Bruce Petrarca
It is with a heavy heart that I’m writing this article. The PebbleCreek Model Railroad Club has “lost its lease” on room 106 in the Activities Center near the Eagle’s Nest clubhouse.
It was over 21 years ago that some Creekers met to create the club. Chuck Weart and I are the only remaining founding members. We started building a sectional layout that we stored in the room that belonged to the woodcarvers back then.
In 2001, we were asked by the Arts and Crafts Committee if we wanted to build a garden layout in the courtyard of the Activities Center. “Of course,” we replied. Our first permanent layout was operational for the Fall Festival in 2001 and has been in operation for the eighteen years since.
In 2005, the Arts and Crafts Committee informed us that, with the opening of the Arts and Technology center in Tuscany Falls, the “painting” room would become free and we could use it for a permanent layout. We spent a year planning the layout. When we got the keys to room 106 in very early January of 2006, the members worked on bringing the plan to reality in quick order. We ran trains on permanent track in a ceremony on February 7, 2006. That same track is in use today. The track work was complete for the entire layout and a “golden spike” ceremony was held on October 10, 2007.
Lots of scenery and detail work was left to be done. In all, over the course of thirteen years, the indoor (HO) layout has taken tens of thousands of hours of work and cost about $35,000.
The layout has hosted operating sessions with enthusiasts coming from throughout the United States and Canada to spend a few hours on our pike. Three times it has been one of the few layouts in the greater Phoenix area to be featured in the Desert Ops invitational operating weekend.
In July 2019, the HOA informed us that our space was needed for other uses. It was asked that we relinquish the room by May 2020. In order to make good on this commitment, we are starting work to dissemble and dispose of the elements of the layout. We will have some operating sessions and other fun runs as long as possible. But we cannot hold our normal open houses this fall.
The membership decided that, without the HO (indoor) layout, there was no interest to keep the outdoor garden layout going, so we will be liquidating the elements that make up that railroad and returning the plot of land to the HOA. This will bring the PCMRC to an end early next year.
We will be working in the Activities Center on dismantling the railroads on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Drop by and say, “hi.” Let’s share some memories.
The PebbleCreek Model Railroad Club thanks you for your support over the years, and we have enjoyed sharing our hobby with the community.