Amtrak
Cascades Siemens Charger trainset at Olympia-Lacey
Centennial Station in Washington state, March 2020. The
late-model engines pull or push passenger cars manufactured
by Talgo of Spain, which now has a Wisconsin plant that
manufactured some later model Cascades train cars. The
engine was purchased by the state of Washington. Trainsets
are owned by Oregon and Washington and operated by Amtrak.
Photos by Robin Ganders
Above, Larry boarding Sounder special
game-day train at Lakewood Transit
Station bound for NFC Championship Game next to Seattle's
King Street Station, Jan. 19, 2014. Seattle Seahawks
defeated San Francisco 49ers 23-17 at Century Link Field to earn a
trip to the Super Bowl. Larry boarding Link light
rail for Seahawks exhibition game on Sept. 3, 2015.
Below, Larry's shift partner at Centennial Station,
Barbara Howard. The Olympa-Lacey station, built with
community donations, has become the state's 4th busiest
station and has been 100 percent operated by volunteers for
27 years. The building closely resembles a
Plasticville station sold for model train layouts across the
country.
Bottom, Larry's newest model train, the
North Coast Limited. the Northern Pacific passenger service
from Seattle, Yakima, Pasco and Spokane to Chicago through
Stampede Pass.
Welcome To Folks Interested
In Northwest O-Gauge Model Railroading
This is a great hobby and I like to share some of the
fun with you. My name is Larry Ganders and I live in
Olympia, Washington, USA. Email me by clicking here: Larry Ganders E-mail
Left, my neighbor, Anthony
in March 2020 with the classic Lionel 275-watt transformer
(1948-1966). Right, photo from the statue outside the
Amtrak Station in White Fish, Montana, where we took the
Empire Builder in 2019. Below, Granddaughter Poppy, and her
dinosaur train. Right, grandson Hunter. Also, granddaughter Skye operating a
Northern Pacific passenger set and Anthony being the overpass to the
Southern Pacific Daylight.
Amtrak
Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to Seattle pulls
into Centennial Station in Olympia in March 2020.
Larry is a hobbyist Enjoying Northwest
Roadnames
in O-Gauge
Three-Rail
Larry's first model engine was a Lionel
Santa Fe NW2 switcherr made by Lionel in 1962. This was the General Mills-owned era of Lionel
Trains. While a low-end switcher, it is relatively rare and sought
by collectors.
Larry specializesin Northwest road names such
as Great Northern, SP&S, Northern Pacific, Milwaukee Road, Union Pacific,
Southern Pacific, Burlington Northern, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, and so
forth. He models for the steam-to-diesel conversion years, about 1955 to 1965.
Fred Hecker
He has modeled in O-Gauge since a youngster, tutored and inspired by the Spokane
Valley Hometown Hardware Owner Fred Hecker, with a store on East Sprague
Avenue. Fred had a basement Lionel steam layout in his home near
Comstock Park - across from Larry's home
The Northern Pacific Northwest routes are
at the beginning of the Ganders
Family History in the United States. Larry's great grandfather, JJ Ganders, came to
Washington Territory in 1884 from Switzerland on a Northern Pacific (Oregon
Railway & Navigation Co.) train at what is now Arlington, Oregon
(now the Union Pacific track). He took a crude ferry across the
rushing Columbia River to the Washington side (east of Wishram) and backpacked to the trading
post at Bickleton. That Columbia Gorge route with a train ferry at
Kalama was a NP predecessor to the North Coast Limited route
through Stampede Pass that began construction, also in 1884,
with a route north of Bickleton from Seattle through what is now
Mabton that served Yakima, Pasco, and Spokane before continuing on to
Chicago.
Mabton & The Yakima Valley
Larry, who was born in Yakima, spent his very early life around some of the great
Northwest rail lines. He watched the Northern Pacific steamers with bells ringing, switching at Mabton in the
Yakima Valley.
Wishram
& The Columbia Gorge
He saw and rode the SP&S 4-6-6-4 Challenger at Wishram and
watched trains lumbering through the Columbia Gorge on both Oregon and
Washington sides of the river. A favorite camping spot is Maryhill
State Park with views of the main BNSF line on one side of the river and
the Union Pacific on the south bank. A Great Northern Baldwin P-2 Mountain
steam engine (GN# 2507) is displayed at nearby Wishram due to the efforts
of Klickitat County. Larry remembers when the 4-8-2 P-2, repainted to SP&S
(Spokane, Portland, and Seattle) markings, was displayed during the 1960s
at Maryhill State Park. The engine was purchased from GN as a gift to the
county from SP&S. It was removed from the park for unsuccessful
restoration efforts in Pasco before BNSF brought it back to the county for
display at Wishram.
