The Fred Malone Annual Steam-up

I met Fred the way many people in our  neighbourhood did:  standing with my young son on the sidewalk outside  his house across from the Food Forum in Oak Bay, absolutely fascinated  by the trains circling out through his fence and around his yard. Fred  would even invite dedicated onlookers through the gate to see the trains  running inside the yard, where, eventually, there was an amazing spiral  rack railroad line with a working waterfall and tracks around the yard  that seemed impossible to figure out with trains going in all  directions.  

 Fred was a genius with the LGB EPL system—I think  there is only one person who knows more about it and that would be the  person who invented it! He buried wires in the yard the way a squirrel  does nuts—they were everywhere, but he could have nine trains running  without running into each other and that created an amazing atmosphere  of excitement for onlookers.  

 Over time Fred and I became great  friends, and the more I learned about Fred, the more amazing I realized  he was. For example, he was also an avid beekeeper, and after extensive  travels in the U.S. talking with beekeepers across the country, he  wrote and published a book about bees. He had held many jobs and even  ran for governor of Vermont, once.

 Fred soon convinced me I  should start my own railroad, and so it wasn’t long before we were  building up landscape berms and laying track.  There was only one thing  Fred enjoyed more than putting in more track on his Finbar Forest  Railroad, and that was helping me put more track on my railroad!   Fred—who was also a great carpenter--helped me build all my wood and  concrete structures; without him I would never have the layout I do now  and be able to enjoy this wonderful hobby.  

 By holding an  annual steam-up in his name, I’m hoping we can all remember a great man,  as well as share, enjoy and promote the hobby the way Fred did for so  many.

Keith Yundt

Victoria