Lorell Joiner

He had a great O scale two rail layout in Texas. He died about 12-15 years ago. Never did read about what happened to his layout or trains. 

The layout was taken down and parts of it given to friends or sold.  Some of my friends have buildings from "Great Southern" and others have some rolling stock.

It is a shame that such a fine O 2-rail layout died with its owner.  

NH Joe

Thanks.  

I would be interested to know what happened to the passenger shark (bp20)

Lorell's layout was also featured in Model Railroader. I have two copies as I bought a second one by accident. I also have a 5 minute video of Lorell and his layout. I didn't know him but he seemed like a great guy. I bought one of his locomotives after he passed away. I found it at York. It was a real shame that such a nice layout had to be torn down. If anyone wants that extra copy of MR just shoot me a $1 for postage and I will mail it to you. 

One other thing, Lorell pioneered a type of bench work that was built in the same manner as a house is built. His thought process was if it could hold up a house it could hold up a model railroad. I was intrigued by this and wanted to find out more about it. The Video I saw said there was an article in MR about this but I have been unable to locate it. I thought it was in the MR back issue I bought but that turned out to be the one I already had. 

Yes, Lorell Joiner built one of the nicest 2 Rail Scale Layouts ever! This was a very large, Texas Style Layout and was featured many times in Model Railroader. In the late 60's, 70's, and 80's, it was a super nicely detailed layout featuring wide sweeping curves and long passenger trains with a really nice back in station. I think he lived in or near Dallas, Texas.  2 rail, with outside 3rd rail I believe.  He and John Armstrong both had famous O Scale Layouts.  Pioneers of this great HOBBY....

I too remember reading about that layout in those magazines. And it seems to me that the way the layout was built and the dark color ( may have been black ) underneath made it look like the layout was floating in air. I could be wrong on that but that is what I remember about it.........Paul

I remember he built a special building behind his home for the layout.  It was all 2 rail and it had a Texas name to the railroad.  Maybe Great Southern.   At the time it was all recent equipment.  The track was all hand laid.  

It was the Great  Southern, Marty. All or most of his locomotives were O scale brass and they were amazing. He did have some brass O scale steam. 

Anybody remember Pappy Joiner?  If not, google is your friend.  I believe Lorell wound up with a lot of Everett DeGolyer's O Scale.  Also worth a google.

Lorell had a bunch of us to dinner a couple decades ago - it was nice to see all that in person.https://ogrforum.com/topic/convert-mth-pb-from-3-rail-to-2-rail

I would've done almost anything to have saw his collection in person.  Amazing.

I believe he lived in the San Antonio, TX area.  I did have the opportunity to see his layout.  It was in a separate house behind his home.  It was a fantastic layout.

Marty is correct. Lorell did build a separate building for his layout. Leapin' Larry, sorry it was not outside third rail. The magazine and video I have support this. 

Lorell Joiner[62] passed away Dec 2007  there is a link to the Atlas forum dated Dec 11, 2007 with an interesting write up. Just google Great Southern Model Railroad.

He was a very nice gentleman, his layout was highly detailed, he also was one of the pioneers of Computer Control of a model railroad. In the early 80s we corresponded regarding computer control.. I was 13 or 14, he treated me like an equal, I still have the letters that accompanied the plans for the computer RR interface and the follow on letters.

I have a monthly subscription to Model Railroader Archives which allows me access to all the MR magazines from 1934 to today.  I looked up the articles that were done on Lorell Joiner and his Great Southern RR.  Here they are:

1- Lorell Joiner and his Great Southern.  June, 1980.

2- The Great Southern revisited-Lorell Joiner's O Scale.  June, 1983.

3- Computerizing the Great Southern.  April, 1983.

4- Long live the king-The renaissance of O scale.  June, 1984.

5- Legendary layouts and the men who built them. January, 1989.

6- Wireless cab control for the Great Southern.  January, 1990

Google result:

Lorell Joiner passed away in San Antonio, Texas.
Lorell H. Joiner, MMR (1945 - 2007)

Master Model Railroader, Lorell Howard Joiner of San Antonio Texas, was found dead Saturday, December 8, 2007 at his Farm near Gardenridge Texas at the age of 62. Lorell was a "life member" of the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA), and member of the San Antonio Model Railroad Association (SAMRA) and the Texas Transportation Museum (TTM). Lorell was born November 27, 1945 in Bell County Texas and was the 83rd member of the NMRA to be awarded the "Master Model Railroader" certification. 
Lorell Joiner's monumental, O-scale, "Great Southern Railroad" was among the nation's premier layouts during the 1980's and 1990's. The Great Southern was featured in alomst all of the hobby periodicals and many video layout publications including Kalmbach's 1989, "Legendary Layouts and the Men who Build, Build Them." The Great Southern was featured in the PBS series, Tracks Ahead (Vol 4 #213). Lorell authored the "Opus in O" series of articles for the NMRA Bulletin (now Scale Rails) and hosted two O-scale National Conventions in 1988 and 1996 in San Antonio. He was a an early pioneer in wireless throttles publishing his infrared system in Model Railroader magazine in 1990. His layout was a featured tour on at all SAMRA sponsored Lone Star Region NMRA conventions, and the Astrorail 1989 NMRA National Convention. His layout was even singled out by the US Department of State for an official state visit for a foreign dignitary who shared the hobby of model railroading. 
Diabetes, failing eyesight and other health and family issues resulted in his withdrawal from Model Railroading in the mid 2000's, but Lorell Joiner will be long be remembered as an intelligent and gifted model railroader and a gracious host and friend. 

