The Passing Track
February 2006
Newsletter of the Rogue Valley Model Railroad Club
PO Box 1362—Medford, OR 97501
Home page is http://rvmrc.railfan.net/

February Calendar of Events

All events in the Clubhouse at the Railroad Park unless otherwise noted.

General Construction/New Layout

Saturdays

Generally From 9:30 AM to 3 PM

Construction/Cleanup Sessions:

Thursdays

7:30 PM to 9:00 PM

Board Meeting:

2 nd Wednesday of each month

7:30 PM to 9:00 PM

General Membership Meeting

4 th Wednesday of each month

7:30 PM to 9:00 PM

Due to the length of this month's article on our “P&E” field trip, the January board meeting and annual Club report/meeting notes will be published in the next Passing Track.— ed .

Planning Meeting Yields Field Trip and Strategy for Permanent Layout

On Saturday January 14, the RVMRC held its 1 st (for this year) Layout Planning meeting to see what, why and where and we are going on the permanent layout. We had around a dozen members attend and there seemed to be lots of energy during the two-hour meeting. Part of the discussion focused on the organization of scenery construction, while an equal amount was spent on the character of the scenery itself. There were several concerns raised about doing scenery work with which other members might not concur, resulting in feelings hurt over the quality and/or interpretation of the scenery. The group had consensus that as long as everyone stuck to the basic flow of the real life scenery along the P&E, that we could always help one another improve our modeling skills as the work is progressing on the permanent layout. Several people remarked that if a real disaster occurs in someone's modeling effort, it is cheap and easy to change. Everyone liked the idea of “adopting” a chunk of the line and being the task leader for the scenery implementation, but also staying open to suggestions from the visionaries and designers of the permanent layout, as well as constructive criticism from any and all members of the club. The primary objective is to allow all members freedom to participate in the scenery construction regardless of skills, as long as there is continuity between scenes that is a reasonable interpretation of the actual scenes along the fictional P&E. It was also agreed that there could be some modeler's license in the construction of trackside industries as one can only surmise what might have been developed along a major west-east route out of the Rogue Valley .

 

 

 

 

To better understand the character of the P&E, i t was decided a field trip was needed up to Butte Falls so we all could get pictures of the terrain and get an idea of what we are trying to model. Again, about a dozen members gathered Saturday the 21 st and spent the next four hours touring the old MedCo line (the route of the P&E) from White City to Derby . A number of historical aerial photos and old maps were helpful in charting the route of the old logging railroad. Much of the line, especially in White City , has been replaced by businesses such as Biomass One. After a bit of strategizing on the route to be taken, and the consumption of several of John Wilson's (wife, we presume) oatmeal cookies, the group found its way to the first stop in White City where the MedCo line crossed Antelope Road . We made a brief stop at a siding where some of the Historical Society's rolling stock, including several cabooses and mail and baggage handling cars are stored.

Our first stop to look at the old Medco line and surrounding environ came along the Little Butte Creek just west of Eagle Point. What struck all of us the most was the relative flatness of the area, with a lot of flat farmland, a lazy cottonwood/hardwood filled creek bottom with marshy, wet ground, and only slightly rolling hills in the immediate background. The group talked about how a section of our modeled P&E along this section between White City and Eagle Point could cross over Little Butte Creek with a substantially long bridge and trestle combination and would serve as a nice scenery break between the two.

Our next stop took us to Eagle Point next to Ed's Oasis. As you can see from the photo, there are only remnants of the Medco at this point, most of the line being the foundation for buildings and roads. The typical vegetation in this area, excluding the urban forest planted by homeowners are various hardwoods and shrubs consisting mostly of oak. When considering the vegetation planted by community members as the area was being developed, one could model just about anything “green” in and around town.

 

E. Don and Jim point down the old right of way. To the left is the back side of the current Ed's Oasis .

Our next stop took us to the area of Reese and Ball roads, at the north end of Eagle Point. Again, the dominant scenery is flat farmland, with gently rolling hills in the background. What conifer vegetation existed is up on the hills, with ponderosa pine and occasional cedars predominating. At this low elevation, we did not notice any Douglas-fir. Brush and oaks dominate the scene, however, the conifers occurring in large patches, and more dominantly the higher the elevation.

John Wilson shoots his photo of the Medco roadbed, now a driveway to a rural home.

PAGE 2 More on the Field Trip and Upcoming events.

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