Trains and Model Railroads

First of all, my name is Larry Tuttle and I was outshopped in 1948.  I lived up and down the eastern part of the US until I settled in Oregon in 1976.  My first railfan experiences occurred in Rochester, New York in the late 1950's when my Dad would take me to places like Genesee Jct. to watch, and once in a rare while, ride trains.  Of course, I had the obligatory Lionel train set that came out at Christmas and for a while was set up on plywood in the basement.  Next came a HO layout in the attic.  A move to Louisiana (no basements in Cajun Land and the attics were waaay too hot) brought the HO empire into the bedroom as I finished high school and started college.  Finishing college in North Carolina, I had a dinky switching layout with hand laid track and insufferable numbers of derailments.  The models went into boxes for 15 years as I moved around and concentrated on other endeavors.  All the while, however, I kept my eyes open for trains to watch wherever I was and even managed a few pictures from el cheapo point and shoots.

Chuck Graham, who I'd met in Rochester in my early teens, and I did a lot of railfanning together in Rochester and then managed to stay in touch (with a few hiati) through the years.  From time to time we have gotten together to chase trains on each others' home turf.  He always winds up with the better camera so a lot of the pix of our excursions are his shots.

In 1987 I made a wad of money fighting a forest fire near my home in southern Oregon and decided to do something fun with it.  After finishing the single car garage, I began work on the Siskiyou Pacific, a line based very loosely on the SP's Siskiyou Line through the Rogue Valley.  (The more I learned about the Siskiyou Line, the more I realized just how loose my own efforts were.)  After a couple years of lone wolf modeling, I found the Rogue Valley Model Railroad Club and have been involved with them ever since.
 

Through the RVMRC, I met Jerry Hellinga who is an engineer at the Sumpter Valley outside of Baker City in eastern Oregon.  He invited me to come over with him and learn to fire their 1915 Heisler -- seems at the time they had a serious problem attracting sufficient capable bodies to fill all their crew positions.  In a year I had qualified as fireman on the Heisler and shortly thereafter, began my student runs as engineer.  But, those engineer runs were interrupted by the arrival of the 19 in 1996 as I got to begin all over, first learning to fire with oil and then to run the 2-8-2.  On the eve of my 50th birthday, I qualified as fireman and engineer on the 19.

The Central Oregon and Pacific took over the Siskiyou Line from the Southern Pacific in January, 1995 and Jim Armstrong, a friend from the model railroad club, was hired as a trans-spec.  Shortly, I was introduced to the insides of a working railroad operation as well as treated to a cab ride over the "hill".  A year later, Bud Shirley, also from the model railroad club was hired and between him and Jim, my perspective of real railroading continued to broaden.  In 1999, a few months after I'd started a small section about CORP on Alpha Rail Pages, I was contacted by Rick Perry and invited to visit him and learn all about signals.   Rick and I have become good friends as I have gotten more attuned to the human side of railroading -- it's not just locomotives anymore.

Last but not least, in the summer of 2000 I found my way to the Yreka Western and a fill in job as relief fireman on their Blue Goose steam excursion locomotive and conductor on the freight run.  It's interesting how similar Yreka's oil fired 19 is to Sumpter's -- just the wheels are a bit farther apart.  The freight job was fun and I learned a lot about real railroading;  I'd do it again, but only part-time.

Well, when I'm not out chasing (or riding) trains and signal maintainers, I gotta do something to pay the bills and that something is usually carpentry.  I've been a residential and light commercial contractor for 20-some years doing most phases of new construction and remodeling.  Lately, I've noticed the old carcass hasn't been taking kindly to the abuses of pouring concrete, framing and roofing, and I've gone to specialize in  cabinet installation and interior finish work.  Heck, I'm still my own boss,  it pays the bills, makes for a varied routine and still allows for a little foaming on the side.

Fire Fighting

Back in 1984 I must have needed a little more excitement in my life (or another hole in my head) and volunteered at the Evans Valley Fire Department (aka Jackson County Fire District 6).  The adrenaline rushes have largely subsided, I've been into and out of EMS and now serve as Training Officer (thought they said TRAIN Officer and immediately raised my hand)  and Company Officer (Captain in some depts.).  Though it's something of a love-hate relationship, firefighting is definitely in my blood.   Of late, I like the challenge and rewards of working to turn a raw recruit into a safe and skilled firefighter ready to charge into the jaws of the dragon.

2001 Update:  I completely retired from firefighting and accepted appointment to the Board of Directors.

Alpha Rail Net

Last but not least is this web site.  Originally, I started what I called "Larry's Rail Pages" to present some pictures Chuck and  I'd taken back in the 60's and 70's.  I quickly filled my allotted 3 megs at CDS and moved to Simplenet changing the site name to Alpha Rail Pages on March 15, 1998.   There was already another Larry out there with a railfan site and Alpha put me at the top of the alphabetized list -- besides, I happen to like the sound of Greek letters.  In the fall of 2000, two and a half years into Alpha Rail, I overhauled the site completely and changed to my own domain.

Through the years with Alpha Rail, I've discovered a few things which I like in a web site and which I've tried to pursue with this site.  Among them are:

• Accuracy               If it isn't accurate, leave it out.  If it still gets posted, please send me a correction.
• Tell a Story            Pictures are fine, but they need words to go along with them.
• Keep it Simple        The fanciest sites seem to have the least to say
• Load it Fast            We're all busy, right?  And a lot of us are on poky old modems.
• Small Image Files    Thumbnails in the 8 to 12 KB range.   640 pixel blow-ups around 60 to 70 KB.
• No Frames               Umm, why are we wasting half the screen with banners and menus?
• No Ads                    So, I pony up a few bucks a month for this site.  ENJOY!
• I'm Learning           Each page gets better with new techniques and tricks. And I AM open to suggestions.
• I'm Changing          So many directions to go.  So many places to explore.  I can't just sit still.
• People are good    More and more railroad people are showing up on this site.  We miss a lot when we focus on just equipment.
• Feedback                The "profit" from this site.  I've met some great people through Alpha Rail, too.