Google result:

MY misspent youth as an avid model builder since the early 1950's makes it seem a bit malaprop when someone lists a kit from that era as "ancient" or "you never see them looking this good"...heck, I don't look so bad...my friends all say there's lots of things that look worse than I do. My primary hobby is O Scale model railroading and I'm proud to say that my layout, The Great Southern, has been on many modeling magazine covers, Good Morning America, Forbes, Delta Sky and so forth. BUT, plastic models, and antique and classical art are also passions of mine. As often as possible I'll build a large wooden ship model. I've spent my working days in architecture and construction. My graduate work in Architecture at the University of Texas definitely made my modeling in O Scale easier and I've never regretted it! My mail address is: Lorell Joiner, xxxx xxxxxxxxx San Antonio, TX xxxxx.

xxx-xxx-xxxx,home
xxx-xxx-xxxx, fax only and I'm there 9 to 2PM CT (usually).

That's the location of my hobby office as well as the phone number of my 30 acre R/C flying club. Call collect to any of the above numbers if you have ANY problem dealing with me. This is a hobby and isn't much fun if people misunderstand each other.

That's just the kind of guy he was. 

There is a visitor's YOU TUBE video of the Great Southern RR. 

Just go on You Tube and enter:

Lorell Joiner Great Southern model railroad

In the You Tube search box.

He was rather young when he died.  What a shame.

** old thread alert from 2016! **

Sorry to reply to such an old thread but it is of interest to me.

I am  a fan/collector of old pre-Windows computers and remembered the article in Model Railroading from 83 with Lorell and his using TRS80 computers to control the railroad.   Sad he passed away so young so long ago but that article was one that was very impressionable to a 13 year old me at the time.   

I was fascinated by how the computers were linked to the railroad and how it all worked.   The article didn't have much in the way of technical details regarding the interfacing but still seeing that it was done was what fascinated me.  I didn't realize until just now that his layout was O scale 2 rail.  

Its kind of sad to me that a lot of these huge majestic layouts that were very impressionable to me in the early 80's when I first started buying Model Railroader/Railroad Craftsman/etc are long gone as are the owners/builders.

** Old thread alert from 2016! **

I remember those MR articles from the early`80's quite well as they were what re-kindled my long dormant interest in trains and model railroading. The Great Southern served as an inspiration as to what could be done in O gauge.

The visitors video is still available on YouTube. Just put Lorell Joiner in the search bar.

Magnificent railroad!

@Marty Fitzhenry posted:

I remember he built a special building behind his home for the layout.  It was all 2 rail and it had a Texas name to the railroad.  Maybe Great Southern.   At the time it was all recent equipment.  The track was all hand laid.  

Not only was the track hand laid, but he did something interesting. He deliberately made the tie spacing closer than prototypical in order to make it seem like the distances were further (more ties per scale mile).

Stuart

I recall several of his articles in Model Railroader over the years.  I always realized his layout was 2-rail, where John Armstrong used outside third rail.  I had the opportunity around 1990 to visit Armstrong's layout.  So Lorell Joiner was born only 11 years before me.  I took him to be older.  That is, I have him on video.  I think it may have been a segment on the old TV show, Tracks Ahead.  I'll have to look for it tomorrow.  If I taped it off TV, I can't say whether it is even viewable now after at least 30 years.

@Stuart posted:

Not only was the track hand laid, but he did something interesting. He deliberately made the tie spacing closer than prototypical in order to make it seem like the distances were further (more ties per scale mile).

Stuart

 

I never noticed this in the videos I have seen. Lorell's layout looked awesome but I never got to see the layout in person. Just curious Stuart, but did the tie spacing work? I mean did it give the illusion of a bigger railroad?

Many of the city buildings from Lorell Joiner's Great Southern ended up on Bob and Elizabeth Jakl's magnificent 2 rail O scale layout.  I took these photos of the city buildings on the Jakl layout in September 2019.  NH Joe

This name rang a bell - because just this week I was looking through some old (1990's) Model Railroader "Great Model Railroads", and in the 1993 issue was an article about the Great Southern. I thought I spotted the GS Berk shown above ("Hudson J1e") in the article's photos, but there is a tender logo decal difference, and I couldn't make out the number. Of course, decals get changed,

BIG railroad. The article stated the curve radii to be "76 inches minimum". That's O-152. Nice. Smooth running, I imagine.

If you subscribe to MR Video Plus there is a twelve minute video with Lorell discussing and touring his Great Southern layout with Allen Keller.

