I live in Deming, New Mexico which is one of the most famous locations for RR history yet sadly there are only a handful of us who have home-layouts and a real interest in the hobby. Ironically the museum here recently had (soon to be further researched by myself) several static displays donated by residents depicting railroading. Sadly these were behind glass display cabinets and did no justice to the hobby.
The collections were in HO which is a great scale as many of us know that would lend itself to a museum display of a large proportion in the depiction of the history of Deming. I just finished an email to one the officers of the museum, describing to her the great contribution to the community that would result from having a modest sized HO layout and working display. I know that the RR museum in Las Cruces and Alamagordo NM have great working displays and that the ease of building such a display would be fairly straightforward with the right help.
I would appreciate any tips, photos and any other information that could be used to support my proposal to this person. My only request is that the photos and trackplans be limited to those showing moderately-sized layouts in that 120-200 Sq. Ft is utilized with consideration given to the fact that the layout would be viewable from all angles and limited to HO scale. (sorry N and the rest of the scales)
The intent here is to instill a community involvement as there are more than likley many folks who would enjoy building the display, and running it! My home layout is a great test bed for many applications of painting, electrical and the rest of the elements and I might offer this hit, use of all acrylic based products for my layout has met with tremendous success in all aspects of the hobbies I indulge in. I would strongly encourage the same for all.
Thank you all for any amount of help and kind words and if anyone is from the Demin
Do you have a local HISTORIAL PRESERVATION BOARD? ( maybe a state of New Mexico historical preservation board)
if so, perhaps going to them, and asking for help explaining how you are trying to preserve Demings past railraod history, maybe they can get you some more help.
Expanding on K4’s thoughts, also contact the layout operators/managers at the other museums. Find out what worked for them to present the “plan” to the museum as well as what were the greatest challenges/difficulties in getting it to where they are today.
I would put alot of thought into how to structure your work crew. I imagine there will be a few “I always did it this way and always will”/“its my way or no way” type people that may volunteer their services. The museum may be reluctant to offer floor space/lighting and heating if there is a question on the commitment on your part.
concretelackey is correct. I was involved in a project to save a local historical airport, and we had so many people pulling against each other, sometimes an ego thing,sometimes a collision between different personalities, others were just stubborn and refused to flex to make the whole project go in one direction.
As a result, we have temporarily saved the airport, and only got about half of what we wanted from local authorities.
There was also alot of local politics and greedy real estate developers setting on the sidelines ready to jump in and steal anything they could get their hands on.
So if you put a crew together, everyone needs to agree on a plan of action before going to any authorities and asking for help.
The question of , who is to fund it, how much and who is to build, operate and maintain the layout a time line on the construction and some sort of quarantee are all questions that will be asked. Many proposals such as this have always met with great disapoitment after the board of trustees works you over. Good luck in you endevores, I hope you can sway them into an operating layout.
If all else fails, you could at least propose to build an appropriate diorama/ module to beter display those wonderful HO pieces.
You have a great rock collection there. The Geo kid sure knew how to get his collection in the museum. I have rock hounded there many times and many of those rocks are on my layout, as well as the “Big Diggings”. The problem would be the funding. One of the rock shop owners seems big into history. I would start with local business people. Hidden Valley Ranch is a great RV Park with a historical leaning. If you could connect Railroading with the mineral history you would have a great ally.
I miss my yearly trip down there. Greet the rock people . I have to settle for my HO scale mountains, though I do have a Malachite Quarry, one field trip they do not have.
