Everyone comes together for Cal-Stewart: Left to right are Darrell Griani of Lionel, Rich Foster of MTH Electric Trains, Sam Mattes, TTOS Southwestern Division President, and Maury Kline of K-Line Electric Trains.
Also, 11 operating layouts covering 5,000 square feet presented the full range of the toy train hobby. Spectators stood for long periods in awe of the colorful operating trains. Highlights included the Orange County Trackers layout, Rich-Art's Standard gauge layout, the San Diego American Flyer Module Association layout, and Bill Stern's radio-controlled G scale LGB layout. Various "how to do" seminars were held on both days of the train meet. These covered topics such as locomotive maintenance, modular construction methods, basic wiring, and home layout building were all well attended. Did you ever attend a toy train race or a toy train demolition derby? The Cal-Stewart train races were a real kick. Although no one bets with money, it's still fun to root for your favorite locomotive. Two 40-foot-long, tracks give the engines lots of room to get up to speed, and the final 15 feet are not powered, to keep locomotives from flying away! Different types of locomotives, such as steam, diesel, Train Masters, and GG1s, were designated to pit fairly similar locomotives against each other. Both tracks were powered by one throttle of a ZW transformer.	With the power wide open, a voltmeter was used on each track to assure a fair race. Two out of three runs were counted and engines were changed from one track to the other to keep things fair. An old American Flyer locomotive with a Marx motor, a winner in past years, yielded to a tin Marx engine. Two dual-motor diesels, an F3, and a GG1, were pretty close at the finish line, but the GG1 won two of three races. Altogether four winners received prizes. The demolition derby is a favorite with the kids and almost anything goes. On a 40-foot single track, two locomotives are started from each end, racing toward each other. I'll spare the gory details. One competitor took an F3, weighed it down with about 10 pounds of lead, and then designed a unique Plexiglas skirt around the front of the diesel, extending down to the rails. He named this monster the Snow Job. It proved to be so awesome that it was disqualified when it seemed nothing opposing it could possibly win. The auctions each afternoon capture a big crowd and as many as 70 items went to the highest bidders. It took an experienced staff to properly run an auction, and for the first time at this event, a Saturday evening auction was held.	Auction lots offered included Lionel Standard gauge no. 8 and no. 10 boxed passenger sets, as well as a no. 2322 Virginian FM engine, a no. 313 Bascule Bridge, and several ZW transformers. All were quickly snapped up. To wind up the party, on Sunday afternoon a drawing was held. Prizes included water towers, an attractive boxed European tinplate O gauge freight set, Lionel boxed sets, a no. 785 Hudson locomotive, a steam switcher, several Lionel visitor center cars, and much more. All in all it was an exciting weekend. Several thousand adults and children participated in the family event. The Cal-Stewart meet drew a crowd from throughout the United States. It's well worth the trip, so be there November 13-15, 1998, Cal-Stewart's 25th Anniversary! The above article is taken from the July 1998 issue of Classic Toy Trains and is reprinted here with permission from the publisher. For information on upcoming Cal-Stewart meets contact sam@mattes.org.

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