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Music.

Tracks Ahead.

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Kalmbach Publishing Company producers of an online source for rail-related information, where you can discover model trains, toy trains, garden trains and even real trains.

(Horn) Kato Manufacturer of precision railroad models and the UniTrack System Music Hi, I'm Spencer Christian.

On this episode of Tracks Ahead we'll visit a huge high rail layout in our nation's capitol, we'll talk with John Bromley a railroader and artist and we'll check out the 15-inch gauge trains at the Whiskey River Railroad.

But first one of the last major railroads ever built was the Trans Australian railroad.

Let's take a trip across a continent on the Indian Pacific.

Ancr: A ride on the Indian Pacific is one of the train trips of a lifetime.

Michael: You don't necessary need to be a train buff to travel on the train, it's not about traveling on a train, it's all about it being an experience, a holiday.

Basically it's almost like a hotel on wheels and you'll spend three or four days on it, it's not wasted time.

Ancr: It cuts through some of the most rugged country the world, let alone Australia has to offer.

But your trip begins in a stylish booming sophisticated city of Sydney.

Sydney is one of the most instantly recognizable cities in world.

The harbor is a playground for all variations of water sports.

Of course the crown jewel of the view is the Sydney Opera House, a music filled icon of the country.

It's a city that manages a balance of modern and classic with a point of departure like this old train station.

It looks frankly, the way a train station should look, this cavernous beauty is the spot where you step aboard the sleek Indian Pacific.

After pulling swiftly from the station it doesn't take long to notice a sharp change from metropolitan scenery to the lush countryside of the Blue Mountains.

The whole journey from Sydney to Perth takes three days from coast to coast along these legendary rails.

Perth nestles the coastline of the Indian Ocean, it's a city many Australians from the east coast have never seen because it's so far away.

Michael: It's a very clean city, it's very friendly city the people you can walk around up in Perth and not get lost and there's no problems getting lost because you can just stop and ask anybody, their very friendly.

My personal opinion it's one of the best climates, it's very mild winters, the summer is not scorching hot and they have something that's called the Fremantle Doctor which is a breeze that comes off the ocean in the afternoon and cools the city down.

Ancr: The breeze is also a favorite for wind surfers who catch some blistering rides on a rollicking Indian Ocean.

In between these two great cities runs the Indian Pacific.

Michael: The Indian Pacific is an icon for starters amongst one of the longest railway journeys in the world.

It's unique and you could say that's there's not many trains like this left, not just in Australia, but in the world as well.

Ancr: Along the way there's a chance to stop and check out some of the far-flung towns of this vast country.

Broken Hill is a mining town that is clinging to a more profitable past.

Michael: It's the doorway to the Outback as well.

Broken Hill is only a day's drive or days traveling from main cities like Sydney and Melbourne and Adelaide.

Like I said earlier, this is a mining town but mostly these days are turning toward tourism.

There've been many movies made in the area too, some of them like, Mad Max and Priscilla Queen of the Desert and so forth.

Ancr: It's one of the dots on the maps served by the Flying Doctors Service established in 1928.

In a land where 9-1-1 is unknown and an ambulance is out of the question, these small planes show up with doctor aboard wherever and whenever medical help is needed and it's free.

The outback relies on the service, a lot.

Michael: Twenty thousand emergencies landings a year and somewhere around 117 to 200,000 patients a year as well they service.

Ancr: You can travel the globe and never find a longer stretch of straight track than right here.

Michael: We're in the center of the Nullarbor.

We're probably on the longest straight in the world, straight being 479 kilometers long.

As you can see, there's not a lot to see of it, a few odd kangaroos, but that's about it.

Ancr: The word Nullarbor means without trees and in fact it might just as well mean without anything.

But then again this, all of this, is far from being nothing.

This nothing is exactly what people come from all continents to see.

Jackie: There are many expressions that come on people's faces, some of great surprise especially for International visitors, particularly Americans and obviously Japanese travelers.

They are amazed that there are no buildings among any of this land in the middle of Australia.

Its just dirt, trees and saltbush that type of thing.

It just goes on forever.

Ancr: In the middle of it all is Cook, a truly tiny town.

Michael: In past times there use to be up to 200 people in Cooke now he's there's only a caretaker, his wife and two children; so the official population is four.

Woman in Cook: Somebody suggested it would make a great retirement place; you would have a lot of peace and quiet and no stress.

