This website has been archived from TrainWeb.org/potb to TrainWeb.US/potb.

Meet the Web Master

A lot of people have been wondering who I am, and what it is I do with my "spare" time. Hopefully, I will answer all your questions here, and provide a little insight into the method behind the madness.

Fast Facts:

Name: Jody Moore

Marrital status: Married five years, wife Michelle.

Children: Brandon (9), Nathan (7), Heather (5), Trevor (2), Samuel (Newborn).

Home: Rockaway Beach, Oregon.

Employment: Conductor, POTB; VP of Operations, Sunset Coast Excursions, Inc.; Freelance writer.

I remember the trains. As far back as I can remember. I recal standing in my crib to watch trains go by when I should have been napping. I can't tell you what they were, or exactly when. But I remember. Now, as I mature, I have found that the things that have stuck with me long and fast are the things that I have loved since I was a child.

If I had to identify a favorite type of railfanning, I would have to say that steam locomotives are it. Sure, diesel powered trains aren't anything to slouch over, but I have always enjoyed the rarity of a simmering steamer. Maybe it's the noise, the steam leaking from everywhere, but a steamer seems to take on a life of its own. Anyhow, if it comes down to push and shove, I really am a fan of small geared steamers (stop laughing). Plenty to see and hear there. I'm also a big traction fan.

So how did I, from my Eastern Washington home, get interested in a railroad almost 300 miles away? Well, the answers are pretty wide-ranging, and the road from there has been a pretty crazy one, but it can all be traced back to a magazine cover.....

It was August, 1985, CTC Board. I remember it well. (Probably because it is sitting in front of me right now...) The cover photo that month was of five SP SD-9's lugging upgrade across a curving wooden trestle. The view, looking down from above, revealed the trestle sandwiched into a canopy of pine and fir trees. Even though the sun was totally against the train, the setting was, to say the least, spectacular. I opened the caption and read that it was the Southern Pacific's Tillamook Hauler, crossing Wolf Creek trestle.

Without going into too much uncessary detail (as I am occasionally prone to do..), I'll say that that photo did a lot to inspire my thinking. Eventually, with some other research into SP's network of coastal branches, I created a modeling plan for a fictitious competing line running from the Albany area to Waldport, then up the coast to Newport. I drew heavily on the SP's Toledo branch, and always fell back on that glorious photo as well. Deciding to learn more about the two lines, I paid a return visit shortly after getting married two years ago. (I had fanned the line once in 1990, though nothing was moving except the coast dinner train). We didn't see too much on either line, but I gradually became aware of the operating of the POTB, and my interest grew.

Seeking information on the web a little less than two years ago, I was surprised to come up relatively empty-handed. That's the primary reason why this page was born. The path since then is one I could never have imagined, leading me 300 miles away from my lifelong home, back into a field that I never imagined I would work in again. At the very least, this has all been fairly rewarding.

But what about the rest of me? What else do I do with my time? Well, as mentioned, I am also a model railroader. I enjoy things historic and old, and my choices reflect that — I am a steam-diesel transition era modeler, in HO scale.

I also enjoy lighthouses, maritime history, and covered bridges, and I've tried to introduce my kids to as much of this as I can. My wife and I do plenty of hiking, usually biasing our hikes around something related to the three previously mentioned topics, railroading past or present, or waterfalls. (I have a book that any waterfall lover should have. It's called the Waterfall Lover's Guide to the Pacific Northwest. Ask for it at any bookstore. You won't be disapointed....)

I also enjoy watching racing - cars as well as boats. I grew up watching unlimited hydroplane racing, and never lost my love for that. I'd love to race myself someday, but that takes a lot of time and money that I don't have. So in the meantime, I'm a just a fan.

Return to the Features Menu