Pasco & the Columbia Basin   As a local newspaper reporter, he wrote and photographed the last of the hobos at the Pasco, Wash. hump yards in a feature article for the Tri-City Herald. (April 23, 1979)

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.  Currently, the Cascades pulls Amtrak Horizon cars. 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. Larry's model of Amtrak Cascades 469 with an EMD F59 in Northwest colors. Right, a similar engine 467 prototype with Cascades Talgo cars taken at Centennial Station (Courtesy Audrey Skaugseth.) Not the usual gauge but my first model of an Amtrak Cascades  Siements Charger. Great Northern 0-8-0 Switch Engine, #896 (Tacoma) Larry's GN -0-8-0 switcher is an MTH replica of the 1903 Alco locomotive that worked Tacoma's rail yards.The prototype was manufactured at the former Brooks Locomotive Works in Dunkirk, New York. Burlington Northern Santa Fe No. 2081 "The Boeing Switch Engine" BNSF 2081 was built in 1972 and has spent most of her career as a GP-28 2 as a local engine serving Boeing in Everett to Skykomish and other areas of Western Washington. Photo at right is 2081 at Index, Wash., returning to Everett from Skykomish. Courtesy of Peyton Boyd of Monroe, WA  and Stevens Pass Railfan.  Originally painted in the Burlington Northern pre-merger green, she now is part of the pumpkin power livery and currently still operates on familiar local routes in Washington State. She was featured on "Microsoft Train Simulator" and remains popular with Railfans. This model by Mike's Train House was originally produced as a QSI protosound unit. Larry has upgraded it to the Protosound 3 Command Control system on his carpet layout. Prototype on the bottom right is the lead engine., photo displayed with permission of North Branch Photography (Ben Stainbrook), Everett. 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.    Olympia-Lacey Centennial Station Larry and Dave Norton working at Washington's all-volunteer Olympia-Lacey "Centennial" Station, September, 2022 Left, original poster commemorating the opening of Centennial Station in 1993 by J. Craig Thorpe, a Renton artist who began painting railroad scenes professionally for Amtrak after completing the art commissioned by Bob Bregent of Olympia.  The station depicted was built with community grants and donations. Right, Amtrak engine 251 depicted in the poster (A representation of the then-Amtrak Pioneer train between Seattle and Ogden, Utah) is photographed 27 years later as a Control and Baggage Car (CAB) leading a Cascades Talgo train at the same Centennial Station.  The Amtrak CAB unit renumbered 90251 is still running on the Cascades route today. Note in the upper right portion of the poster is Mount Rainier, which is visible from Yelm Highway at the station driveway (though not exactly as pictured.) Old Lacey Train Station Replica of 1891 Northern Pacific Station in Lacey, WA built recently by the city.  Right, an E-3 4-6-0 Baldwin ten-wheeler pulling into original Lacey Station in 1912. Courtesy of St. Martin's University Abbey Archives.

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 SP&S 150 General Motors GP-9 Electro-Motive Diesel SP&S Airplane Flat Car by MTH Great Northern BN Family Member > GN 412A Western Star EMD FT Great Northern 0-8-0 (Tacoma Switcher) 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 EMD SD-90 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 Olympia Beer Tank Car Rainier Beer Box Car Olympia Beer Box Car Schlitz Beer Box Car

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.   Sounder Commuter Train F59PHI Streamlined Electro-Motive Diesel  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.

Thanks for Visiting GandersTrains.Com! Larry's Training Center Scale railroading colleague Andrew Rohrback helps Larry carpet train a vintage 224E Lionel steamer. Check out his layout. Nothing runs like a deere!* This site is operated and maintained by www.ganders.net