Hi Ed --
Henry's trains at Menlo Park were one of the main reasons I ended up playing
with scale S. While I couldn't go all the time, I made several trips a
year to the club as a kid... The original building location was really fun
when trains came through, as it did not have the foundatiion the new
location has, and everything would rattle and rumble as the real trains
passed by just 15 or so feet away. Back then there were still steam trains
and freights on the line (until late '56 anyway) and the sound effects were
awsome. I think Henry's locos were built to heavier standards than our
current batch of imports, or that he rebuilt their drives now and again,
because those things ran hours and hours and hours pulling those really neat
freights.
Clyde King has taken over the maintenance of the S portion of the club, as I
recall. He and I used to frequent the Palo Alto Hobby House run by a great
lady named Claire. All gone now, and bulldozed into oblivion, covered by
condos and urban "improvement"...
Have fun!
Bill Winans
> > The near-mighty SP in Menlo Park, CA had an S Big Boy that regularly
> > pulled over 100 cars during the monthly open house display
> > ==============================================================
John...At Henry Sprague's S scale empire located in the Menlo Park
clubhouse, there is a layout with HO, S and O scales all on the same
layout. HO is up high to simulate distance. O scale is down front
and up close. S, being just the right size, is on the middle level.
Henry ran SP Daylights, Shays, Big Boys, etc. all scratchbuilt and
some of 'em were actually steam powered. Water was heated to boiling
with 24VDC using 8 amps of current -- over 200 watts of power on the
track if needed. He liked l-o-n-g trains and usually won the "mine
is longer than yours" contests. Not only did he mix water and oil,
but he mixed both of them with AMTRACK, B&O, NYC, etc. which ran on
the other levels (HO & O). Quite a sight to see it all running at
once. Henry was able to mix oil and water and beer and distilled
water and keep everyone captivated for hours on end. A great guy who
is no longer with us. Being old has one advantage -- ya 'member
things no one else ever knew. ....Ed L.
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