When we last left our intrepid modeling family, the fictional histories of the two pikes had been completed up to The Great War, and a major change of venue had been decided upon. Now, on with our story.

If you've been following our series of blogs (and much to my surprise, there are quite a few) then you already know the story. This past May, I lost my friend and father-in-law soon after having lost my own father. My father was a rabid model railroader, and I too, was bitten at an early age. My father-in-law shared no such interest, but the circumstances surrounding his passing left us with an eight by eighteen foot moving van body smack dab in the middle of our front yard.

I hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving, I spent much of mine in a self-induced, tryptophan slumber, dreaming about our future pike!

The following is the second installment of my history for our two fictional railroads, the White Water Western, and the Arizona Pacific. Last time, we looked at the origin of the Triple W through the last decade of the nineteenth century. What follows is the establishment and early history of the Arizona Pacific, and a brief look at both lines as the United States entered The Great War:

Planning for a free-lanced model railroad may seem pretty straight forward, just come up with a name, a general locale, and a track plan. I've always envied prototype modelers since they have a set history to follow so I decided to have a history of my own. Our model railroad will depict two free-lanced pikes; the White Water Western, a mining turned regional line, and the Arizona Pacific, a Class I line traversing Arizona and southern California. Here is my start on the history of these two lines.

Human nature is a pretty predictable creature. We dive head first into a project, expect it to take a certain amount of time, and then easily get distracted. That's what is happening to me. I've been writing a history for our two fictional pikes, but everything else keeps getting in the way. Ah, ain't life grande!

In the latest issue of MRH, contributing editor Charlie Comstock touched on what he referred to as the 'summer doldrums.' I used to look upon such concepts as a simple excuse for not getting anything done. A way of justifying a break from working on a layout. Years ago, a neighbor of mine used to get aggravated in a similar way.

It seems only natural for parents to try and influence the decisions of their children. As children, we reach a point where we usually consider our parents to be… well, lets just say, ‘less than intelligent.’ At that time in our lives, we know EVERYTHING, and are vociferously open about it! By the time we reach our early twenties, we discover that our parents, perhaps learning from our example, became pretty darned intelligent in just a few short years! Thus is the case, I believe, with model railroading.

As I continue to formulate a history for our two free-lanced pikes, the White Water Western and the Arizona Pacific, my boys are itching to get started. Admittedly, my attention span is a bit short at times, but nothing can compare with that of a six and nine-year-old boy.

While I never expected so many people to read my last Blog entry, let alone respond to it, I thought I'd open this entry with a hearty 'THANK YOU' to everyone in the MRH universe. I now have much to consider with respect to our humble little rail empire.

Planning a layout has always held a certain fascination for me. A number of years ago, I planned an N-scale layout to fill a 12’ x 24’ room. It won a regional NMRA contest, but I never found time to build it. Later, when I helped found an N-Trak, turned permanent, turned N-Trak club, I planned and built several modules and helped with the inception of the permanent layout. Then I drifted from the model railroad world for some thirteen years.