Model railroader’s work honored

ELLENSBURG, Wash. – At first, Jim Pendley just wanted to build a replica of two Northern California railroad bridges that he traveled over in the heart of the scenic Sierra Nevada in the mid-1980s as a Union Pacific Railroad employee.

Pendley, 51, a locomotive engineer with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, is quick to acknowledge the project that started in winter 2001 in the living room of his rural Ellensburg home has now taken on a life of its own.

The two legs of the bridge, totaling 10-feet long and 19 inches high, were completed in early 2003. His wife, Lisa, had already more than hinted by then that it would be nice for the bridges to be out of the living room.

Yet also by that time Jim was planning to make the bridges the centerpiece of a large HO-scale (1/87th) model train layout. Jim wanted the layout to accurately reflect not only the history of trains that passed through the mountainous area but also the beauty of the Sierras and the numerous tunnels that allow trains to get through.

His plans for 220 feet of HO-scale track and an associated diorama of miniature landscapes including trees, brush, rocks, canyons, railway equipment, roads and period vehicles required space that he didn’t have.

Jim began construction of a 55- by 20-foot addition to the family barn in spring 2003 and mostly finished it in December of that year. He now had the space.

A host of friends, fellow model railroaders, co-workers and many others donated hundreds of hours to help Jim create a painstakingly accurate representation of Western Pacific Railroads Keddie Wye Bridge, Keddie, Calif., and the surrounding rugged Sierra Nevada area.

Jim and his team of helpers were honored in mid-October when the national Model Railroader magazine featured their train layout as one of 11 top layouts in the United States and overseas for 2009.

Jim said the magazine, the worldwide hobby’s authoritative publication, not only named the layout as one of the 11 best for 2009 but displayed it on the front cover of its 2009 Great Model Railroads special edition that reviews and displays all 11 layouts.

“We were surprised when we got the magazine that they used so many of our photos and displayed them in such a large format,” Jim said. “All in all they used nine out of 14 photos we sent them.”

The layout used up 10 full pages.

Jim, who said he’s tinkered with model trains for more than 30 years, said most of the layout work was done in winter and late fall when it’s better to be indoors.

The photos appearing in October’s special edition reflect the state of the layout as of Dec. 2007 – just before photos and the article for the edition were submitted in Jan. 2008.

He estimates the project has at least six or seven more years of work for the completion of scenery and to install a computerized electric signal system that directs model train traffic and a wireless system for locomotive operation and other controls.

“In a way, the layout will never actually be finished,” Jim said. “There will always be something left to do or something to add or improve or make a bit more realistic.

“That’s the fun of it, that’s the love of the hobby; and that’s the challenge.”