Large Scale Central

Tiny Sent Me Here

General Discussion
#1

Hard to believe that it’ll be 10 years this January that I saw my first Outdoor LS Train layout while visiting Pigeon Forge TN during the New Year Weekend.

I had one little boy then, Eli, who loved to watch Thomas and Friends on TV. I remember the sticker shock as I entered the LHS there in TN. The LGB (German) sets were there, and I scoffed at the price.

I knew there had to be a better way, so I put my dad to work on the Internet, and he called a few days later. He had stumbled over Tiny Pearce’s Desert Springs and Rattler Gap RR website. He emailed Tiny from his site and informed him that I would like to build a GRR, had no idea where to start and needed some help.

Tiny, was a godsend in those early days and one of the first recommendations he made was to visit this very forum. He said there were others, but I’d learn more here than anywhere else. I can also blame him for jumping right into the Batt/RC world…

Sadly, Tiny and his website have left us…but I’m thankful they were there in 2003/2004…and thanks to Bob for keeping LSC on the tracks!

Cale

#2

In 2001, I met Tiny, CJ, and Rick Blanchard in Santa Fe for lunch. The next day, Tiny and I rode the CTS from Chama to Antonito. This is a picture I took of him at Osier, next to K36 #487. Tiny was a big boy, to say the least.

#3

His site does still exist. Still a wealth of information on it.

http://www.trainweb.org/dsrg/dsrg.htm

http://www.trainweb.org/dsrg/gr.htm

I met him for the first time in Cincinnati at the GR convention way back when, where I put a lot of faces to names I had talked with via the internet. Had another meeting with him in Vegas at a live steam meet, with Tom Smith. We had also planned a get together for the Denver GR convention that he had to back out of at the last minute for personal reasons.

He had quite the empire out there in the middle of Nowhere, Nevada and was quite proud of it.

#4

Great web site he had. I never heard of him until now. Looks like he never ad a chance to finish the layout? What ended up happening?

#5

Tiny passed away from complications due to diabetes. He was in chat here on a Sunday night like he always was. He passed away later in the week. I was on vacation in Nova Scotia and Bart called me to tell me.

His railroad was broken up and sold to various people. I got all his figures, his plow, and a few other bits. Other, closer people got his track and buildings and bridges.

#6

He passed away from complications with diabetes. Tom Smith in Las Vegas disposed of most of his train related stuff. I was on the road in Georgia when I found out about it.

#7

Tiny was the very first person I chatted live with way back around 1997 or so on the then new LSOL chat. In the early days many nights one would wait hours for someone to show up to chat. Tiny became a fixture there and could be counted on to be there most nights. I was fortunate to acquire one of his signature cabooses and a couple of his scratch built flat cars. I try to get them out on the line to run them at least once each summer in his memory.