My uncle Roy Pickard is a model railroader, and by models we're not talking the ones on tabletops but a working 1/8 scale system consisting of over two miles of track, switches, bridges, trestles, and signage. The tracks are 7 1/2 inches wide, and the gasoline powered trains (replicas of actual steam and diesel engines) move people and cargo. Twice a year railroad enthusiasts descend on his property, tucked away in the central Texas ranchland west of President Bush's photo-op farm, and conduct "meets." At these weeklong gatherings, a couple of dozen trains (as many as 28) operate on the track at once, in carefully timed simulations of a full-scale operating railroad. Engineers communicate by radio and dispatchers monitor the movements of all trains; the idea is to move cargo, avoid collisions, and keep trains evenly distributed around the track. Anyone who screws up is roasted in a mock trial at the end of day's operations. 
I took the top four pictures while walking the entire line (the original "Comanche & Indian Gap" plus newer sections of track--see map below). Roy gave me the photo of the two men riding trains, attendees at a meet last year. Roy has been working on the railroad since 1973, and in its intriguing combination of scrupulous realism and fanatic worldbuilding, it makes me think of some enormous conceptual art project, along the lines of William Christenberry's facsimiles of Alabama architecture, Michael Ashkin's and Chris Burden's industrial miniatures, Duchamp's rustic diorama, Smithson's earthworks... I could make a philosophical comment about the shrinkage to Lilliputian scale of the domain of the great 19th Century robber barons, but the more interesting story is the preservationist instinct in the face of rail's increasing mechanization and depersonalization. Besides taking a back seat to less fuel efficient means of transportation (evil trucks, nasty jets), trains in the U.S. are suffering the ultimate indignity of losing their romance. (More pics still to come.)
(Scan of map from Model Railroader magazine, July 1997, pp. 76-77. Thanks to Roy and Marilyn Pickard for all the information and hospitality.)
Hi Tom - The pictures from the ranch are great. Wanted to let you know that we've been thinking about you...we stink as much as you do at staying in touch....
Jim is still living in Denver (13th month), commuting home on the weekends- not sure how much of that saga you know about - but, it should be over next month.
Even as a single mom during the week, I'm still loving my job at the college. The girls are in middle school and surviving..and we have a girl from Ukraine (Iryna) living with us for a year while she attends a local high school...
love you - always hoping that you are loving life ..
Lisa
Hi, Lisa. Thanks for the comment. I sent you a couple of emails--please let me know if you didn't receive them.
Hi - I haven't received them..perhaps that is because after 135 years, our college changed its name.
Try
Love
Lisa
Hi Tom,
I was able to go to your Aunt and Uncles Place for the first time this week and will be going back today with another grandson, it is a beautiful layout and the trains are fantastic,
My husband is from [town], born and raised there but he did not know about Pickard's Trains- seems they started it about the same time he joined the army about 1971- and though we moved here after he retired from the service, this was the first I heard about them - a pre-k field trip.
We took lots of pictures while the pre-k were there.
Thanks for putting the page on line so I could show my husband
Thanks for commenting, Sharon. I took out the name of the town for my aunt and uncle's privacy, but your thoughts are appreciated.
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My uncle Roy Pickard is a model railroader, and by models we're not talking the ones on tabletops but a working 1/8 scale system consisting of over two miles of track, switches, bridges, trestles, and signage. The tracks are 7 1/2 inches wide, and the gasoline powered trains (replicas of actual steam and diesel engines) move people and cargo. Twice a year railroad enthusiasts descend on his property, tucked away in the central Texas ranchland west of President Bush's photo-op farm, and conduct "meets." At these weeklong gatherings, a couple of dozen trains (as many as 28) operate on the track at once, in carefully timed simulations of a full-scale operating railroad. Engineers communicate by radio and dispatchers monitor the movements of all trains; the idea is to move cargo, avoid collisions, and keep trains evenly distributed around the track. Anyone who screws up is roasted in a mock trial at the end of day's operations.
I took the top four pictures while walking the entire line (the original "Comanche & Indian Gap" plus newer sections of track--see map below). Roy gave me the photo of the two men riding trains, attendees at a meet last year. Roy has been working on the railroad since 1973, and in its intriguing combination of scrupulous realism and fanatic worldbuilding, it makes me think of some enormous conceptual art project, along the lines of William Christenberry's facsimiles of Alabama architecture, Michael Ashkin's and Chris Burden's industrial miniatures, Duchamp's rustic diorama, Smithson's earthworks... I could make a philosophical comment about the shrinkage to Lilliputian scale of the domain of the great 19th Century robber barons, but the more interesting story is the preservationist instinct in the face of rail's increasing mechanization and depersonalization. Besides taking a back seat to less fuel efficient means of transportation (evil trucks, nasty jets), trains in the U.S. are suffering the ultimate indignity of losing their romance. (More pics still to come.)
(Scan of map from Model Railroader magazine, July 1997, pp. 76-77. Thanks to Roy and Marilyn Pickard for all the information and hospitality.)
- tom moody 9-11-2003 8:14 pm
Hi Tom - The pictures from the ranch are great. Wanted to let you know that we've been thinking about you...we stink as much as you do at staying in touch....
Jim is still living in Denver (13th month), commuting home on the weekends- not sure how much of that saga you know about - but, it should be over next month.
Even as a single mom during the week, I'm still loving my job at the college. The girls are in middle school and surviving..and we have a girl from Ukraine (Iryna) living with us for a year while she attends a local high school...
love you - always hoping that you are loving life ..
Lisa
- Lisa Breslin (guest) 9-14-2003 10:31 pm
Hi, Lisa. Thanks for the comment. I sent you a couple of emails--please let me know if you didn't receive them.
- tom moody 9-15-2003 9:06 pm
Hi - I haven't received them..perhaps that is because after 135 years, our college changed its name.
Try
Love
Lisa
- Lisa (guest) 9-17-2003 6:35 am
Hi Tom,
I was able to go to your Aunt and Uncles Place for the first time this week and will be going back today with another grandson, it is a beautiful layout and the trains are fantastic,
My husband is from [town], born and raised there but he did not know about Pickard's Trains- seems they started it about the same time he joined the army about 1971- and though we moved here after he retired from the service, this was the first I heard about them - a pre-k field trip.
We took lots of pictures while the pre-k were there.
Thanks for putting the page on line so I could show my husband
- Sharon Ivy (guest) 10-16-2004 5:19 pm
Thanks for commenting, Sharon. I took out the name of the town for my aunt and uncle's privacy, but your thoughts are appreciated.
- tom moody 10-19-2004 12:12 am