Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-15

EVERAL miles the
! road in a certain backyard you may
u review potentially one of the strang-
4 est sights in the Washington latitude
when you pass that way-a steam
railway system in miniature, accurate in every
detail to the professional line and qualified for
the transportation of human passengers.
Not one of these make-believe playthings, but
an honest-to-gosh railroading layout, the par
ticular pride and JOY of the Glow family, which
will own and operate this private tranSporta-
tion system.
Mr. A. F. Glow transportation expert or
the Interstate Commerce Commission, has been
intrigued by the romance OF railroading ever
since he made his first locomotive as boy
from discarded tin cans and other scrap mate
rial He comes from a railroading family, his
grandfather having had charge of the mid
night express on the Erie Railroad about 1870
when it ranked as one of Americas crack
rattlers"
Mr.. CLOVIS particular hobby is locomotive
constructions favorite paStirne which he
satiates by spending from six to ten hours each
week in the basement workshop at his home
where he thinkers to his hearts content with
brass, copper steel and cast iron, fabrcating
midget locomotives which run by either steam
power or electricity. BY the capitalization of
innate mechanical genius and dexterity with
tools Mr. Glow although an amateur model
maker, now produces boiled down" locomo-
tives which would be a credit to the most
skilled professional craftsmen
Turing recent years this Washngtonian
has yoked his spare time to the design
and construction Of Is steam and electric loco
motives valued at from $500 to $3.50 apiece. All
these models have been sold to railroading
folks for total of about $4,000. In fact, the
majority of them were made on special order.
A number of leading locomotive engineers who
have learned of Mr.. CLOVIS skill as model
maker have given him assignments to make
working models of the huge iron horses" which
they drive, or formerly drove as some of them
are now retired. An engineer who cloves" his
locomotive will spend several hundred dollars
for an abridged likeness of that faithful steed
of steel. Just as western cowboys expend their
savings laviShly on Silver-mounted saddles ana
equestrian trappngS engineers likewise never
begrudge the funds spent for facsimiles of their
'tSteam engines"
When Mr.. Glow gained proficiency as a man
ufacturer of locomotive models, he eventually
began to advertise his wares in such special
lied publications as the matchmaker and
soon discovered that there was a keen de-
mand for locomotive models that were true
to scale and detail and which could be operated
under their own power. Most of the models
of this kind on the American market rank
more or less as "playthings" and toys" Rail-
road experts are not content with such counter
feits or limitations of the real article. Mr..
CLOVIS models have gained popularity because
they are as truthful as history and as reliable
as the Naval Observatory radio time signals.
You can gain some definite idea of the COM
plexity of the steam locomotives which Mr..
Glow designs and builds by the fact that the
average model consists of some 5000 parts,
pieces and Pigments. Each integral part is @
small size replica Of the regulation appurte-
nance which you NAV locate on one of those