Bud STEINHOFF
held an OPEN HOUSE for the Southwest Division.
Last
Saturday, 2-24-07, Bud and Joyce Steinhoff graciously entertained
members of the FGRS at their Myaka Valley Railroad. The Steinhoff’s
home is located on 5 acres of heavily wooded
paradise in the Myaka Valley Ranches bordered on the East by Myaka
State Park. Wild life abounds including a flock of resident peacocks
some pure white, but the truly spectacular views are of Bud and Joyce’s
unbelievable railroad.
Eight
years ago they decided to fill their swimming pool to build the
garden railroad. From there Bud says “it just got out of control”.
Words cannot come close in describing what Bud and Joyce have
accomplished so look at Keith’s outstanding photo layout closely.
Some
details;
Area encompassed = 62
ft by 125 ft
Trackage = at least 1500 ft
Locos on roster = at
least 31
Rolling stock = at
least 146 Pcs.
Buildings and
structures = at least 30
Switches = at least 32
All track power
Bud has
filtered his track power at strategic locations with the use of
miniature red lights which help him ferret out the very occasional
electrical problem but mainly to smooth out the electrical flow.
The roster
includes units from all the
major large scale manufacturers Aristocraft, LGB, Accucraft, MTH,
Heartland etc.
The
structures all of which are
truly magnificent are either scratch built or Garden Texture kits. Bud
and Joyce build and weatherproof all their structures and from Keith’s
photos you can see they are extremely accomplished in all aspects of
our hobby.
At any given
time they
have the ability to run out up to 24 different completely
ready to run make ups! This is accomplished by yard tracks housed in
weatherproof custom built boxes on the lanai some of which run into Bud
and Joyce’s bedroom and under their bed. And you think you are
dedicated?
Joyce has
planted and
maintains a beautiful assortment of miniature plants that make the
railroad a truly believable empire.
Bud has
succeeded in
installing both Aristo on board and track side Train Engineer units and
MTH DCS. During the visit he MU’d an MTH Challenger and an MTH Big Boy.
A sight to remember!
When asked
about the
hundreds of feet of trestles, and I am not stretching, Bud says it just
takes
lots of sawing, nailing and finishing. You might think with all that
track that cleaning would be problem. Not so. But has built a homemade
track cleaner and blower that will have the entire railroad sparkling
in 10 minutes. Bud just sits back and lets it run.
Over the years
Bud has
shared his knowledge of fixes and engineering product improvement by
participating in web forums and by hands on instruction.
Thank you Bud
and Joyce for all you do for
our hobby and for taking the time to share your wonderful railroad with
us.
There
was plenty of great food items
and the raffle prizes were
abundant!
Click
on each photo
for the Enlarged picture Enjoy!
