Dean Freytag, 1924 - 2010

Model railroading lost a friend and an icon Christmas evening with the passing of Dean Freytag in an assisted living home in Ashland, Ohio. Dean, 86, was well known for his scratch building and kit bashing, particularly of steel mills. He was published widely in the model press, with more than 50 articles in Model Railroader alone. He was also the author of two popular modeling books, one about using styrene and Plastruct, the other about the history and modeling of steel mills. Many of us have Dean Freytag structures on our model railroads. The Paducah & Lake Erie has a Freytag kit bashed nine-stall engine house and a scratch built refueling and sanding facility, as well as a series of covered hoppers from his South Ridge Lines. Dean was preceded in death by his wife Ann (1999) and is survived by a sister, Carol, brother-in-law Jim, and a niece and nephew. Rest in peace.

Leads Going In

The lower level leads are going in on the Paducah & Lake Erie. I have also finished connecting the long siding to the main line on the lower level. It's an interesting process; since we hooked the leads to the buss wires prior to fastening down the plywood sub-roadbed, I now look underneath to see where the leads are attached, drill the holes for the leads, drop foam roadbed pins (about 3" long) down the holes to make it easier to find the holes, and then follow the pins out of the holes with the lead wire up to the track, rather than the normal solder-to-the-track and fish down to the buss wires ... a long explanation for a relatively simple task. As soon as I get the remainder of the leads in, I plan to build Attica (my hometown in Indiana) Yard on the lower level. The four-track yard will be about 17 feet long and will have on/off switches to each track. Then it's back to wiring the Tortoise switches to power the turnouts.