Neal Jeter 

@Hudson J1e posted:

I never noticed this in the videos I have seen. Lorell's layout looked awesome but I never got to see the layout in person. Just curious Stuart, but did the tie spacing work? I mean did it give the illusion of a bigger railroad?

Sadly, I never his layout in person, I only recall the tie spacing from the original MR article.

Stuart

I too recall the tie spacing point from the article and video.  I am not able to check my videos today because my wife is rearranging her stuff in the garage.  The filing cabinet holding the videos is blocked by towers of plastic tubs full of stuff.  

My son enlisted in the Air Force (early 2000's) and basic training was in San Anto. Wanted to see Lorell's layout when we were to go down for graduation from Boot Camp, I was told at that time by the connection I was working through, Lorell was at that time not much into the hobby (see obit above) and the connection wasn't made. Well my son washed out and we never made the trip (missed seeing the Alamo too).

I never saw John Armstrong's layout but I co-hosted the LOTS 1990 convention in Baltimore and had him for our banquet speaker; sadly he didn't like using a mic and I guess our three railer's were not familiar with him or didn't like the topic he picked comparing 2 rail and 3 rail (this was the very early days of Hi-rail modeling, I wish in hind site I had given him a topic to speak on but was advised by a friend "let him pick the topic") a majority of those there walked out.

Redball342  

@redball342 posted:

...I never saw John Armstrong's layout but I co-hosted the LOTS 1990 convention in Baltimore and had him for our banquet speaker; sadly he didn't like using a mic and I guess our three railer's were not familiar with him or didn't like the topic he picked comparing 2 rail and 3 rail (this was the very early days of Hi-rail modeling, I wish in hind site I had given him a topic to speak on but was advised by a friend "let him pick the topic") a majority of those there walked out.

Redball342  

Amazing.  While John Armstrong's designs aren't my cup of tea, he was well-known as a celebrity in the model railroad world, and I would never have missed a chance to hear what he had to say.  How rude and shortsighted of those members.

@Mallard4468 posted:

... John Armstrong's designs aren't my cup of tea, he was well-known as a celebrity in the model railroad world, and I would never have missed a chance to hear what he had to say...

I found this John Armstrong footage(jump to 25:50) I'd never seen before when looking up Lorell Joiner on YouTube:

@Stuart posted:

Not only was the track hand laid, but he did something interesting. He deliberately made the tie spacing closer than prototypical in order to make it seem like the distances were further (more ties per scale mile).

Stuart

 

Okay, I'm a Lorell Joiner fan, but that is just silly. The only thing it would look like is the railroad spaced it's ties closer. To make distances seem further, reduce the scale. Or traditional ideas like fast clocks, view blocks and operating at very slow speeds. But you have to give him credit for originality.

I had the pleasure of meeting Lorell on a 4 week holiday I took while working for CP Rail.   I decided that if I could set up a date to see the layout I’d work my trip around it.   I called his office number and introduced who I was and after a lengthy conversation we both agreed on a date to stop by.  
Starting from my home town of Moose Jaw Sask. I headed due south towards San Antonio stopping at any railway tracks I crossed over and did a bunch of railfan filming.  ( This also included an expensive stop at Caboose Hobbies!   What a magnificent store that was ! )
Eventually after following the Southern Pacific eastward out of El Paso TX, I ended up at San Antonio a day early.   I followed the directions Lorell had given me to his place on Nacogdoches Road and walking through the garage I ended up in the tiered backyard behind the big home and entered the 40 ft by 60 ft building that housed the layout.  
It was a memorable visit.  He “Nickel  toured ” me around the layout pointing out interesting locations with stories.   One such included a wooden built “watermelon depot “.   After a close inspection of the inventory on the platform I asked what he used for simulating the melons.  He told me ,…” look close.   What do they resemble to you ? “.  I shook my head and he told me,  “ they’re painted jelly beans, and the one that is cut in half with the red inside showing , was the victim of a roach that got up onto the layout and ate a portion of the bean.”  A great imagination.
    A remarkable layout and an equally entertaining conversationist lives on in my memories inspiring my future with “O Scale”.

I visited David Vaughn's O scale 2-rail layout in  June.  I was traveling to the 2024 TCA national convention in Lancaster, PA.

An A-B set of Great Southern E units were in the engine service facility.  Note the SP inspired Great Southern "Blue" Widow paint scheme and the Great Southern logo with the Texas lone star in the center.  David has many engines, cars, buildings and scenes from "fallen flag" OS2R model railroads on his layout.  It is wonderful that these historic trains have been preserved and continue to run today.  David has converted all of his engines to 2-rail DCC.  NH Joe

It’s so nice to see his name appear on the pages of the OGR Forum, and as I began reading Model Railroader magazine, I lived his articles, his beautiful O Scale model railroad and he was a friend of the late Louis Ertz from Memphis, Tn. I wasn’t able to ever meet Lowell Joiner, but I visited Louis Ertz many many times. OGR did a great video of Louis’s layout onOGR THE VIDEO 5….  Memories and Imagination are here.