Bob Elsea
Public Service Co of Colorado
From Lines Employee Magazine of Public Service Company of Colorado, Spring 1966, story by Ed Hutchinson
Employee Bob Elsea belongs to unique Railroader's Club that believes in authenticity. Their locomotives hiss and puff, and even smell like the real things.
If you're one who has shed a tear or two over the demise of the steam locomotive, wipe your eyes. The old "loco" isn't dead after all.
There's a spot in the Black Forest community east of the U.S. Air Force Academy where, on any sunny Sunday, you can find several of the old puffers teaming around a 600-foot oval track. As you might have guessed, there is one unusual thing about these locomotives-all of them are miniatures, one sixteenth full size.
But there the difference ends. In other respects they're just like the big brothers after whom they've been faithfully copied own to the last rivet. The fire in their boilers is stoked by real coal, cut down to scale size, of course. Even the hissing and puffing is authentic, as is the "locomotive smell"--and for those who remember that, no other description is needed.
Another minor discrepancy between the models and the real McCoy is noted in the sound of the bells. The models have bells, but at scale size they're to small to produce a bell tone.
Deeply involved with this group in the Black Forest is PSC's Bob Elsea, working foreman in the portable appliance repair department in Denver. Bob has been building scale model locomotives since 1939 when his initial effort resulted in his winning third prize in a contest sponsored by a model railroading magazine.
This first try of Bob's wasn an HO scale locomotive (one-eighth inch to the foot) and electrically powered. He sold that one, invested the proceeds in a lathe, and ever since has been turning out the "big" steam jobs.
The Black Forest group calls itself the Rocky Mountain Live Steamers Club. It has been in existence for some 15 years. Bob is a charter member of the group which has no by-laws, no officers, no dues. The sole bond holding it together is love for steam locomotives. One member, Art Wegner, Denver, is a retired Union Pacific Railroad locomotive engineer, but the others have no direct railroading connections in their regular jobs of radio engineer, postal carrier, electric tool service man, geologist, retired machinist, and contractor.
How long does it take to build on of the models?
"Anywhere from 500 to 3,000 hours," explains Bob, who has completed four locomotives and has a fifth under construction. Bob also builds other working steam models. A tractor is among his proudest achievements.
The Colorado group is part of about 6,000 similarly inspired individuals throughout the U.S. (Editors note: Another is Hank Christensen, maintenance pool, Zuni Station, who is now at work on his first steam locomotive. As yet, Hank hasn't joined the Rocky Mountain Live Steamers Club.)
Bob Elsea has worked continuously for PSC since 1929. Before that, the Iowa native had worked in the circulation department of the Scottsbluff, Nebraska, newspaper. All but the first three months of his time with the company have been spent in appliance repair. A son, Dick Elsea, a member of the Line Construction crew working out of the Arvada Service Center. The senior Elseas also have a married daughter.
Bob Elsea's home and workshop are at 7170 West 42nd Avenue in Wheatridge, a pleasant residential suburb along the western edge of Denver. Asked if he has any track in his backyard where he can test his models, Bob replied:
"That's my wife's property." In other words, "no."
Just last summer Bob got his amateur radio license - call letters WA0MXK - just to keep busy when his enthusiasm for the steam model-making is at low ebb.
"I've always had it in mind to be a ham operator," Bob explained, "and Ralph Heikkilla, the steam club member who's a radio engineer, helped me get my code in shape so I could pass the exam."
Oh yes, Bob also builds much of the equipment used in his radio operation, including the transmitter and "other odds and ends," as he calls them.
Bob Elsea still has six or seven years to go to retirement, "But I'm not worried about it," he says. "I think I can find plenty of things to keep me busy when that time comes."
The late Bob Elsea of the Rocky Mountain Live Steamers club.
Obituary
The following appeared in Live Steam Magazine, April 1972:
- Robert Elsea of Wheatridge, Colorado, passed away on January 14, 1972.
- Bob was a charter member and officer of the old Rocky Mountain Live Steamers club and was an expert model builder.
- His interests included stationary engines, traction engines and locomotives and he will be greatly missed by his many friends in the United States and in Canada.
- John W. Adams