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Show p J- Siam Thursday January 31,2002. IB Utile By RICHARD SHAW $taif reporter J Helper is and always has been a railroad town. It was created to be the assistance point for trains traveling over the steep grade that is produce big resuDts CEreafioias Price Canyon and the long grade that runs to Soldiers Summit Over the years the number of people in town that are employe! by the railroad has con- sistently dropped due to the change from fust steam to diesel electric locomotion, then the relative end of passenger service by commercial railways. Even some freight service has dropped Off over the years. But now Helper is becoming . known in hobby circles as more than a place to take and see pictures of locomotives and rolling stock. It is also a place where these same train buffs can pursue their dreams of having scale models of real operating equipment built for their train layouts. That need is being supplied by & new company in Carbon County called Sunbonnet Signal Systems. And ifa modeler is in to building replicas of Rio Grande operating train layouts, this shop is the place to come. ' The company is owned by firry Wheeler, a transplant from California who retired and came to Carbon County to be dote to the railroad lines. ; When I retired from the cem- and Wheeler has been able to do that with help from the Small Business Administration to begin with and then from vocation helper dbd Rio Grande lines. There are other companies that build other railroads signals systems, said Pete Hurtado, who manages the actual manufacturing process in the back of the building. But no one is building these with this detail. The idea to build the signals systems commercially came from fellow hobbyists visiting rehabilitation. There are many companies across the United States that pro- duce various kinds of materials and models to be used on train layouts that are built by hobbyists. But no one is presently building what Wheelers company produces: signal systems built from prototype studies and research that are located on old from Colorado. We were having an operating session on the train layout in my basement one evening and these guys from Colorado were there working with us in the session, says Wheeler, whose layout is also the dub layout for the Castle Vhlley Model Railroad Association. They saw these signals that Pete had scratch built and suggested that we should build some of them for other people. The idea grew in the two mens minds and soon they were pursu-- . ing starting up a business. After looking at a few buildings in the area they found a . vljU 1 building on Main Street in Helper owned by Vic I: We talked with Vic and it has worked out very well, says Wheeler. Wheeler then had another idea that tied right in with both the manufacturing and his hob- . bies. There was no hobby store anywhere in Carbon County and this place had a store front so I etery business in San Diego I was looking for a place to live that had trains and wasnt very expensive to live, he said standing in the showroom and hobby shop decided to openthe store in the front and continue to do the manufacturing in the back, he said. Consequently the Hobby Shoppe and Sunbonnet Signal Systems share the premises. The shop satisfies a need in the county that has been absent for almost a decade in the county by selling plastic and wooden modeling kits, train layout materials and stock and all the things that go with related hobbies. One of the guys from our train dub is also into radio controlled aircraft and soon we will be carrying that too, states Wheeler. Right now the store is kind of carrying things while we get the manufacturing off the ground and really going. The process of building miniature, to scale models is one that is painstakingly detailed. For the general public model railroading seems to be a bunch of guys playing with toys. But, as with any hobby, purists and would be purists know different Model railroaders exist all over the world. The model railroad layouts they build are often so true to the originals they are modeling that when shot with the right type of camera, most people cant tell the difference between the model and the real dupg from the photographs. Purist model- that fronts the manufacturing area of his business. I always loved trains and have had a number of layouts over the years." Many people dream of turning their noUiy into a I ers are very pidey about what they place on their layouts; they generally dont use plastic train cars Pete Hurtado worits on one of the signals he tuilds as i sfts in the t gantry he built to manufacture the devices i or engines and many of the buildings and other devices on a layout are built from scratch by the modelers themselves. Thats why so many train buffs are glad to see companies like Sunbonnet Systems come into existence. To build the prototype signals that the railroad uses, Hurtado had to spend about six months doing research and development. He has a dozen books that have been published on various railroads signals, but to get it right had to spend many hours out in the field taking photos of signal systems, doing measurements and classifying the dozens of kinds of equipment Rio Grande used over the years. In the past Hurtado scratch built all the signals he completed for layouts. But in the market Sunbonnet a heading into, v - f A ' - j 1 i' ? tv . , . The pieces are extremely smal, but are built to scale so that they match the size of the HO traifllayoubttieywi be placed gn in many parts of the country. he will have to use a much foster reproduction process. Therefore he had to actually hand build the miniature machines that he uses to manufacture foe devices. I created this gantry to pi ace the different kinds of equipment on, he says as he sits at his workbench. Most of what he uses to create the small signal lights is brass, but he does use some plastic, wire and of course for the electrical system small i .F.n lamps. Oner the things Sunbonnet does that no one else does is to customize foe signals for a modelers railroad. They also special ize only in Rio Grande Railroad signals. Tales of tourism and travel By KATHY SMITH of Castle Country that makes lixvd bureau director The office of the Carbon CountyHuvd Bureau and the Gmde Country Havel Region offices have a job that is unrivaled lo any other job around, we promote an area that is as diverse as its ethnicity. Lush mountain forests contrast the red rock fonnatkms of areas -such as Goblin Wriley State the beauty of the rugged west, recreation adventures and i (Continued on page 4B) its home in Gatbon and Emety Counties and offers "Wide-Ope- n Spaces. Many projects were completed last year which consisted of obtaining funding to obtam rental space in the Official Olympic Visitor Center located at 12S South Main in Salt Lake City where Castle Country is prominently displayed wifobeautiful vertical six foot banners that depict Utah's Castle Country and its scenic attractions, including Nine Mile Canyon, San Rafael (Continued on page 4B) Dr. Schouten is creating smiles that last a lifetime tients such as the annual have a wonderful, interest lets see if we can get a Wave Pool Party and the free payment program. NEW SMILE FOR Use the coupon below YOU IN 2002! monthly contests. Dr. Schouten has a car- for your free consultation. ing and dedicated staff all of whom were raised in Carbon or Emery County. They, along with you, have a real interest in making sure your children have a positive experience while in braces. Our staff members love to spend time outside of working hours watching their patients in Carbon and Emery counties who are involved with 'V 4 a I sports, dance, swim, or have their name on the 'I honor roll. We feel proud I when they have accomI I plished something and we want to know about it I John R. 5chouten, D.D.S.. Pictured left to right, backrow:, Alison Madrid, Cheryl Dummt, Dr. J.R. Schouten, Rita Dunn, Dr. Schouten is pleased I BonnkAxdgard. Fmntruw, left torightiCorrine Wilson, Tina AUrcd Specialist In Orthodontics to be here in Price. He and 191 East 100 North, Price, UT 4501 I Dr. Schouten whs ton in Seattle. Dr. graduating in 1999. his staff are committed to Tel: (435) 637-052- 0 I born and raised in South Schouten decided to spe- In the fall of 200Q Dr. quality care for both chilIn I for this ad Bring Jordan, Utah. He gradu- - cialize in Orthodontics. Schouten purchased the dren and adults. They ofI FREE CONSULTATION & ated from Dental School He then completed a orthodontic practice of fer a variety of different I at Creighton University three-yemasters de- - Dr. Michael Richards. Dr. types of braces and all of I in 1995. In 1996 he com-- grees program in Orth- - Schouten felt it was impor-plete- d the and initial I a General Prac- - odontics at West Virginia tant to continue the activi-tic- e records are done right in iTowands Full Orthodontic Tneatmenti ties that the Dr. and staff their office. They Residency at the University in Morganaccept I (new patients onty) University of Washing- - town, West Virginia, had hosted for their pa most insurance plans and ar . x-ra- ys 100 OFF |