Shopping would be a bit difficult.

Ancr: As wonderful as all the places out the window are it's what's happening inside that makes this trip special.

Passenger: It's a very pleasant way to get from one side of Australia to the other and I think the best part is meeting different people, enjoying a little chat with them, that's the best part I think.

Michael: The people that travel on it and the people that work on it make it special.

The people you meet on the train make it special.

The train is a train, it's like I said it is unique but I think the experience of what you see here and people you meet on the journey makes it special.

Woman Passenger on Train: Very good.

We've had a ball.

We've met some great people, Americans and some ex-patriot English people and we've got some food, good wines, good company, good scenery, it's been really good.

Ancr: Eating is the main focus of the trip.

The food is excellent and creative.

Michael: It's all fresh, all the food is prepared on board the train, and we have qualified chefs in our restaurant.

They're all part of the train and they prepare the meals from scratch as you would notice last night for yourself we have quite an extensive menu, as vintage wines as well.

It's fine dining in the middle of the Outback basically.

Ancr: All of the meals are prepared in this small galley, breakfast, lunch, and dinner overlap in this compact area where the action never really stops.

Michael: We have some signature dishes on the train, one of them being the Kangaroo.

Did you have an opportunity to try that?

Many people tend to sit back a little bit when they read the menu but it's something to experience to your taste buds, something different.

Many people do try it for the first time and tend to enjoy it.

Ancr: The wonderful food is just another element that makes this journey so memorable.

It's the kind of expedition that has a way of getting under your skin.

After a night of sleep in your cabin or perhaps your comfy coach seat, you settle into the trip, you roll with the rocking rhythm of the rails and enjoy a grand style of travel.

Michael: You forget that you have come on the train to travel; it's not about that anymore.

It's about getting experience that's something you'll remember forever and probably pass on to your children or friends and so forth.

We have many travelers that come back many times and asked them why and they will say have a look for yourself.

Jackie: A memory that will be everlasting that you can pass onto your family and friends and let them know how good it is to travel on Indian Pacific.

Michael: I originally joined the job to stay 12 months; it's been 21 years as I said.

Now, and I ask myself sometimes, has it been that long?

Time has really flown and why I'm still here is, to start with, I could be sitting in an office looking at the Sydney harbor in Sydney or Swan River in Perth but after awhile you're seeing the same old thing.

I think I've got the best window here the scenery changes all the time, the people you meet.

The people that come on the train; when they walk off the train they say, Michael, thank you very much for that experience.

That's why I keep coming back and that's why I'm still here.

In the early days of the railroad the trains use to stop in the straight section, passengers would get off and pick wildflowers.

If you're a model railroader, once in awhile you sit back and daydream about the biggest and nicest layout you would build, if you had the means.

Right now we're going to meet a Maryland man who turned those dreams into reality.

Ancr: When you walk into the layout room, the first thing that hit's you is, wow, this is the most intricate and detailed layouts I've ever seen in my life.

Everything is there that could be there, that should be there.

There's constant action to keep your attention, there's detail upon detail, and it's huge.

Here are a few of the numbers; it fills close to 3,000 square feet, which is about twice the size of the average starter home.

That's 45 feet wide by 60 feet long.

If you went outside and laid the track end to end it would stretch out for over one mile.

There are nine separate transformers, there's a 13 stall round house, there are seven thousand model trees, but there's one owner and chief operator, businessman Tony Lash.

Tony: Got my first train for Christmas in 1947, which I still have my original set.

Every week I would buy a car or lay-away a car, or engine or something like this.

I came from a railroad family, my grandfather and uncle all worked for the Norfolk and Western railway, that was how I fell in love with trains.

Ancr: As an adult, Tony Lash would decide to base his dream layout on the West Virginia coal country he knew as a child.

Tony: I've tried to model the area that I grew up with.

I use to ride a 6YB when I was a young kid with the Norfolk and Western with my grandfather from Bluefield, West Virginia to Hampton Rhodes really.

Hauling loaded coal cars there and empty coal cars back and that was just a thrill and got into my blood, to smell the steam, smell the smoke and just to be able feel raw power of the 6YB it's something that I would never forget the experience and I certainly appreciate being able to have when I was growing up.

Ancr: The O Gauge rolling stock is from Mikes Train House and as you can see, there's a lot of it.

