Blossoming Hobby : Fred Bowman has discovered a passion for building tiny railroads in gardens. He uses recycled materials.
When Fred Bowman retired three years ago after 23 years as a communication arts professor at Cal Lutheran University, he assumed that he would just continue to garden the one-third acre in Thousand Oaks he calls a back yard. And that he would keep raising finches and doves in outdoor aviaries.
But one glance at the Ventura County Fair’s garden railways display sent his heart racing. And Bowman’s passion for creating miniature working railways set in gardens has been going full steam ahead. To add to the challenge, he likes to create them out of other people’s junk.
“It’s a great retirement project. The hobby is endless,” said Bowman, a 68-year-old bachelor. Using railroad ties and gravel, he built a 30-by-9-foot two-level area complete with bridges, landscaping and three-inch people. And he plans to incorporate a neighbor’s suggestion to add a water wheel.
“This engine is completely recyclable,” he said. The base is made of cardboard cereal boxes layered for strength with carpenter’s glue. An empty asparagus can or a spray-paint can laid on its side forms a boiler. The bottom of a castoff patio chair is a smokestack. And bits of PVC pipe form a headlamp.
Bowman used the round top of a aerosol pesticide bomb to create the boiler top. And he connected the cars with metal tabs from soda cans. The engine runs on a $3 hobby motor attached with duct tape and a rubber band.
“I see a picture of an engine and I copy it,” he said. He purchases the metal wheels and sculpts the people from a commercial modeling compound. But the rest is scavenged from the neighborhood before trash pickup.
In the next two months, Bowman plans to make an inexpensive videotape and market it through Garden Railways magazine. He wants to share his recycling know-how with fellow miniature railway hobbyists. “You can build a 15-inch-long engine for $20 to $25 if you scavenge. I taught in Vermont 14 years, so I’m kind of a frugal Yankee. ‘Use it and wear it out’ is my motto, “ he said.
“When you design and build something all your own, you get a great satisfaction from it.”
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More than 550 adults 55 and older are expected to compete in the eighth annual Gold Coast Regional Senior Olympics, to be held at various sites around Ventura County from Sept. 15 to Oct. 11. Competitive events include: eight-ball pool, tennis, shuffleboard, bicycling, basketball free-throw, bowling, horseshoes and lawn bowling, slow-pitch softball, table tennis, dance, swimming and a 5K walk-run. Participants must be from Ventura, Santa Barbara or San Luis Obispo counties. Gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded to winners at the conclusion of each event. A $10 registration fee includes a Senior Olympics T-shirt. An additional fee will be charged for each event a person enters.
Opening ceremonies featuring a senior citizens band, color guard and demonstrations will be held 9 a.m. Tuesday in the Ventura County Government Center’s courtyard.
A special dance will be held Friday, Oct. 9, 7 to 10 p.m. at the Goebel Senior Adult Center, 1385 E. Janss Road in Thousand Oaks. The Senior Olympics Dance Competition will take place during the intermissions. General admission will be $5 per person at the door. The dance competition event fee is $5 in addition to the $10 Senior Olympics registration fee. To register for competition, call 497-1639.
The Senior Olympics closing ceremonies will take place Oct. 11 from 7 to 10 p.m., during the second annual Big Band Sunday at the Harbortown Marina Resort Ballroom. Seniors can dance to music of the 17-piece Melodymakers Orchestra and enjoy light refreshments and door prizes.
Registration applications for the Senior Olympics are available at most senior centers in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Advance tickets for Big Band Sunday cost $5 per person for general admission and $3 for senior citizens who have paid an olympics registration fee. For information about any Senior Olympics event, call 643-9153 weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
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“Elder Abuse: Update 1992,” a conference targeting anyone in Ventura and Los Angeles counties who works with senior citizens, will be held Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, 18300 Roscoe Blvd., Northridge. Workshops will focus on the social and legal aspects of elder abuse and its recognition, treatment and prevention. Space is limited. Registration, including lunch, is $35 for individuals, $20 per person for groups and students, and $15 for Veterans Administration employees. For details, call Donna Benton at (818) 895-9311.
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Some people have an extra reason to be honored on Grandparents Day on Sunday. “Based on the number of phone calls and letters I receive daily from around the country, the number of relatives--primarily grandparents--raising children is increasing to epidemic proportions due largely to alcohol and drug abuse by the parents,” said social worker Sylvie de Toledo, founder and director of the Grandparents As Parents programs in Los Angeles and Long Beach.
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For information on creating miniature railways with recyclable materials, call 492-1524. Garden Railways, a bimonthly magazine, contains design plans for garden railways and information about building supplies. To subscribe at $21 per year, write: P.O. Box 61461, Denver, Colo. 80206. Phone and fax: (303) 733-4779.
