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, Olympia) 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.) Olympia-Lacey Centennial Amtrak Station was designed in the 1990s by an Olympia architect, Harold Dalke, to capture the feel of an early 20th Century train station. To a model railroader like myself, the 1993 building's classic lines are similar to the plastic model stations we use. Some of mine on a carpet train at home are pictured below. The Olympia Depot, now 30 years old, and pictured above features 180-year-old cypress corbels, vaulted interior ceilings, stained glass, light fixtures scaled from Grand Central Station, a classic platform clock, and so forth. The station is operated completely by volunteers who meet every train and serve 50,000-60,000 Olympia-Tumwater-Lacey area passengers every year. Most materials and labor for the building construction, including Dalke's work, were donated. Map shows the Olympia Lacey Centennial Station's location to the BNSF Seattle Sub relative to the old Milwaukee Road track (Now Rainier Rail) between Tacoma and Centralia, seven miles south. Olympia-Lacey Centennial Station serving Amtrak Cascades (left) and the Coast Starlight (right) with colleague Barbara Howard (center, station volunteer since 1999.) 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 Amtrak Single-Level 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 Tagged Boxcar 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 NP Searchlight 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 Alco S2 Switcher No. 7 Great Northern EMD SD45 Hustle Muscle Great Northern Blue Scheme EMD GP-20 Great Northern E-8 Long # 525 GN SW1500 Blue Sky 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 Great Northern Cow/Calf Switcher Great Northern Rail Diesel Car (Doodlebug) 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 Great Northern Blue Sky Caboose Great Northern Blue Sky Tanker Milwaukee Road The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Milwaukee Road GE/Alco Bipolar Electric E2 Milwaukee Road E-8 Diesel Milwaukee Road U33C GE Milwaukee Road 4-6-4 F7 Hiawatha Hudson Milwaukee Road Maintenance Truck Car Milwaukee Road Turkey Carrier Milwaukee Road Coil Car Milwaukee Road Skytop Lounge Milwaukee Road Caboose Milwaukee Road Box car, Menards Milwaukee Road Gondola car w/Tacoma Heidelberg 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 UP Gondola Car with barrels 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 Lionel Icing Station ZW Transformer 275 Watts 1950-66 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 Army Air B-17 Nose Art Tribute Suburban Propane Car Hooker Chemicals Tacoma Olympia Beer Tank Car Rainier Beer Box Car Olympia Beer Reefer Car Schlitz Beer Box Car Washington State Grain Hopper Switzerland: Cardinal Beer Car MTH Trains Old Heidelberg Refrigerator Car MTH Trains Bellingham Bay Brewery (3-B) Refrigerator Car Die Cast Autos "Divco" Delivery Truck Detroit Industrial Vehicles Company Circa 1960 1960 Volkswagen Pickup With Fold-Down Sideboards 1960 Karmann Ghia Convertable 1947 Chevy Panel Van French's Lionel Train House Seattle, Washington   Texaco 1948 Panel Van Menard's Christmas 2023

Carpet Training  The Coast Starlight General Electric Genesis P42 Diesel This is this Genesis P42 engine the locomotive often 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 Sounder 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 top photo shows the iPad wireless control for the Proto 2 engine. Bottom photo shows a Divco truck for Eastside Trains, Kirkland, with the Sounder.   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 69-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. owned by Bob Plotts. Below is the 1948-49 Lionel Prairie Steamerw/smoke (Number 2026) also owned by Bob as photographed by Larry in August 2023.

Upper left, photo bombed by Coast Starlight conductor Pete on the first leg of our Michigan trip, June 2022. Lower left, the Empire Builder, a young granddaughter Poppy on the ZW transformer, a young grandson Hudson with his Polar Express ticket, a very young Ryan Arreola with "Steam Cloud," and Andy Rohrback with his Spokane layout. Upper right is the Daylight with Southern Pacific markings, pulling into Olympia-Lacey Centennial Station.

Above, my buddy Anthony, grandson Hunter, and our Christmas train.

Larry with Sounder, Grandsons Hunter and Hudson in Michigan, and the Coast Starlight coming into Olympia.

Granddaughter Skye

Samples of other model train scales

HO Rivarossi Union Pacific Big Boy, Previously owned by Jim Angell. Rivarossi acquired by Hornby.

My first model of a Lego Amtrak Cascades Siemens Charger.

My N-Scale Long-distance Siements Charger.