Phoenix Turnbow and Apache - A Club Railroad
© 2024 DAVID GREENBERG - Guest Author
The Phoenix Turnbow & Apache is the standard gauge railroad operated by the Thunderbird Model Railroad Club on the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix, Arizona. We are the oldest continuously operating model railroad club in the state, having been formed on August 2, 1949. Our Mogollon & Western railroad is the HOn3 portion of the layout.
The current layout is the club’s fifth, being constructed in 1975 and is operated as a permanent fair exhibit. The first two layouts were constructed in an upstairs portion of Phoenix Union Station which was serving the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe railroads at the time. The next three layouts were constructed in various buildings on the fairgrounds.
The theme of the club is 1940s Western/Southwestern railroading through the present day. As with any club, we realize our members may have railroad interests outside of the "West" so we welcome other railroads on the layout. We feature just about 2,000 feet of trackage with the highest point on the railroad at 57" above the floor at Summit, while the lowest point is just 34" along the front viewing windows and we utilize NCE's DCC system.
This Home Shops LLC boxcar is based on an older Athearn blue box model that was custom painted and decaled by one of our club members.
It is understood that during the mid 1960's the Phoenix Turnbow and Apache was in need of new taller boxcars to meet the increasing demand of customers. 100 mini hy-cube boxcars were purchased from Pullman Standard in 1966 to meet that demand. They could be seen on the mainlines of just about any railroad in the United States!
Get your PT&A Home Shops Boxcars Here!
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