Hangman Valley & Spokane
Heheard the haunting horns of the
great Burlington Northern and Union Pacific diesels running along the cliffs of the Hangman Valley
to Latah Junction near Spokane.
As an elementary school student in
Spokane, he rode the orange Great Northern Empire Builder cars pulled by an F3, his favorite consist.
Great Northern Station, Spokane
(Also used by SP&S) Havermale Island Circa 1971
Sketch by
Dr. Wes Moline, Courtesy Bill Moline, Spokane
Pasco & the Columbia
Basin
As a local newspaper reporter,
he wrote and photographed the last of the hobos at the Pasco, Wash. hump yards.
Olympia & South Puget Sound
He now
is a volunteer at Centennial Station, southeast of Olympia Wash., and
south of Lacey along the Yelm Highway. This
is where the Amtrak Cascades (EMD F59 locomotive)Talgo train between
Portland or Eugene, Ore. and Seattle or Vancouver, B.C. stops multiple
times every day. It is the only station that serves the state capital and
was the first Amtrak
station in the United States staffed completely by volunteers. It is now
the fourth busiest station in Washington state. The
horn of the the Coast Starlight can easily be heard from his home as it
also makes a twice-daily Olympia stop on its passenger route between Seattle and Los Angeles.
The main track also carries freight trains under both Union Pacific and
Burlington Northern flags. It is the same track that carries the
rumbling Genesis engines and other trains by Safeco Field during a Seattle Mariners game.
MTH, Lionel, and QSIndustries
Larry's operating layout
utilizes features of the
Mike's Train House (MTH) Digital Command System (DCS). He has QSI
3000 and Lionel conventional
locomotives as well.
Larry working at Washington's all-volunteer Olympia-Lacey "Centennial" Station,
March 2020
Left, original poster commemorating the opening of Centennial Station in
1993, built with community grants and donations. Right, Amtrak
engine 251 in the poster is photographed 27 years later as a Control
and Baggage Car (CAB) on a Cascades Talgo trainset at the same
Centennial Station.
Movies and
Television
Leave It To Beaver, 1962 Season 5, Episode 17 copyright
NBC Universal
Ozzie & Harriet, 1954 Season 3,
Episode 15 ABC
Young Sheldon
Pilot 2017 CBS
(photo by Kirk McCoy, LAT)
Young Sheldon Clip, 2017 Season 1, Episode 1 CBS Television
The Addams
Family ABC Series Pilot 1964
Ozzie & Harriet American
Broadcasting Company 1954
The Addams Family
Paramount Pictures 1991
The Addams Family
Clip
Features Lionel NP Passenger Cars,
Paramount Pictures 1991
"We all know it's O-gauge or No Gauge"
Big Bang
Theory CBS 2011, Season 5, Episode 3
Sheldon's statement before he buys an MTH HO train
set at his
local hobby shop.
Categories of Larry's Collection
Amtrak and Sounder Modern Passenger Service
Amtrak Genesis GE P42 Wave
Scheme
Amtrak 469
F59PHI Diesel Northwest Colors
Sounder F59PHI
Amtrak Superliner Cars
The Burlington Northern Family NP, BN, BNSF, ATSF
BN Santa Fe SD-40-2
BNSF GP 38-2 Boeing, Everett
Burlington Northern GE Dash 8
Burlington Northern Lumber Car
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Boxcar
Burlington Northern Boxcar
BN 6-Bay Cylindrical Hopper
Santa Fe NW2 EMD
Switcher
Burlington Northern Western Fruit Express
Burlington Northern Caboose
Northern Pacific BN Family Member
Northern Pacific FT Freight Diesel
NP F-3 Passenger Diesel
NP O-8-0 Switcher
Northern Pacific Ice Car
NP Dome Car
Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway BN Family Member
Spokane, Portland and Seattle Oil Burner 4-6-6-4 Z-8 Challenger
SP&S
#868 Alco FA-2
SP&S Extended Vision Caboose
SP&S Boxcar
SP&S Boxcar
Great Northern BN Family Member
GN 412A Western Star EMD FT
Great Northern 0-8-0
Great Northern R-2 2-8-8-2 Articulated Mallet
(Chesapeake)
Great Northern S2 Switcher
Great Northern EMD SD45 Hustle Muscle
>
Great Northern Blue Scheme EMD GP-20
Great Northern E-8 Long # 525
GN S2 Blue Scheme Switcher
Great Northern Alco RS-3 Switcher
Great Northern F3
