HISTORY/ORIGINS

The origin's of the Cedar Creek & Western Railway go back a half century to the city of East Chicago, Indiana.  There two young brothers, with very fertile imaginations, created a fictional character know as Pinhead Magluchi.  Now this here "Pinhead" was a young magnate who established a local semi-pro baseball team, called affectionately, 'The Puppetsville Pins'.  A locale was needed to subsidize this imaginery 'nine', so the city of Puppetsville was born.  Alas, the 'Pins' required opponents to submit to their talents on the diamond, so the brothers imagined a verdant valley made up of cities and towns, such as Coal Town, Eagle Point, and Cedar Creek with which to populate their baseball league.  This place took on the name "Eagle Valley".  Many a summer afternoon was wiled away playing whiffle ball in Grandma Bellak's front yard as the 'Pins' took on the 'Coal Town Miners' in a Valley League game.

Bob's Hobby Shop has resided on the CC&W in the town of Cedar Creek since the late 1960's.

Now every upstanding valley requires some sort of transportation systems for it's goods and services.  The Cedar Creek & Western Railway was incorporated to fill this void.  It's purpose was mainly as a bridge route through Eagle Valley for commerce originating on, and/or destined to, cities throughout the 'valley'.  This meant volumes of anthracite from Coal Town and it's environs, grain from the Pillsbury mills in Eagle Point, petroleum products from Puppetsville, and lumber and wood products from namesake city, Cedar Creek! The model CC&W came into existence in the early-fifties, being built initially on top of an abandoned pool table, covered with used tongue and groove sheathing from old refrigerator cars.  This was painted green, to simulate grass, and filled with lots of 027 gauge track and Marx rolling stock, followed by "S" gauge American Flyer stuff..  In the early sixites the size and gauge changed to HO and the tabletop was supplanted with early style grid structure, plaster on wire screen for scenery and growing pains!  In the late sixties, the layout was torn down and a new one was built in Grandma's attic.  It was built around the entire attic, but duck-unders and extreme changes in temperature, depending on the season, that the builders (by this time including youngest brother Sam and sister Carol) hadn't forseen caused it's demise. In the seventies, the new CCW was built in older brother Bob's new home in Frankfort, Illinois and he became the official CEO!  A job move in the late eighties caused another tear-down of the layout with subsequent rebuild a few years later in Dublin, Ohio.  That layout provided many fine hours of enjoyment until a 1999 move to a condo in west suburban Columbus, Ohio brought about the most current demolition.  My current layout, a small switching layout, showcases the Monon Railroad's equipment and namesake city of Monon, Indiana - with the CC&W having trackage rights, however..  The Cedar Creek & Western and Pinhead Magluchi and his buddies have provided many fun and relaxing times and memories for the Lennertz clan over the years..............

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