Show The Herald Journal Logan Utah Sunday May 3 1981 PETERSBORO — It’s been over 30 years now since Conrad Peterson wound up in a hospital in San Francisco suffering from extreme fatigue and on the verge of a nervous breakdown the result of too many days He didn’t want to stay in the hospital so the doctor agreed to let him go provided he took up a hobby The doctor suggested model trains and told him to keep one in his desk drawer to work on when things got tense So Peterson bought a model He tried working on it a couple of times and almost threw it out the window Then late one afternoon he pulled it out again and he was hooked The next thing he knew it was dark outside and the cleaning lady was telling him to go home He’s been a model train buff ever since At the time Peterson was working as a public relations man for Greyhound Bus and leading his own dance band “The California Commanders” He also had a weekly radio show for Greyhound which was broadcast from the hotels where his band was playing Peterson built several trains before he had a model layout and before he came back to Cache Valley to run the family farm Now retired Peterson is in the midst of building the seventh version of “The CP Railroad” which occupies most of the second floor of his Petersboro home 20-ho- ur And what a railroad it is On one side is the railroad yard with a roundhouse and a station as well as some other structures for communication and signaling and the engineer’s shack On the other side is a miniature industrial area and business district for a town complete with a post office and a newspaper All around the room is a “mainline" all modeled as nearly as possible to scale For model train enthusiasts like Peterson their hobby is more than just running little electrified trains around a track They build their engines and cars from kits they build their track and background scenery These are no toys Some modelers plan their layouts after specific places which entails a lot oi research Peterson's is a composite with buildings coming from several different locations In order to make their model layout authentic which most want to do they must know a lot about railroad history Peterson can tell you the name of engine models used by railroads in the last hundred years or so and what they were used for A steam engine Union Pacific's 8444 which was on display in Ogden last week is a “Berkshire” Peterson will tell you and wasn’t the most popular engine with the crews He has model people performing various tasks associated with the railroad and various industries A truck driver sits in the cab of a truck waiting for a semi to be loaded on a piggyback A conductor and a porter stand alongside a passenger train and a hobo waits for a freight to come out of the yard All models trains and buildings such as the Omaha and Ogden Union Pacific depots which he has are constructed to scale The “CP’s” rolling stock consists of 27 steam engines which actually puff steam 36 diesels and numerous passenger and freight cars The freight cars carry the labels of many different railroads One of several historic trains may be parked in front of the station The “Overland Limited” '“City of Sant Francisco" “Santa Fe Chief” and the famous “21” mail train all run in the process of building on “CP” Peterson-ia model of the engine Casey Jones drove to immortality He's especially proud of his circus train and a replica of a car used to carry water as therapy s to Virginia City Constructing the models takes patience Peterson uses special small tools some the same kind used by jewelers He also uses a special light and a magnifying glass for the very intricate work The magnifying glass is especially helpful when painting models of Whether talking about model trains or the real thing Conrad Peterson loves the rails The models are delicate and require gentle handling when being put on the track At right Peterson touches up the switch yard Although he may not admit it Peterson down deep is a frustrated train engineer as are a lot of people Almost every day he waves at the crew of the Union Pacific’s Cache local as it passes his home or drives up to the Cache Junction Cafe to have a cup of coffee and “jaw” with the crew He can tell you within minutes the schedule of the local and he knows the kinds of cars the freights and the passenger train passing through the junction are pulling Modeling isn’t Peterson’s only hobby He and his wife of 16 years Louie are involved in Toastmasters International They are both pilots and boating entuhsiasts But none of his other activities overshadow “The CP” the little railroad that started out star) MARTHA DIXON photcgraphK SCOTT RUTHERFORD of thcHera'd Journal |