16 GARDEN RAILWAYS FALL 2019VIDEO 101 Along the line ■ JOHN CUSHMAN
“YOU NEED TO SEE THE RAILWAY
with the big red caboose.” That’s what I
was repeatedly told upon my arrival at the
2016 National Garden Railway Convention
in the San Francisco Bay Area. So I did.
Along with nearly 700 other conven-
tion visitors, I located the large way car
and an equally impressive garden railroad
at the home of Dr. Lawrence Silverman
and Timothy Johnson. In this set-
ting, the caboose serves as a
train shed and command
center that overlooks 900'
of 45mm gauge track, a 53"
turntable with scratchbuilt
roundhouse, and a massive
mountain featuring a cascad-
ing waterfall that provided the
source for two rivers.
While visiting with Larry, he shared
how his aspiration to build a garden rail-
road grew from reading a copy of Garden
Railways magazine back in 1985. So while
his labors as a vascular surgeon and gen-
eral contractor kept his attention, Larry
bought and stored equipment over a
period of nearly 20 years. When the
opportunity arrived in 2013, he made
construction plans for a new railway.Shortly after joining
the Bay Area Garden
Railway Society
(BAGRS), Larry toured
open houses where he first witnessed the
work of Daniel Smith, a renowned builder.
Larry was very impressed with the crafts-
manship he saw, and invited Daniel to
evaluate the property allotted for his new
railroad. “He’s truly an expert at
most everything, including
building a railroad,” Larry
remarked. “We hit it off
immediately.”
At the heart of his Tri-
Valley Railroad, visitors can
enjoy views from a central
bridge that’s ideal for photo-
graphing the action along the rails.
Much of that action stems from the
efforts of Kristine McNary, who handled
the electrical work and DCC installations
(engine and sound decoders in dozens of
locomotives). Larry’s railroad also
includes more than 40 pneumatically
controlled turnouts. Numerous signals
indicate the position of these track
switches, while other signals are placed to
detect and protect trains in the blocks.As Larry stated, “It is my desire to have
as many friends and relatives, but espe-
cially their children, come by to see, enjoy
and perhaps control what I believe is one
of my greatest accomplishments.”
His objective for bringing all of this
to fruition is heartfelt, and something I
wanted to capture in living pictures.
Although attempting to record video dur-
ing (before or after is better) an open
house isn’t generally advisable, I was able
to visit Larry’s railroad during a quiet
time. With his permission, I hitched my
“Grasshopper” camera car to a long train
for an extended ride over the line. [Learn
more about John’s complete collection of
on-track camera cars in the Summer 2019
issue of GR. –Ed.] When paired with foot-
age for other cameras and angles, I was
able to produce the short video visit you
can view by clicking on GardenRailways.
com/Fall2019. There are plenty of amaz-
ing features to enjoy and smiling faces
to see and enjoy on “the railway with the
big red caboose!”Railway with a big red caboose
All
photos^ by^ t
heauthor