He likes the size, the detail and the all around quality.

Tony: I stuck with O Gauge because of my age.

It's hard for me to put the HO on the track and to see all the good detail.

I grew up with O Gauge.

Ancr: Tony Lash had built a number of layouts as an adult but when this business executive decided to build the biggest and the best, he knew he would need some help; help with the bench work, switches, scenery, signals, help with just about everything.

He and nearly 15 layout experts spent more than three years building this masterpiece.

Three years turning Tony's fantasy and vision into reality.

Bill: It was complex because it was large.

The number 10 wire alone, we've got about a mile and half of that strung under here.

Basics of how much work had to be done; it was a lot of man-hours in it.

John: My part of the layout was about a year and half of three-day weekends.

I had a partner helping me at the time so there were two of us here over that period.

We used a rock face, I use a water soluble method using plaster cloth to give myself the basic design and then attaching, literally, 100's of rock molds to the plaster cloth using this spackling compound.

As an adhesive we were able to sculpt the verticals as well as give ourselves several crevices that add to a real erosion look.

Ancr: Tony and his pals have put together a realistic work of art, the kind that every model railroader dreams about.

The definition of excellence.

Okay are you ready for this; Tony Lash is actually thinking about putting an addition onto that building so he can make the layout even bigger and better.

The eyes of an artist see trains in a romantic light.

John Bromley has made trains his life both on the canvas and off.

Some of you might think this man has the perfect life and perhaps you're right.

Sometimes the dream of trains takes the shape of a basement layout, sometimes it can take over your whole house and every once in awhile, the dream of trains explodes and becomes something big enough to call an amusement park.

Ancr: When you have the urge to take a little train ride through some pretty Wisconsin countryside, you can literally take a little train ride.

It's the Whiskey River Railway in Marshall, Wisconsin.

This small steam train is the realization of one man's big dream.

Lee: I've been always fascinated with steam, you have to be fascinated with it or you wouldn't be fooling with it.

I really got started in 1960 in Colorado and then it just grew and grew.

Until now it's quite a deal.

I love it, of course I do, how could I not.

Ancr: Lee Merrick is a successful businessman, this operation is not about money; it's about fun.

Lee: I always see people coming and that's the thrill for me.

People come from Nebraska and a guy just came up from Illinois, I'm from Illinois I call that home, and I was born in New York, but was raised in Illinois.

To see people come from some place that I know and came here to look at this stuff, that's my thrill, that's the biggest thrill I get out of it.

Ancr: The line follows two and a half miles of 16-gauge track.

Along the way you'll find animals here and there and also two depots, three grade crossings, 150-foot tunnel and a four-stall roundhouse.

But Merrick says he wasn't following any blueprints.

Lee: I don't know, I guess it just kind of grew, almost like a mushroom.

You couldn't really explain it, we had all the setbacks that we possibly could have, floods, fire we had it all.

Now we have all this and be hard to explain, wasn't planned, it was just spontaneous.

Ancr: On sweet summer or fall days like this, it's a joy to be out here in the country.

Of course, the winter also has its fans.

Right after Thanksgiving, you can hop aboard and head out for a Christmas tree.

Darryl: Our winter activity is what gave this rail its start some 17 years ago.

The railroad travels over two miles over Wisconsin countryside were people can travel and pick out a Christmas tree.

Most of the trees are pre-cut but in season we do have cut your own trees here at the railroad.

On weekdays we run diesel service and on weekends we run live steam.

Some weekends we run up to three trains that'll take people like a bus service out to pick out their Christmas tree.

Ancr: Darryl Klompmaker is part of this dream of trains too.

He's the guy who keeps these trains running.

Darryl: I love trains, park size trains since I was a kid of course riding trains at amusement parks, especially one called Saltzer's Kiddy Land in Indiana and also the Sandley trains at the Milwaukee County Zoo and up in the Wisconsin Dells and was very much inspired by them and use to play with the little HO trains and pretend that it was a park size train, figured some day I was going to build one.

That's pretty much what brought me here.

Ancr: The place is kind of a museum of classic park trains, everywhere you look there's something special.

Darryl: This locomotive that I'm sitting by here which we faithfully call, The Little Engine That Could, it's a small little Atlantic but it was built in 1969 by a gentleman name Norman Gracy and it ran at the Sanford Zoo in Florida.

It was the first steam engine to be at this railroad here.

