By RON WILSON
Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development

The train emerges from the tunnel and speeds down the mountain track, overlooking a bustling village in the valley below. There aren’t a lot of mountains in Kansas, but this scene features a model train. It is part of a remarkable model railroad museum in rural Kansas.

The C&R Railroad is a model railroad museum, part of the Huck Boyd Community Center in Phillipsburg. The center, named for long-time Kansas journalist and civic leader Huck Boyd, celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2017.

One wing of the community center houses the C&R Railroad, a legacy of local citizen Bill Clarke. The C in the name stands for Clarke. The R stands for his wife’s maiden name, Reiss.

Bill Clarke grew up in the rural Phillips County town of Kirwin, population 171 people. Now, that’s rural.

Bill said it was exciting when the train came to Kirwin each day. In fact, he even pretended that his little red wagon was a train. He painted Missouri Pacific and Union Pacific on the side and pulled his wagon around town as if it was the train and he was the locomotive.

Bill grew up and went on to a long and successful career as a family photographer. He established a photo studio in the county seat town of Phillipsburg.

Meanwhile, he never lost his interest in trains. One day in 1966, Bill was in Denver and he came across a model railroad engine of a Santa Fe Super Chief, so he bought it. That was the beginning of his incredible collection of railroad memorabilia.

For the next 30 years, Bill collected all types of model railroads and related souvenirs. He stored and displayed them in the back room of his photo studio. When the Huck Boyd Foundation built a new community center in Phillipsburg, that became a natural place to display his railroad memorabilia and photo archives for the future.

It was Huck Boyd who had successfully led the fight to maintain rail service through the region when the Rock Island Railroad closed down and abandoned the track. Bill knew Huck Boyd well and so he donated this remarkable collection to the Huck Boyd Foundation.

The foundation built a special museum for the model railroad collection. Steven Krauss of Denver designed the layout and Jim Talbott, a model railroad builder from Montana, built the multilevel model landscape. After nearly three months of labor, the project welcomed the whistles of locomotives. It was Mr. Talbott’s largest ever privately funded model railroad project.

It was named the C&R Railroad. Bill and his wife are now deceased, but the legacy of Bill’s passion for railroads lives on.

In 2017, Huck Boyd Foundation Board Chair Mike James and other volunteers upgraded the C&R Railroad. Today, this incredible display of model railroad cars features 143 engines, 259 cars, and 39 cabooses. There are also 136 railroad lanterns, 162 timetables, and many other railroad artifacts through the years.

The model trains are displayed in a room featuring special lighting with day and nighttime effects. The track winds through model mountain tunnels near a waterfall, crosses bridges and passes through the village below. It includes a turntable and roundhouse, a quarter-mile of track, two miles of wiring, and 4,000 track screws.

Thanks to the extensive work of Mike James and the other volunteers, these train cars all operate. It is exciting when the lights go down and visitors gather around to see the trains take off. The center also houses Bill Clarke’s tremendous archives of photos and vintage photographic equipment.

The C&R Railroad is open by appointment. Private shows last approximately 45 minutes. For more information, contact the Huck Boyd Foundation at 785-543-5535.

Also found in the collection: An old red wagon, with Missouri Pacific and Union Pacific painted on the sides. Yes, this is Bill Clarke’s red wagon, which miraculously had been rescued and returned to him from the junkyard in Kirwin.

We commend Mike James and all those who support the C&R Railroad for making a difference by preserving and sharing this railroad history. I believe they are on the right track.

Overwhelmed by the number of choices offered in the grocer’s meat case? All the different cuts, packaging types, weights, and prices? Then there are the marketing claims: natural…organic…grass-fed…without added hormones…and the list goes on.

The Ellis County Extension Office will offer the workshop “Freezer Meals From the Meat Case” on Monday, January 22, 6:30-8:00 pm at Messiah Lutheran Church, 2000 Main in Hays. Participants will learn what the various meat labels, cuts and claims mean in order to feel confident they are choosing the safest and most economical meat choices for their family. Instructors are Jamie Rathbun and Erin Petersilie, Extension Agents in Midway and Walnut Creek Extension districts, respectively.

After the presentation, class members will assemble two main dish freezer meals featuring different types of meat. Each meal makes 4-6 servings and may be cooked in the oven, slow cooker or pressure cooker.
The cost is $15 per person and includes the workshop training materials; ingredients, recipes and cooking instructions for the freezer meals; and supper at the workshop. Register by Friday, January 19 at the Cottonwood District Extension Office, 601 Main Street in Hays, 785-628-9430. Thanks to the Ellis County Farm Bureau for co-sponsoring this class.

The freezer meal method of cooking has many benefits. First, it saves time on busy nights. This method features a concentrated cooking session to prepare several meals at once and store in the freezer. Those meals are then ready to reheat or finish cooking when time is limited for preparing a meal from scratch.
Also, it saves money. Busy schedules often lead to eating out, which is more expensive than a home-cooked meal. Having a prepared entree that you can simply put in the slow cooker, oven or microwave saves money and preparation time.

Providing a healthy meal is another benefit of this cooking method. When you prepare the recipes yourself, you are in control of the ingredients and ultimately what your family is eating. Eating at home allows you to incorporate more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lowfat dairy products into family meals.
Another benefit of having meals in the freezer is that it increases one’s capacity for hospitality. You can more easily invite guests to share a meal in your home when you have a freezer meal on hand. You will also be better prepared to take a meal with someone in need– after a death or a hospital stay or when there’s a new baby in the family.

Perhaps the greatest benefit of the freezer meal preparation method is that it can encourage families to eat meals together. Family meal time provides benefits beyond the nutrients in the food– it is an important strategy in child development and strengthening the family bond. Children who eat meals regularly with their families have improved language and literacy skills and achieve higher test scores. Additionally, the more often children eat meals with their families, the less likely they are to choose unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, drinking and drugs.

There are many advantages of having freezer meals on hand for busy nights. Plan to join this Extension workshop on Monday night to make the most of your meat purchases for meals to put into the freezer. RSVP by Friday so that we may include supplies for you to join us. Register and pay fee at the Extension Office in Hays, 785-628-9430.

Linda K. Beech is Cottonwood District Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.