Home of the
Ponderosa North Model Railroad Club

Site Updated - June 21, 2009

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WOW 10 years and still growing.

In 1999, after retirement, Gary Stilts wanted something to occupy his time and share all of the train pictures he had taken. Gary love trains and especially trolleys and inner city trains. The newest craze was the World Wide Web and Gary thought what a way to share my love of trains and keep busy. With the help of his daughter Laura, a name and graphic designs were created. Gary asked if he could include his club, the Ponderosa North to the site. It was a unanimous choice of yes. In late 1999 the web site debuted on homestead.com as a site within the homestead network. Gary would not only have the clubs information but would scour the web looking for news about real or model railroads to offer the public. He even had a page dedicated to trains around the world. Gary's vision was to not be just another club web site but to be a site anyone who loved railroading could visit and get information.
In 2001, Gary purchased the domain name of ArizonaRails.com and left the homestead network to become a stand alone web site. By early 2002 Gary's health was failing. However he wanted his web site to continue. The club agreed and Mark J. Redmond was asked to take over the site. Mark was to work with Gary to learn about doing the web site. Sadly before that could happen in June 2002, Gary passed away.
With the help of Gary's daughter, Mark took over the reigns of the web site. While Mark was now the webmaster, he chose to keep the original vision Gary had for the site. Working full time did not allow Mark to scour the web looking for railroading events around the world and that page was dropped. However, his spirit still lives within the site. A Tips and Tricks page was added and articles about railroading in general still appear on the site. The links page has grown to include many sites from around the world that can be of interest to the railroading fan. It currently is hosting a page for a person in California that is restoring a ATSF caboose.
And while Gary' is no longer with us, his vision is still alive and well. ArizonaRails is known around the country and in several parts of the world. We are always getting E-mails from those looking for information about all kinds of railroading and we thank all of you who help make ArizonaRails the success it is.

Check out the great effort the Gilbert Model Railroad Club is doing at the Gilbert Museum. Click here for the story.

Saddly the Meadows and Lake Kathleen lost it's battle with the state of Oregon and will have to be taken down. However, a great story about the layout is well worth the time. Click HERE for the video.

Here is a nice site about Mexican Railroads. Check out the railbiking of the Carrizo Gorge.

Picture of the month.

Picture of the month this month is Arizonarails founder Gary Stilts.
Gone but not forgotten.

The club is looking to sell its complete collection of Model Railroader magazines. This is a complete collection from year 1 volume 1 to present day. Please E-mail us if you are interested in acquiring this rare collection.

Visit railroad web rings.

Videos of a Baldwin DRS 6-6-1500 and Plymouth 1943 ML-8.

Click on picture for videos.

Please note, I am always looking for your input. If you have pictures, articles, information about a train related event, etc., let me know. It has a good chance to be posted. Thanks.

The purpose of this site is to help promote the great hobby of model railroading as well as highlight the real railroad in a fun and informative forum. While the bulk of the site will deal with model railroading it will cover some of the rail fanning that can be done in Arizona 

This site also hosts The Ponderosa North Model Railroad Club, to present the clubs latest activities and achievements. The Ponderosa North was founded over 30 years ago to promote the fascinating hobby of model railroading. Today that tradition continues with the clubs participation in all of the major rail shows and presentations, like Scottsdale's Annual Rail Fair at the Stillman-McCormick Railroad Park. Most members of the PN are also members of the Arizona Division of the National Model Railroad Association and many of the members have served as officers in the Association and in other leadership positions.

Arizona has got to be one of the most fascinating places in the United States to be involved in railroading of any type - be it rail fanning, model railroading, collecting train memorabilia, or historical investigation. Arizona itself, is an amazing landscape of striking contrasts - from snow covered forests in the north, to blazing desert sands in the south. And Arizona owes a great deal of its current existence to the railroads.

The state hosts the transcontinental lines of both the major western railroads: The Union Pacific and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe. And both of those lines are steeped in historical predecessors, the Atlantic & Pacific, the Santa Fe, the Southern Pacific, and even the Texas and Pacific. And the state is filled with optimistic short lines to serve the lumbering and mining interests of the earliest pioneers. Lines like the United Verde & Pacific, Verde Tunnel and Smelter, Arizona Mineral Belt, El Paso & Southwestern, Arizona Eastern, Maricopa & Phoenix, Bradshaw Mountain, etc. Many are fallen flags, but some are new like the Black Mesa & Lake Powell and the many incarnations of the Apache Railway.

So, once again, Welcome Aboard Arizona Rails! 

Attention Rail Fans & Model Railroaders

A quick reminder to all of our visitors, if you are aware of any railroad or model railroad related news or information in the Arizona or Desert Southwest areas, we would be most appreciative if you would forward it to us. This includes any activities by railfan groups, model railroad clubs, or a lone-wolf who is in love with trains.  Send information to the Webmaster: Mark J. Redmond.

Sites to visit 

Model Rail News Page: A layout you can build. The first Ponderosa North layout.

Ponderosa Page: Home page of the Ponderosa North Model Railroad Club.  See what the latest event the club has been working on.

Arizona Rail Calendar: This page lets you know what events are taking place that deal with Model Railroading in Arizona & will list NMRA events as well.

Arizona Rail Links: This page lists several other web sites for model railroad club sites, national & local organizations, scenic railroads in the southwest region  as well as other sites of interest in the railroad world.

In Memory Of: This page is dedicated to remembering those club members who are no longer with us.

Tips & Tricks: This page we share our thoughts on products we have used, how to projects we have done and tricks that help you enjoy the hobby of model railroading.

Railroad Web Rings

What's New

June 26, 2009 - Update Club page and Rail Calendar page and links page.
April 24, 2009 - Update club page and calendar page.
March 29, 2009 - Updated club and calendar pages.
February 28, 2008 - Updated Rail Calendar, Links and Club pages.
January 23, 2009 - Updated Rail Calendar, Rail Link and Club pages.
December 26, 2008 - Released 2 pages for the layout page and created a page for ARM newsletters.
December 19, 2008 - Update Club page and Rail Calendar page and links page.

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[ E-mail the webmaster ] Steve