My home is in Hamburg, Michigan. We are anticipating an ice storm tonight. I don’t suppose that you ever have any worries about ice storms. Hamburg’s only claim to fame, is the “rutabega”,but we have a very active Historical Society, with a museum located in an old church. The Hamburg Historical Society has a yearly Railroad and Art Festival. Wayne Burkhardt, who is one of the board members thought that it would be a clever idea to have an HO model railroad depicting the era from 1910-1920, when Hamburg (pop. 640) had two busy railroad stations,(ha,ha!), for the Ann Arbor RR and the Grand Trunk Line. Since I have a fairly large HO model railroad in the loft of our 24’x24’ garage,I offered to help with the model railroad project. We have a budget of $1000 and donations of building material, etc. from the community. Wayne happens to be an electronics engineer, so he came up with a clever way to have 4 reverse loops,(without usig “Reverse Loop Modules.”) The two “dogbone” tracks connect the cities(??) of Ann Arbor and Howell, and the Grand trunk line between South Lyon and Pinkney. The benchwork is all completed, and the tracks are laid and wired. I offered to make 300 HO scale deciduous and connifer trees, to make a model of the “Pub”,(which looks pretty much the same as it did in 1910), and a farm, with a (Busch),cornfield and pumpkin patch. I just purchased a SceniKing 300" photo-banner,(of the typical local nearly flat terrain, farms,etc., that will form part of the backdrop of the 10’x20’ G shaped layout. Although Wayne and I have done most of the work, we have had help from others, and promises to search out historic pictures of the four towns and paint the scene of Hamburg, (as it was in 1910), and make models of distinctive historical structures. I hope that you can get the cooperation of some history buffs and model railroaders, for your pro
Thank you to all who have offered insight and ideas. I will specifically contact the owners of the loaned HO scenes that are hopefully still on display. With the information provided here I should be able to get some great ideas for at least finding out more about what the interests are in Deming.
On a positive note, I know of one gentleman in Deming that has his HO layout in a fairly good-sized CONEX box at his residence, he is also on my list of contacts for starting a project for the community.Si
Wish I was down there to help you John, you know I model the Deming area on my layout , very loosely. I can’t believe that there is a dearth of modelers around Deming , with the history of that town with the SP and Sante Fe both. Are the Southwestern Railroad offices in Deming ? Perhaps even they would be willing to get involved . Love to see a model of the old roundhouse alive and well again. Good luck on the endeavor.
This may be a perfect opportunity to start a Deming model railroad club. To fund it, as most railroad clubs do, a person who wants to join should pay an entry fee and then yearly club dues. If you can get enough people to join, there should be enough funds to start a layout. The problem is going to be access to the layout. Most clubs have keys to the building which are entrusted to club members so that modelers can show up anytime they choose to work on the layout. If you can work out a deal with the museum where members can have unlimited access to the building so that they can work on the layout then the club could be a go and a hit…chuck
Again great replies from the latest entering the thread.
I have an interest in the Deming area as well and photos of when the depot was cut in half in 2004 to be moved to a new location. I wrote an editorial in the Deming Headlight as to the point of the move. UP was going to destroy the depot if the city /county did not move it. The depot has been lost to history as many UP, SP, and ATSF and many others have as well. It now remains intact as a extention of the Mimbres Learning Center and with no hope of becoming a club-house, RR museum as the city turned it over to a new owner. Additionally it lost all historic value and if you guys were to research the history of SP ansd ATSF RR in the area it would show the depot was a freight transfer station between the two RRs. BNSF now enters Deming via Hatch and above from Rincon. Once and a while you see a “pure” BNSF consit of coal gons with the locos at each end.
The prospect of going over the Continental Divide at which point crosses near Deming can be a daunting one as the trains drop about 1500 ft in elevation over a relatively short distance and “down” into Lordsburg. I travel to work every day west of Deming along the I-10 / UP track corridor, it is hard to keep ones eyes on the road when watching the other road! As far as the question about the Southwestern RR, the depot remains intact and very much in need of a paint job in Hurley, just up the road from my house. I have a pretty fair collection of photos and references in the way of in-laws, friends and such that remember the area well as RR haven.
South of Deming lies the old El Paso Line and it is still intact as far as the steel water tower in Hatchita. Additionally one can see the old livestock shutes along the roadbed as evidence of loading cattle to market in Los Angeles.