Great Northern Crane Tender Car
Great Northern American Crane Car
Great Northern 4-6-4 Hudson Engine
GN Alco Mikado #3205
GN Cow-Calf Switcher
Great Northern Rail Diesel Car
Great Northern Trailer Carrier Rail Car
Great Northern Rotary Snow Plow
Great Northern Jordan Snow Plow
Great Northern Rocky Goat Box Car
Great Northern Tank Car
Great
Northern Caboose
Milwaukee Road
Milwaukee Road
Turkey Carrier
Milwaukee Road
Coil Car
Milwaukee Road Hiawatha Observation
Milwaukee Road Caboose
Milwaukee Road E-8 Diesel
Milwaukee Road U33C GE
Milwaukee Road Hiawatha
Steam
Milwaukee Road Maintenance Truck Car
Southern Pacific
Southern Pacific GS4 #4447 Daylight
Southern Pacific Obervation Car
Northwest Logging
Weyerhaeuser American Shay
Northwest Logging Car
The Union Pacific Collection
UP "Doodlebug"
M-10000 "Tin Worm" Electro-Motive Diesel
UP Alco 826 FEF Northern
UP EMD A-B-A E-3 Passenger City of Los Angeles
UP GEVO ES44AC
UP Extended Vision Caboose 9706
UP "BEEP"
UP "Searchlight Car"
UP Passenger Dome Car
Obervation Car
UP NW-2 EMD Switcher Cab 1085
UP SW-9 EMD
Switcher Cab 1834
UP Box Car
UP Cattle
Car QSI Sound
Old Lionel Trains
Lionel
Lines 2046 4-6-4 Hudson Steamer Made in 1950
Lionel 2026
Prairie Steamer
Circa 1949
New York Central F-3 Early Lionel AA Diesel
Made 1949-54
Lionel Lines 224E
2-6-2 Steamer Made in USA 1938-1940
Lionel Tinplate 2657 Caboose 1938-4
Lionel Cattle Car and Loader 1949-1955
Lionel Cattle Car 1935-1940
Lionel Milk Automated Car
No. 3472 1950
Lionel Sunoco Tank Car
No. 6465 1948-49
Lionel Barrel Dump
Gondola 3652 1938-1940
Specialty Cars
Pacific Fruit Express UP and SP
Hand Car
Armour Hog Car
Chevron Tank Car
Bobber Great Northern Caboose
Menard's World War II Nose Art Tribute
Suburban Propane Car
Hooker Chemicals Tacoma
Carpet
Training
The
Coast Starlight General Electric Genesis P42
Diesel
My
newest model train, acquired in March 2020, is this Genesis P42 engine the
locomotive currently on The Coast Starlight and The Empire Builder. It is
made by Mike's Train House and equipped with the Proto 3 system.
My
train room carpet loops feature this commuter train between
Lakewood, WA and Seattle, an MTH with PS2 modeled after the
streamlined diesel F59PH and matching passenger cars, the prototype
trainset built by Bombardier of Canada (now owned in 2020 by
Alstrom of France.) Right photo shows the iPad wireless control
for the Proto 2 engine.
Bob's New York
Central: Early Lionel
F-3 Diesel
In
between permanent layouts, Larry has taken to "carpet training"
for the last several years. He is pictured with the late Bob
Plotts running a vintage model diesel engine purchased by Bob in
the 1950s. We miss Bob, a huge fan of all types of
transportation.
The New York
Central F-3 was among the first two types of model diesel engine
manufactured by Lionel trains beginning in 1949. It came out
shortly after General Motors built the first real
1,500-horsepower F-3 engines between 1945 and 1949. The F-3s
were used for both passenger and freight trains.
Bob's locomotive is one of the
original Lionel 2333-20 models manufactured in both NYC
and Santa Fe until 1950. Bob estimates that he purchased it in 1954 in
Spokane, so it is at least a 57-year-old toy train. With a little
lubrication and maintenance, it still zooms around the track
like it did when Bob was a lad. And the "A" unit still carries a
D Battery that makes the horn blow, a horn technology that
reportedly gave Lionel fits during development in the 1940s.
Lionel must have perfected it, because this model still blows
its horn on command today.
Bob also
had a Lionel 2026 "Prairie" steamer (2-6-2 Wheel
Configuration, circa 1948-49, designed for 027 track) when
he was young and kept it the rest of his life. It was
displayed in his living room at the time of his death.
(Photo by Roseanne Plotts.)
Top, The New York
Central F-7.
Below it is the
1948-49 Lionel Prairie Steamer as photographed by Larry in
2014.
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