Meet The Crew

Hi, I am Debbie Ames. I come to model railroading after teaching Art, raising a family, and directing a church school. During the past fifteen years I have participated in a variety of model railroad activities.

In Omaha I belonged to G.O.S.M.E., Greater Omaha Society of Model Engineers, which had a large layout in the basement of a museum. Belonging to a club introduced me to numerous scenery techniques and made me realize the amount of labor that goes into a layout.

After returning to New England, my husband and I began our HO layout, which is based on the Buffalo, Rochester, & Pittsburgh Railway. With this layout our interest in historical accuracy and prototype is satisfied. The B.R.&P. has gone through several reconstructions and we hope to dedicate more time to it this winter. My focus is scenery, backdrop, supply shopping, structure building, etc.
Our family was active in the HUB module group for five years. We built an ever evolving module based on the B.R.&P. Railway at Brockwayville, Pa., circa 1950. After visiting and researching the site we tried our best to replicate the buildings, scenery, and flavor of the town's station area. Over several years this module has been modified, added to , torn apart, rewired, etc. It was featured in the 1993 Walther's catalogue. Some of the more unusual features include working signals, scratch built pole lamps, live wire using HO gauge poles, and operating crossing lights with bells. This module received first places at Valley Forge National Convention in the group category, since the whole family contributed time and skill.
About eight years ago our family began our garden railroad, named the S.J.R.&P., some "justifiable recreation and Procrastination". This is the railway, where we have fun. We allow ourselves some whimsical areas and leeway with equipment. But it has been hard work, with a great deal of wheel barreling of fill, loam, gravel, ballast, and yards of concrete mixing. It is located on a hillside in our back yard and consists of two ponds, four tunnels, eight or nine bridges, and about eight hundred feet of track. The whole railways is DCC powered. The S.J.R.&P. has been a marriage of my two hobbies, gardening and trains. The garden railway absorbs our time, money, and muscle, but I love it!
Being married to Stan, (one of the creators of DCC), I have seen and used more DCC stuff than I care to admit. I have observed that many modelers have difficulty getting useful and accurate information about DCC. Tried and True Trains will not only provide useful tips and techniques concerning this evolving aspect of the hobby, but will also provide you with a source of equipment at fair and reasonable costs.
Along with the modeling activities, I am currently a life member of the NMRA and a member of the Board of Directors for the Hub Division of NMRA. This experience is teaching me how to help organize large shows, give clinics, and to cope with organizational joys and woes.