Now this is craftsmanship!

Wow! Thank you!

That is an amazing layout. The fact that the gentleman built them from scratch and the materials he fabricated to do that is wonderful. Wish I had those skills because it would so enjoyable to do that. Thanks for posting.

Yes, the late Bill Everett. A legend and interviewed by our own @John Smatlak. There was another recent thread on this interview.

Fabulous...

Mark in Oregon

Awesome, and all scratchbuilt! I love trolleys, and Bill sure was a master of his craft.

@Will posted:

Yes, the late Bill Everett. A legend and interviewed by our own @John Smatlak. There was another recent thread on this interview.

John looks like a kid there🤪

That was special.

Great history.

Thank you.

I had the pleasure of visiting and operating on Bill's layout back in the 1980s.  A wonderful work of art! 

Mitch

What a great video. Thank you for posting!

Bob

From the comments section of the video - so sad. What an amazingly talented man:

Update: This video (and a couple of others) are all that is left of the layout now. My father is Bill Everett and I grew up in the house around Dad's Traction hobby. Unfortunately, in August of 2015, he entered a nursing home. At his advanced age (90), and with the loss of his wife of over 55 years who passed away in August, 2015 - he was unable to continue living independently. Thankfully, the OERM was able to accept most of Dad's models and his substantial collection of other railroad items. Unfortunately, the layout had to be dismantled. Dad is very happy to know that his items survive in a place (OERM) where they can be enjoyed by others. During a visit to Santa Barbara in February, 2016 I showed Dad this youtube video. He was amazed that it had (at that time) over 31,000 views. He was also gratified to find out that so many people gave it a "like." During his lifetime, he has been one of the foremost experts in traction modeling, as well as steam locomotion, and interurban light rail. He also co-authored a book in 1984 called "Mule Car and Trolley; the Story of the Santa Barbara Railway". Thanks to John Smatlak for making this video. And thanks to the many who have taken the time to view it.

I am sad to report that Bill Everett passed away yesterday (12/14/17) at the age of 92. I am grateful that this video still exists on YouTube and consider it a living memorial to the hobby he loved so much. He enjoyed sharing and was pleased that so many others had the chance to see the layout that he worked for decades to build. RIP Dad

Amazing layout, craftsmanship, and artwork! I’m sad to hear of his passing, but it’s great that this video is preserved for others to see and that the models themselves were saved.

Wow! Wow...I LOVED seeing this! Thanks for sharing! ASIDE: I wonder how popular traction modeling is now? It doesn't seem to be attracting much attention.

Don Merz

Truly amazing layout.  Would have liked to see or read about the technique he used to build the models themselves.   

Obviously he had it down to a science and it would have been nice to learn how it was done.

Such a great looking layout, such a shame it only exists on video now.

I loved the story about how he got all the plywood for the layout (I saw the scale CHP office on the layout and immediately thought, "He must be a retired trooper," even before he discussed being so back in the day).

@Don Merz 070317 posted:

"I wonder how popular traction modeling is now? It doesn't seem to be attracting much attention."

Don Merz

I wonder, too. Would love to feature more traction modeling (2-rail or 3-rail) in the magazine. I'm a BIG fan of trolleys myself.

@Allan Miller posted:

I wonder, too. Would love to feature more traction modeling (2-rail or 3-rail) in the magazine. I'm a BIG fan of trolleys myself.

(mild eyebrow raise)  Plenty of Razorback Traction action to be had here in the Forums... ;-)

Mitch

@Don Merz 070317 posted:

I wonder how popular traction modeling is now? It doesn't seem to be attracting much attention.

I wonder that as well. As a kid drooling over model train magazines, I seem to recall more than a few "juice jack line" layouts featured in the hobby press.

I have no connections with traction lines and never lived anywhere they ran, yet I've always had a soft spot for them.

But it doesn't seem you read much about them these days. Maybe magazines wanna focus on layouts with newer themes or the traction layout owners are getting older without many to take up for them? beats me either way but I just don't seem to see as much about them these days.

The O scale "Crooked Mountain Lines" was an excellent O scale rural traction layout, sadly it's long gone as well...

Glad this topic seems popular.  He used what he had and made great stuff. Scratch building is an adventure in intself.

Amazing work!

Peter

@M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

(mild eyebrow raise)  Plenty of Razorback Traction action to be had here in the Forums... ;-)

Mitch

Is a traction trolley = Greyhound bus on the rails?

@Miggy posted:

Is a traction trolley = Greyhound bus on the rails?

In this context, traction refers to a rail vehicle that operates with electric traction motors, powered by an external source such as a trolley pole, a pantograph or third rail shoes (or occasionally large batteries).

Examples of traction vehicles include streetcars, interurbans, subways, commuter MU cars, heavy electrics and so forth.

