7: This photo is one of the rarest of the rare. The busi-
est man in Woodburn, Oregon, MRH publisher Joe
Fugate (black shirt) is holding the throttle of the Bear
Creek Hauler East, one of the first trains out on the
layout. Joe loves to operate, but the magazine produc-
tion schedule all too often keeps him glued to his com-
puter. Joe and I live about 50 minutes from each other.
The BC&SJ is a south-facing layout. That is, whenever
you're standing in front of it you're facing south. Which
means east and west are reversed from standard map
directions – east is left, not right, and west is right, not
left. The station plates on the fascia all have East and
West nomenclature to help crews keep track of which
way is which.
7
