THE OFFICIAL WEBPAGE
OF ROBERT D. WEST
Polk Station Rail
The Polk Station Rail Model Railroad Club was started in May 1993 when Bill Lawrence's job transferred him to Oregon from the Midwest. Bill brought with him a layout he had started in the Midwest using hand-laid code 70 standard gauge and code 55 narrow gauge. The club found a home above the A-Team Locksmiths shop on Main Street in Dallas, Oregon. Bill was transferred back to the Midwest but sold the layout to the club. In the early 2000s the club rebuilt the layout allowing for the operation of multiple trains and eliminating the narrow gauge track. After this rebuilding the layout featured about 310 feet of track.
In December of 2005, the Polk Station Rail club held its last open house in their Dallas location. The club moved into a larger space in the Grange hall at 280 Main Street in nearby Rickreall, Oregon. Portions of the old layout are being incorporated into the new larger layout that is now under construction in the new space. The layout was operational again by 2007.
The following pictures were taken on December 11, 2007 during the club's last open house in the Dallas, Oregon location.
Sign
above the entrance to the Polk Station Rail Model Railroad Club.
Sandwich
board on the sidewalk outside the Polk Station Rail Model Railroad Club.
Burlington
Northern GP38-2 #2264 in the enginehouse.
The
rural section of the layout features a number of tunnels. A German
tourist train powered by a BR-17 Class 4-6-0 can be seen passing
through.
The
Thalys high-speed train is stopped at the depot in the city while Union
Pacific 2-8-2 Mikado #2494 comes around the mountain into view.
Union
Pacific 2-8-2 Mikado #2494 enters the rural section of the layout.
Union
Pacific 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" #4015 pulls a freight train along the ridge
above complex Revell Junction where Timber Wolf Logging Company 4-truck
Shay #91 with log cars and the tail end of a Western Pacific freight
train with caboose #442 on the tail end can be seen.
One
of the many bridges on this layout was this large wood arched trestle.
The sawmill is in the background.
Here
is an overall view of the sawmill scene. Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy"
#4015 passes by in the background while a Southern Pacific Daylight GS-4 4-8-4 and Thomas the Tank Engine's friend Percy rest on a siding.
A
pair of ancient Climax locomotives work in an unfinished mining scene.
Doubleheaded
three-truck Shays
#12 & #13 pose with a log train.
Here
is a nice closeup photograph of Union
Pacific 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" #4015.
Union
Pacific 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" #4015's
train & CA-13 caboose #24540 pass a crane on the way into a tunnel.
Here
is another overall view of the sawmill with the Thalys high-speed train
in the background and the Southern Pacific Daylight GS-4 4-8-4 in the
foreground with a couple of holiday boxcars.
Thomas
the Tank Engine's friend Percy is about to get some exercise pulling a
pair of troublesome trucks, taking the place of Union Pacific 2-8-2
Mikado #2494 which now rests on a siding in the city. Meanwhile, a
Western Pacific freight train waits in the siding above for the German
BR-17 Class 4-6-0 and its tourist train.
Union
Pacific 4-8-8-4 "Big
Boy" #4015 and its freight train and the Thalys high-speed train in the
rural area.
Four
trains are visible in this view of Revell Junction: Union Pacific
4-8-8-4 "Big
Boy" #4015 and its freight train, Timber Wolf Logging Company 4-truck
Shay #91 and its log train, the German BR-17 Class 4-6-0 and its tourist
train and the Thalys high-speed train.
Another
view of Revell Junction showing Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 "Big
Boy" #4015 and its freight train, Timber Wolf Logging Company 4-truck
Shay #91 and its log train and the Thalys high-speed train.
Timber
Wolf Logging Company 4-truck Shay #91 near Revell Junction with its log
train.
Doubleheaded
three-truck Shays
#12 & #13 cross the wood arch trestle with their log train.
The
Polk Station Rail club offered a "Can you find...?" list of detail to
locate on the layout. This moonshine still was on the list.
These
deer
and mountain goats were on the list as well.
This
grove of apple
trees was also on the list.
The
German BR-17 Class 4-6-0 and its tourist train passes firefighters at a burning grain elevator.
I think this scene was on the "Can you find...?" list.
The
detailed farm scene was also on the list.
This
group of hunters in a
campsite was on the list as as well.
Three-truck
Shays #13 and #12 pass by Timber
Wolf Logging Company 4-truck Shay #91 near Revell Junction. Union
Pacific CA-13 caboose #24540 is in the background on the end of 4-8-8-4
"Big Boy" #4015's train.
A
Farmer's Cooperative Grain
Elevator on an unsceniced part of the layout that appeared to be a
recent addition.
"Oberrh.
Weininteressenten Actien - Gesellsch. Rosheim" Wine Barrel Car on the
end of the German BR-17 Class 4-6-0's tourist train. In German, "Weininteressenten"
means (roughly) "Prospective wine customer." Rosheim is a winemaking
town in France.
Western
Pacific 2-8-0 #36 with a short log train on a bridge above the town.
The Thalys
high-speed train is stopped at the depot in the city, while Union
Pacific 2-8-2 Mikado #2494 rests on a siding. Meanwhile, Western
Pacific 2-8-0 #36 is on a bridge above the town with a short log train
and Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" #4015 and its freight train are in
the background.
Western
Pacific GP-powered freight train near Revell Junction.
Closeup
of the coal
yard in the rural area.
Union
Pacific 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" #4015 and its freight train above the sawmill
about to cross the big truss bridge.
Union
Pacific 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" #4015 and its freight train on a wooden
trestle above the rural area.
Union
Pacific 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" #4015 and its freight train passing through
Revell Junction.
The
tail end of a Western Pacific freight train with caboose #442 on the
tail end passes three-truck Shays #13 and #12 and Timber Wolf Logging
Company 4-truck Shay #91 near Revell Junction.
Union
Pacific 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" #4015 and its freight train cross over the
large wood arched trestle.
The
Southern Pacific Daylight GS-4 4-8-4 resting on a siding above the
sawmill.
Western
Pacific bay-window caboose #455 on the end of a log train.
Also See:
Longview, Kelso & Rainier: Current Layout
Longview, Kelso & Rainier: Old Layout
Columbia Gorge Model Railroad Club
Corvallis Society of Model Engineers
2007 LK&R Train Show & Swap Meet
2007 Three Rivers Mall Model Train Show
2007 World's Greatest Hobby on Tour
2006 LK&R Train Show & Swap Meet
2006 Great American Train Show
2005 Great American Train Show
2000 Great American Train Show
1998 Great American Train Show
All website content, including graphics and pictures are © Robert D. West unless otherwise noted. Content is not to be used out of the context of this webpage without expressed permission. Any opinions expressed herein are mine and are not necessarily shared by the Milwaukee School of Engineering, or anyone else.
Questions? Comments? Critiques? Corrections? Concerns? Email me at westr@msoe.edu.