The year is 1850, and California is booming, due to the gold rush and the massive influx of "49'rs". A group of prominent businessmen in the town of Macho Grande, seeking to increase their fortunes by exporting the goods of the region to San Francisco, decide to form a railroad to accomplish this. AMRS members Dan Benton, Tony Munos and Spike Whiting thus formed the Macho Grande and Eastern Railroad, with plans to connect with the port of San Munos at first, then build north and east to any connecting line south to San Francisco. They were going to get rich not by mining the gold, but by mining the miners! The plan was to sell them food and building materials.

 

The first mile was laid in March of 1850, and the line to San Munos was completed by Aug 1850. A line to the lucrative lumber area of Pinetop was simultaneously laid (Sept 1850), with an extension to Chickasaw (Jan 1851) and its grain silos. The main line north was a single track line at first, going from Hazzard (Mar 1851) to American City (July 1851) and River City (Oct 1851) and finally connecting with Eureka in Feb 1852.

 

Incidently, California became a state on Sept 9, 1850.

 

The area around Arcata was a hotbed of logging enterprises. In the beginning, various companies built railroads of varying gauges, materials and styles. Eventually, they were all bought out and brought to standard by the MG&E. These were all tied to the division point at Eureka, and then shipped to San Munos for points forward. This was completed by Oct 1875.

 

In the 1880's, the invention of the donkey steam engine and other technologies allowed for the harvesting of the mighty redwoods. The size of the resulting logs and the increased demand called for the main line to be double tracked, and this was done. Completed in 1900, this established the majority of what is modeled on the layout's Macho Grand Division, with the Eureka Division represented by the staging tracks. The expansion and modernization of the towns and industries is an ongoing proposition.
 

The N scale layout at AMRS has been added to over the years by many enthusiastic members, and evolved into the spectacular vision it is today.  Like the original railroad visionaries, this wonderful group of people continue coming together to connect the tracks.

Please check this page regularly, as we are in the process of adding exciting new things to it for your enjoyment.  Thank you for visiting.