Steam and whistles blow on JBER

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Tammie Ramsouer
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  Rolling hills, trees and buildings cover a grassy landscape. A train comes steadily down a track, but this isn't just any train; it is a much smaller size than one any person could operate, at least inside a cab.

Some call it a hobby, others call it a passion; but the Airmen, Soldiers and retirees who participate in the Military Society of Model Railroad Engineers on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, just enjoy a place where they can relax and do what makes them happy.

The organization was started in 1982 by a group of six model-railroad enthusiasts. Their purpose was to make a place where railroad hobbyists could build layouts and bring their many collections of locomotives, train cars and various structures, such as buildings, bridges and scenery. They began their club meetings in a garage, but as their numbers and train layouts grew, their space needed to grow as well.

"When we started, we didn't have too many modules to work with," said Randy Bjorgan, MSMRRE club member and one of the founding fathers of the club. "Once our numbers grew, we could make a couple of four-foot or six-foot section layouts that were standard at the time; we needed more room."

Eventually they moved to the basement of Matanuska Hall on JBER and the members made a decision to convert from modular layouts to permanent layouts. Modular layouts are moveable bases and train tracks, which can be transported easily.

The club offers many different-scale layouts club members can use, which are HO, N and Z scales.

"These scales are a rational proportion to the real scales of locomotives," Bjorgan said. "So if you stack 87 HO [model] trains on top of each other, it would be the same size as a real train."

The N scale would take 144 models and the Z scale would take 286 models to match up to the real thing.

The club owns two HO layouts; a permanent layout in their clubroom and a modular version they use for public displays.

"We have the luxury of both so we can bring the modules to Fur Rondy," Bjorgan said. "This year will be our 25th appearance at Fur Rondy as the MSMRRE club. The only bad thing about going to the festival is that we always come back with 100 more modeling ideas."

All of their model railroad layouts are designed with detail down to the greenest tree and smallest person. Not only are the layouts filled with details, the model trains can go through just about every state in the U.S. and Canada, picking up and delivering various merchandise along the way.

Multiple members worked together to build one of the largest model layouts, which includes just about all 50 states.

"We will eventually have a model train start at a [Canadian] mining town, which is in the process of being built, and various products will be shipped all the way up through to Fairbanks, Alaska," Bjorgan said.

For one Airman, introduced to model railroading as a young child by his grandmother and uncle, the club has been an opportunity to remember his childhood as he works on detailed layouts for the models.

"I like this hobby because it allows me to work on many hobbies of mine all at once," said Airman 1st Class Patrick Palmersheim, 3rd Munitions Squadron precision-guided munitions crew member and native of Strawberry Point, Iowa. "Model railroading also includes woodworking, modeling and knowledge of electrical circuits."
Although the club receives new members, there is never a lack of equipment or ideas if a new model is in the stages of being built.

"We have all the tools anyone could need to build a model from the ground up," Bjorgan said. "If one of our members doesn't have any ideas, we have a whole library with 10,000 or more ideas they can choose from."

As times and technology have evolved, their layouts are powered by electric circuits, not just battery power.

"We have gone a little high-tech to where we have monitors watching the tracks and we have a dispatcher directing the traffic and he controls all the switches," Bjorgan said. "Without the dispatcher saying 'OK,' you can't get that train going on the track. We have some fun with it, and we screw it up, but that's what happens when we get started with new technology. If you can't have fun doing something, don't bother doing it."

Not only do the club members work with the model trains at the club itself, some have layouts at home.

"I have a small layout that I put out every year during Christmas, but being a young Airman doesn't allow me to have a lot of my own equipment or space," Palmersheim said.

With more than 30 years on JBER, the club plans to pass on their legacy to more than 20 current club members to keep the passion for model railroading alive for future active-duty members, retirees and their families.

From October to May, the MSMRRE is open the third Saturday of the month to the public to offer their services to anyone interested in the club.
Contact the MSMRRE at 552-5234 or their website www.trainweb.org/msmrre/.