One look at Pat DeLeon’s train-shaped barbecue gives a pretty
good glimpse of what the weekend of Aug. 15 will be like.
One look at Pat DeLeon’s train-shaped barbecue gives a pretty good glimpse of what the weekend of Aug. 15 will be like.
“My famous barbecue corn – it’s the big draw here,” DeLeon said last Tuesday with a grin. “I slather it with my special garlic butter recipe. I went through cases of corn last year.”
DeLeon took me out to a big warehouse area in back of the store and showed me a huge working model train set, and the very unique barbecue he will be using to make the corn. He will be serving his mouth-watering corn at the annual Garden Layout Tour, when local train enthusiasts will be opening up their backyards to the public. The entrance fee to the tour of 11 backyard gardens is a can of food or whatever you can afford to give. The donations go to St. Joseph’s Family Center and the Community Pantry of Hollister.
“The guys really look forward to it. They enjoy giving back to the community,” DeLeon said. “We open up our backyards for free, we discount lunch, and everybody has a good time.”
Born and raised in Gilroy, Pat DeLeon served as a police officer until retiring from the force 11 years ago, when he became owner of the All Aboard Junction train store in Gilroy. Railroading enthusiasts, including garden railroaders, come from throughout California to shop at his store.
“We like being outside,” garden railroader Dale McAnally explained when I visited his garden layout, complete with 950 feet of miniature train tracks and a train that wends its way over rivers and through multiple tunnels.
Garden railroading is a hobby practiced worldwide which combines building actual working model trains with outdoor settings that are created by using slow-growing and dwarf trees, plants, ponds, rocks, and waterfalls.
“Garden railroading is different from other model railroading in that it is more of a cooperative family affair involving gardening, model building, track installation, et cetera,” McAnally said. “Many families have divided responsibility for each aspect among their members. It tends to be more social than other model railroad groups.”
“It’s an excuse to play with toys,” McAnally admitted, as he showed me his workshop, which is filled with model train cars he built himself. One table was piled with a mound of toy animals, made up of about as many different animals as Noah housed in his ark.
“It’s limited only by your imagination,” he said, showing me a real working old west gallows with a hangman, an 1889 dentistry building in green and white, and a saloon with red and yellow trim. “Local author Horace Fabing and his wife Nan have two 7.5-gauge live steam locomotives in their backyard, which is a favorite with kids.”
There are many teams in which a woman is the brains behind the design, and her guy is the one out there following her engineering ideas, helping to place track and wiring the trains to run according to a feminine master plan.
A lot of couples enjoy spending the time together, rather than having hobbies that always take them off in different directions. McAnally might be molding a concrete volcano into place, while his wife is busy deadheading the rose bush area.
“Even if I’m not working with him, I know where he is. I can just stick my head out the door and shout to him if I need anything,” McAnally’s wife, Pat, said.
Combining one passion with another just made sense, DeLeon said.
“I used to volunteer for Second Harvest Food Bank,” he said, “And in these hard economic times, people need help more than ever. Summer time is when kids are out of school – with no school lunch program – and really need our help.”
More than 400 people took the tour last year, and they donated $1,200 and three full pick-up truck loads of food. This year, the Gilroy Foundation has joined the effort by donating the barrels for collecting all the food, as well as the barrel wraps to festively decorate the stops along the way.
“As many families look for entertainment close to home this summer, this tour is an economical outing,” DeLeon said.
“There are more hungry kids now than ever, and we hope to collect a lot of food for them,” McAnally said.
Get on board
What: Eleven model railroads running through some of the most unusual backyards
When: Aug. 15, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Gilroy, Morgan Hill, and Hollister
Price: At least one can of food to donate
Benefits: St. Joseph’s Family Center and the Community Pantry of Hollister
Details: Pat DeLeon, 846-8841, or Dale McAnally, 848-1440
