bywater, Ivan Ferrin, P Lee,
Edward Moore.
15 Years: Rodney Daugherty, Johnny Guthrie,
Steven Korell, Michael Moore, Rollie Pickens, Roosevelt Robinson, Steve Sommers.
16 Years: Dave Carr, Richard Heverly, Lori Magee,
Christopher Smith.
17 Years: Cirilo Bueno, Albin Harris.
18 Years: Bruce Huerter, Craig Stansbury.
19 Years: Tony Clark, Jamie Swaynos.
20 Years: Kevin Welshans.
21 Years: Eddie Bennatt, Kelvin Matthews.
22 Years: Michael Allen, James Filegar, Franklin
Miller.
23 Years: Jesse Lynch, Michael Tappy, Paul Tickner.
24 Years: Jim Moore.
25 Years: Keith Lacaze.
26 Years: Clarence Parrie.
27 Years: Phil Penner, Chris Salek.
29 Years: Lonnie Joyce, Gary Nelms, Dave Turner.
35 Years: Robert Parker, George Rhodes.
46 Years: Robert Scott.
Dispatch
the
The newsletter for Watco Companies, Inc. and Watco Transportation Services, Inc.
October 2010, Volume 11, Issue 10
PRST STD
US POSTAGE
PAID
PRADMAR CORP
315 W. Third Street
Pittsburg, KS 66762
www.watcocompanies.com
Watco team member likes railroading “litte”
By Tracie VanBecelaere
Managing Editor
“You just have to limit the number of locomotives or run some with and some
without sound.”
Malish’s layout is 27 ft. X 12 ft. and includes a walk-thru double track bridge,
Ed Malish, Houston, Texas, shop locomotive mechanic, believes he has the
two towns, a mountain range, and rivers. It consists of about 150 ft. of mainline
best hobby in the world. When not working on the big Watco locomotives, he
track, two freight yards, three cities, and a turntable.
is busy working on locomotives of a much smaller scale.
“My layout depicts AT&SF, Southern Pacific,
Malish became interested in model railroading six years
and MKT railroads. We, my son and I, also have
ago and has been busy creating a mini-train setting ever
multiple throttles so other people can join in. If
since.
another person brings a locomotive all they have
Malish said his railroad layout is HO scale, which is
to do is program the address on the layout, and off
scaled to 1/87, the most popular amongst the model railthey go! Some low end locomotive decoders have
roaders. Other scales range from the smallest, Z-scale,
some difficulty programming the first time, but
which is 1/220, up to G-scale also known as Garden,
always keep trying. A piece of advice, do some
which is scaled to 1/24 and is the easiest to build from
research and you will be rewarded at the end with
scratch. For beginners Malish recommends using the
a smooth operation. Refer to Model Railroader
N-scale or HO scales.
Magazine or some sort of club for information. As
“In my opinion, Z-scale is nice but it also has drawfar as scenery, it’s easy; kit bashing, scratch buildbacks which limit it on accessories because it has not
ing, how-to clinic’s, movies, internet, books, train
Ed Malish, Houston, Texas, locomotive mechanic, works
been around for very long. It’s also very hard to see any
shows & DVDs to name a few. You can build your
on his model railroad with his son Anthony. Below are
detailed parts. I would definitely not recommend this
own trees out of kits, make your own backdrop
two scenes from his layout.
scale to an amateur model railroader,” said Malish.
with a airbrush, a photo, or a pre- made one.”
Another factor to address when building a small scale
One thing many model railroad builders do is
railroad is power management. The systems that now run
take their layout on tour.
model railroads are state of the art and can get very detailed
Malish said, “To my knowledge there were 80 some
in what is operated by power sources.
layouts on tour last year, including mine, in and
“My system is Digital Command Control (DCC) which
around Houston, Beaumont, Liberty, College Station
can run locomotives (prototypical speed), track switches,
and Galveston, Texas. I’ve been on tour in the Liberty
lights, turntables, and much more, not to mention computer
area for the past few years. So mark your calendar,
control of everything on the layout,” said Malish. “As you
look me up and check it out.”
can see, model railroading has come a long way from just a
Local Scout Master Steven Dugger has shown an
simple 4X8 analog train set.”
interest in model railroads as a project for his Boy
According to Malish, there are multiple manufacturers
Scout troop.
that specialize in DCC systems. These systems are state“The work required to put all this together is quite
of-the-art technology, with computer know-how so that
extensive and it would be a great opportunity for the
anybody can run a locomotive by programming (usually cab
boys to earn more badges,” said Malish. “They atnumbers) into the handset which can be either tethered or
tended my layout on September 27 and we’re discussradio controlled. You can run multiple locomotives on the
ing where to go from there as far as how we can help
same track. The least expensive system preferred by Maleach other out.”
ish is the Zephyr (DCS 50) which can run 10 locomotives
“It’s a great hobby to have and I look forward to
without sound.
working with the scouts to build their interest in
“Sound takes more power than without,” says Malish.
railroading.”