Walter Brown
Walter Brown was one of the original Founders of the Eastbay Model Engineers Society in
Emeryville, CA. He built electric and Live Steam models in 1/4" scale, O-gauge. He was also a member of the Golden Gate Live Steamers and built a stunning model of a Southern Pacific 0-6-0 switch engine in 1-inch scale in polished brass and a 1/2" scale
model of NYC # 999. He owned the Industrial Gear & Machine Works at 5th & Alice Streets in Oakland, CA. Walter Brown & Vic Shattock were co-chairmen of the NMRA's Live Steam Standards Committee in the 1940-1945 time slot.
Biggest live-steam locomotive is 0-6-0 Southern Pacific switcher that hauls 10 men on four flatcars. Built to one-inch scale, engine and tender weight 250 pounds, measure five feet long. Left to right: Walter Brown, Louis Lawrence, Loris McKenney, Ray Wieber, unknown, Gary Kubicek, Bill Anderson, unknown, unknown, Harry Dixon.
Walter Brown at the throttle of live steamer. Special four-rail track takes three gauges of locomotives - 2-1/2-inch gauge for 1/2-inch-to-the-foot scale; 3-1/2-inch gauge for 3/4-inch scale; and 4-3/4-inch gauge for the big one-inchers.
Most models are reproductions, but this dock-side switcher is an original design by Walter Brown, shown here preparing for a run. It weighs 100 pounds, burns wood alcohol instead of coal.
Vic Shattock and Walter Brown spiking rail. Aluminum rails are spiked down on eight-inch wood ties. Continuous 30-inch-high, 1,331-foot-long trestle is made of old railroad bridge ties, donated by Southern Pacific, resting on 147 piers.