Owner Inspiration & Techniques - Greeley Freight Station Museum Part 1

Allen Keller has never seen any layout like Oregon, California, and Eastern of David Trussell. David has had his plans for 50 years designing his dream layout and starting over and scratching it out. In fact this version is the seventh plan for the layout. It was hard to start from scratch to build a museum, as David has done with the Greeley Freight Station Museum. There were several hurdles that he did not anticipate that made the museum almost not come about.

David created a charitable trust that oversees the museum. They needed something that would transition beyond David when he was gone, so they set up what they call a support system. Their supporter is the city of Greeley, Colorado. The Trust has a three member board of directors, two of which are appointed by the city, one of which David has the privilege of appointing.

While it is technically in the city’s control, they’ve raised all the funds so there’s no taxpayer money involved in it, so the city plays a minor role in it. The Oregon, California and Eastern was set in the fall of 1975. Allen Keller goes on to ask David why he chose that timeframe and what is the route of the railroad.

Part of having the museum is presentations. One such presentation is the fall of the Edmond Fitzgerald boat. The route of the OC&E runs from Klamath Falls, Oregon to Lakeview, Oregon. The OC&E was a real and unique logging railroad that lasted until 1992. It interchanges at Chiloquin with the Southern Pacific and the Great Northern.

Watch more from Allen Keller’s Great Model Railroad series.