2003 Year in Review

Don Foster and his Model Trains

Don Foster adding a train to his n-scale line of his newest layout.

Don Foster's n-scale train set is completely portable. All the landscape can be removed and carried in boxes.

Don Foster with his newest n-scale model railroad.

“Have trains, will travel” should be Don Foster’s motto. He travels to shows with his n-scale trains and layouts that he builds himself. But November 15 and 16 he doesn’t have to leave home during the Morrison railroader’s open house. The open house is free and open to the public from 1-4 pm.

Foster brought the open house idea to Morrison after touring Dixon’s open house 18 years ago. The first show was with Foster, Don Geerts, Larry Geerts, and Don Brands. Later Bob Kelly joined them. This year’s open has enlarged to six locations

Foster will have the three train scenes (winter, spring and fall) he’s been working on and showing since the mid-90’s in his workshop for viewing. But he’s added a fourth scene, a mountain background with his favorite, Mt. Olympia, with a roundhouse in the foreground. The scene isn’t finished, but there’s a reason. Foster likes to show how he builds a scene.

“My primary goal is to show people,” Foster explains. And that is what he does. He will explain how to makes hills and mountains by carving Styrofoam into the shape, covering it with Spackle, and painting it the color of dirt. Then after using a spray adhesive, he sprinkles it with fake grass. Roads are made from sandpaper strips. The background is two plywood patterns separated by cut broomsticks and covered with inside-out linoleum. After that’s done he paints it with Kilz, and blue paint for the sky. Afterwards his friend paints the clouds. Then he adds cutouts from magazine for the mountains and background. Trees are made from standard “ground form”. Foster puts kits together for his buildings and also paints them. He definitely has his own way of building but has learned much from reading magazine like Model Railroader. All his layouts are very realistic.

He started his love of trains when his younger brother received a Lionel Train set. When his son, Craig (currently from Elmhurst), was small they took him to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the train layout and that sparked the beginning of a life long hobby for Foster. First they worked together on the popular HO-scale trains but later he replaced them for the smaller N-scale. “I like that they are so portable,” explained Foster. His favorite line is Burlington Route but he has Great Northern and other trains. He claims to have only seven engines, one costing over $100. He has a beautiful Kato Burlington set with a silver engine and six cars.

He not only loves to build the layouts but he also loves going to train shows. Recently retired as a Morrison High School maintenance person and electrician, he goes around to shows in Peoria, Monroe, Galesburg Railroad Days, Quad Cities, Rockford, and Dubuque. November 8 he has been invited to Trainfest in Milwaukee. It is by invitation only so Foster is thrilled to be invited. “In Morrison there might be 200 people through but in the Quad Cities there was 15,000. People from all walks of life love model train, ” he announced. “The nice thing about n-scale is anyone can make a layout. My first one was on an old door. They don’t take up much room.” .

He loads his four layouts and boxes of landscaping into the back of his mini van. It takes about an hour to setup the layouts and over one hour to take them down, making sure every piece is secure in their boxes. Anyone interested in starting a train layout, Don Foster is willing to give advice on how to make one. But if you just like to see what others do with their hobby, visit the open house.

For more information read our article
Model Railroad Open House

Visit these web sites for more
Trainfest
National Model Railroad Association
Model Railroader Magazine

by Barb Benson, theCity1.com
October 27, 2003