Diesel-electric and gas-electric locomotives utilize an onboard generator powered by an internal combustion engine to drive traction motors. 

Technically, electric model trains are traction vehicles, though they may depict steam or diesel prototypes. 

Mitch

@Miggy posted:

Is a traction trolley = Greyhound bus on the rails?

I think it’s traction vs. cable cars.

Allan, I agree, more juice in OGR would be "electrifying" indeed!

p51, right you are, the Crooked Mountain Lines can be included in the list as one of the most beautiful and professional interurban layouts ever constructed.  Despite the fact it was O scale, it followed Proto 48 standards to a tee!

For diehard Southern Pacific and Union Pacific modelers, you don't have to operate a Daylight 4-8-4 or 4-8-8-4 Big Boy to properly qualify yourself as a member of the Harriman camp.  Both SP and UP operated subsidiaries under wire.  SP in California and Oregon, UP, also in the Golden State, as well as Washington.

Happy Rails everyone,

Joe

@Trinity River Bottoms Boomer posted:

For Southern Pacific and Union Pacific modelers, you don't have to operate a Daylight 4-8-4 or 4-8-8-4 Big Boy to properly qualify yourselves as a member of the Harriman movement.  Both SP and UP operated subsidiaries under wire.  SP in California and Oregon, UP, also in the Golden State, as well as Washington.

In fact, the Pacific Electric, one of the most popular trolley systems to be modeled, was an SP subsidiary. 

Did you know:  UP considered electrifying its route between Chicago and California back in the 1930s!

When I found out about that some years ago, I came up with this concept:

I keep threatening to actually build one of these.   Someday... ;-)

Mitch

@Don Merz 070317 posted:

I wonder how popular traction modeling is now? It doesn't seem to be attracting much attention.

Don Merz

Pretty seriously popular with those that actually are involved with actual traction modeling.  I've written a column on the subject since 2009 detailing the building of a variety of traction cars and motors.

I think the real beauty of traction modeling is that you can do oh scale in a relatively small space with tight curves. Moreover, the scenery can be urban or bucolic. ****, even Pacific electric ran their stuff at the beach.

Wow is all i can say other than thanks so much for the thread and the video WOW.

Before MTH introduced subways to the O-Gauge hobby, I had looked into scratchbuilding subway cars. I got to the point of building parts to assemble about half of a carbody out of sheet styrene, with the intent of using rubber molds to duplicate these and produce parts to fabricate the second half (a mirror image). The project ground to a halt when I realized there were no 3-rail compatible power trucks that weren't diesel-sized. I wasn't willing to build 2-rail models, since I wanted them compatible with the rest of my fleet so I left the project in limbo, then MTH came along and over time I bought about a hundred of their cars instead.

I'd still like to take a crack at building traction models, especially after watching this Japanese hobbyist do it in brass:

The carbodies of the train in the beginning of the above video were completely scratchbuilt. The rest of the video documents how he built the cars from sheet brass. Look out for the brief section at about the 6 minute mark where he forms the curved rooftops. A few more videos like this exist on his channel, but they're not the sole focus, so you have to look through the videos.

Edit: Found a more recent video from 2020 with English (kinda ) narration explaining his scratchbuilding technique:

Even though these ae HO models, the same tactics are applicable to O...

...Except for getting/making 3-rail compatible power trucks for traction-suitable wheelsets. This would probably involve 3D printing to build truck blocks that could mount common small can motors and reproducible gear trains.

---PCJ

Mitch, no, I wasn't aware that UP had considered hanging wire during the dark days of the Great Depression.  If I were to model "what If" I would consider the two giant W1 GE motors (5018, 5019) like Great Northern operated on their line through Cascade tunnel.  They would have been a natural on Sherman Hill!

Item: One must wonder why Union Pacific didn't hang wire instead of investing $$$ in the gas turbine program?

Thanks for the info.  Proves one never stops learning.

Joe

@Trinity River Bottoms Boomer posted:

Mitch, no, I wasn't aware that UP had considered hanging wire during the dark days of the Great Depression.  If I were to model "what If" I would consider the two giant W1 GE motors (5018, 5019) like Great Northern operated on their line through Cascade tunnel.  They would have been a natural on Sherman Hill!

Indeed they would! 

Item: One must wonder why Union Pacific didn't hang wire instead of investing $$$ in the gas turbine program?

Woulda been cheaper to hang wire in the 30s than in the 50s... 

Thanks for the info.  Proves one never stops learning.

(happy nods) Yeppers! 

Mitch

Hey Mitch, where can one find info on UP's proposed plan to hang wire?

Item: Didn't UP hang some wire in Utah in the 70s to test how it would stand up against the elements?  I believe BN did the same thing as well?  I stand corrected, but if my memory serves me well, these projects were undertaken when the captive Lake Powell & Black Mesa coal line was constructed in Arizona?

Joe