ATSF Venta Spur Nscaler

Hello, my name is Tom Pilling. I’m a model railroader, former trucker and the SAFE Amendment author. You can check out my advocacy to amend the U.S. constitution in Facebook’s “SAFE Amendment” group. As for my hobby, I plan to build a 1960s-era, 4x8-foot “protolance” train layout in N scale (1:160). My available space is limited, so I’ll make a portable layout that folds up as a wooden box. I’ll use DCC-powered Kato Unitrack. On it will run both ATSF & SP railroads with industries & citrus groves they served in Orange County, California. My layout’s centerpiece will be the ATSF Venta Spur, which connected citrus growers in Irvine & Tustin to ATSF’s mainline between Los Angeles & San Diego. It will be surrounded on its edges by rural East Irvine, SP’s Tustin branch, & several Santa Ana sites such as both ATSF & SP depots, & the old Holly Sugar plant. These landmarks vanished long ago, so I will re-create them using archival photos & boyhood memories from when I grew up in nearby Tustin.