Commonly a lot of these small railroads are 15 inch gauge but this particular locomotive and that railroad there was 16 inch gauge and that what formed our railroad to be a 16 inch gauge, here in Marshall, rather than the 15 inch gauge you see a lot of yjr hobbyists building.

The Oakland Acorn is a locomotive behind this locomotive.

That locomotive was originally built, started in 1949 by George Redington with the help of Robert Blacklow.

They built that locomotive and started a concession operation in Oakland Park.

At that time it was a very successful operation and the cowboy actor Gene Autry was there and saw it and was so impressed by the train that he contracted with them to build the Gene Autry Melody ranch special Daylight which is the Daylight locomotive, the sister engine to it right here.

Incidentally, the Oakland Acorn started out looking identical to the Daylight and they are the same exact engine.

To give you an example of how dress can change the way how a locomotive looks, they are identical in every way except of a couple of small things with them.

Ancr: Lee Merrick's dreams started out with trains but not it also includes an amusement park.

There is always something new on the horizon here at Little America.

Lee Merrick says he just can't stop adding to his living dreams but there is no plan, he said things just sort of happened and grow.

No matter what comes next, you'll always be able to take the little train ride through some lovely Wisconsin scenery here at Little America.

Music John: This is the Feather River up in northern California a place called Slope.

What I did here I just took a snapshot off the little bridge that went over the river there and then of course I didn't have the steam engine going by there, but I put one in from the 1940's era to round it off.

Otherwise the scene is contemporary, including the coyote down in the lower right hand side.

Ancr: You can probably guess John Bromley's favorite period, the time when steam was still a powerful force and presented an artist with a full canvas of options.

John: My favorite era, like a lot of fans I guess, is the 40's, 50's.

I think it was because it the mix of steam and diesel and of course the old great passenger trains that were rolling around in those days.

Steam engines are an artist's dream because they do so much with the smoke and steam and they all look so different.

It's fun by placing the headlight up or higher or lower or the marker lamps or whatever you've got, you can make a steam engine just do all kind of marvelous things on canvas or on paper.

Of course the smoke, everybody loves to draw smoke and the trick is to restrain yourself, or you'd have huge clouds of smoke in every painting you do.

Ancr: His work captures classic trains in many settings.

As a kid he grew up in love with trains, art school lasted only a little more than year but his passion for trains is still glowing.

John: I almost became an artist when I graduated from high school.

Majored in art, University of Nevada in Reno.

I was always drawing train pictures since I was a kid and that developed into one thing or other, of course like a lot of people when you get to school you really don't know what you want to do.

I started to go to work for the railroad in Las Vegas, Nevada.

My dad talked me out of it said he'd help me get started in college and after I finished college I was still dumb enough to want to go railroading, that would be my decision.

I went off on the art direction and that began my serious look at although it's really only a hobby for me.

Ancr: After a tour in the navy he worked in the media, which led to a career in public relations, and as luck would have it, his love for trains is now part of his everyday life.

John Bromley is the Director of Public Affairs for the Union Pacific Railway, so that would mean that UP is his obvious favorite.

Right?

John: Quietly I always admired the Santa Fe, that's my big secret because I love their red war bonnet trains, but I was always loyal to the Union Pacific Railroad.

It was just a fluke of faith that I ended up in Idaho and met some folks up there that led me back into the railroad business.

Ancr: Look around the UP offices in Omaha and you see his work, there and there and here.

John: It's strange although I think I've gotten use to it but it's a wonderful ego trip.

I don't make any money in it, I wish I did but for myself it's just wonderful.

It kind of started out innocently enough, like everything does, where I did some Christmas cards for the company, from the Christmas cards a fellow started printing those and uses those rail history prints.

That has kind of expanded my exposure where they sell over-seas and now my prints are all over this building and they're in many of our office buildings all over the system.

Everywhere I go I get off a train in Los Angels and I walk in the building and there's one of my pictures.

The other thing it does is I meet people out in the system, oh, you're John Bromley; I've got one of your paintings.

People call them up and ask them about how our fuel oil prices doing and say I just bought your latest print.

It's fun for me.

Ancr: For someone who grew up in love with trains, it just doesn't get much better.

John admits that it really is satisfying to look around the Union Pacific offices and see his artwork on the walls.

Thanks for being with us and please join us next time for more Tracks Ahead.

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