Olean, Bradford & Warren Railroad

Over the years the Olean, Bradford & Warren Railroad HON3 layout has continued to blossom.  Since its arrival at St. Albert Priory (Dominican House of Studies) in Oakland, CA it has been carefully attached to a fourth floor wall, had a run-around behind the wall added, a spur into a storage room to protect the motive power from curious fingers, and the addition of some impressive building fronts.  Rolling stock also seems to continue to grow through the creative hands of the chief engineer.


Not to be outdone, a friar from the local area has joined in establishing a rail empire at St. Albert.  Just a few paces from the Olean, Bradford & Warren is a still unnamed HO scale layout in progress.  The layout is on two levels on a framework that seems to be about twenty feet long and about eight feet wide with a crawl-under access to the central control area.  The layout is powered by a NCE DCC system with access points around the perimeter as well as in the central area.

I cannot yet determine the nature of the layout and have not spoken to the engineer in charge, but the double main line with sidings and a significant yard would allow for moving both freight and passenger service.  I will await future developments as they present themselves (and I am able to observe .. distance makes things difficult).

Below are pictures of the Olean, Bradford & Warren Railroad and the other layout .. connected at one point so that some exchange can happen and it is possible for the new route's motive power to be stored in the OB&W storeroom.

Take note of the new buildings to the right on this scene of the rail yard.

These Log cars sit on the upper level waiting to be taken to the mill.

The Mill is ready to accept logs.

The engine house is now empty, waiting the return of the 4-4-0
Meanwhile below near the main line, work cars are ready for duty as needed.

These trestles have always impressed me.
It is quite a task to deliver cars and pick up loads through this
switch-back of bridge-work.

The new HO layout is on two levels
This is just the start of the project

Everything can be controlled by the NCE control
The framework is solid.

Complex crossing poses electrical problems that took a while to overcome
This crossing involved both ascending and descending trackage crossing each other.

The upper yard is significant and will be expanded
to include a turntable capable of holding a "big-boy"

The Layouts are connected along the wall with careful attention to granting control to each layout without creating shorts or dueling controls.  I am sure that both OB&WRR and the new one will add their own details in the future.

Meanwhile, this writer is happy to have been a part of the 24th Provincial Chapter of the Western Dominican Province meeting at St. Albert Priory from January 3 to January 22, 2011.  A smaller group of friars continues to meet through the end of the month to tie up and loose ends and adjust assignments after making provincial appointments.

May the friars of the Western Dominican Province, always faithful to the the teachings of Holy Mother Church, continue to grow in grace and peace.  May our vocations flourish and our existing friars be filled with zeal for the truth and its proclamation to a world torn by relativism and misinformation.

Agony and Yearning

My dear friends,

Over the last few weeks my mind and heart have been grappling with the continued attacks on the Church over the handling of priests who have abused others. On one side I am shocked and saddened by the public description of the abusers and their superiors. On another level I am just furious over the injustice done to the victims. Not just their abuse, but what seems to be a long-standing dismissal of the possibility they might have needed a response from the Church at the time the abuse was discovered, a response greater than a request that they keep quiet about it.

Then there is the way-out-of-proportion dumping on the Church over practices that, in their day, were normative for almost every area of society. I have a problem with the modern media which seems to make no distinction between a man who abused pre-pubescent children and an adult abuse with other adults, or even older teens. There seems to be no recognition that the best psychology of the day until very recently believed that abusers, no matter who they abused, could be healed. There also did not seem to be any understanding that, up until very recently, the children would be permanently injured in their ability to relate to others throughout the rest of their lives.

Of course there is also the deep pockets theory concerning lawsuits. If one cannot get anything, legal or civil, from the perpetrator of a crime, punish all those individuals or institutions who, according to our understanding now, should have known better and had some relationship of superior or employer to the perpetrator, even after fifty or more years. Lawyers who sue for great profit disgust me. I do not blame the individuals who were hurt. They could very well have simply asked for help in dealing with the past, and have had justice and mercy on their side. Lawyers turn it into a feeding frenzy, like sharks in bloody water.

The greatest evidence of this all being just another way of discrediting the Catholic Church was the lifting of the statute of limitations for such crimes (in California), JUST FOR CATHOLIC CLERGY. All others remained protected by a statutory limit created in realization that there is very little that can be proved for or against a crime after many years have gone by. It is even harder to get at the truth when the people involved have died. Yet some self-serving lawyers smelled a good deal wherein they gained enormous return for themselves and did very little to actually help the victims.

The present and continuing legal attacks and public smear tactics are an injustice meted against a Church that did indeed need to become aware of a major problem. But that same Church has changed dramatically and is probably much safer in head and members today than many other groups who continue to deal with children and vulnerable adults. The public outcry was a needed moment in history, not just for the Church, but for those other groups, large and small, who have similar if not worse problems in their recent past. Unfortunately for the Church, She is seen as a rich source of cash and as a monolithic unity that is easy picking for any lawyer willing to stretch the truth and smear the good name of many who have had no part in the abuse of a tiny portion of its members.

I hope and pray that true justice will be done, that victims be healed, and those incapable of being healed of their evil ways may be restrained for the rest of their lives. I also pray for that mutual forgiveness that is the root of our understanding of Christ's message of love.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespasses against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.