The Man
 Don Adams Pete Brown Photo - January, 2003The walls of Don's living room are covered with the numerous
paintings, railroad and other subjects, that Don has done over the
years. A bookcase upstairs includes a library of railroad books and magazines.
A table in his dining room holds a recent project or two.
Don Adams is a quiet, unassuming gentleman. He spoke only a little during
my visit, but was happy to impart his knowledge and experience when asked.
Don's chosen medium is plastic. He uses Butyrate Tubing, Styrene
and PVC when creating his masterpiece HO-scale locomotives. Despite
the unimat in the photo above, Don does not really use any power tools when
creating his locomotives. He turned his stacks and domes using what he calls a
"finger lathe" (description in the MM articles). All of his pieces are cut and
shaped by hand using sharp blades, fine-toothed saws, and miniature
files. While his mechanisms are usually scavenged from other locomotives, he
modifies them with the plastics to make them his own.
Don brought me right down stairs to see his layout and his locomotives. Don's
layout appears to exist mainly to show off the countless scratch-built
locomotives that he has built over the years. Don had the WM I-2 out and
ready to be viewed. I asked Don if I could photograph his models and layout,
and he granted me permission. Later I also asked about putting his photos and
information on my web site, and he agreed to that as well.
When the visit was over, Don sent me home with several parts catalogs, as well
as the entire folder of information from his NMRA competition entry. You can
see that information below.
It was a rare privilege to meet a master craftsman such as Don. His work and his
articles have been an inspiration to me.
Update March 2007: It is my sad duty to report that Don Adams passed away on March 14, 2007. We will miss
him.
Don Adams' Award-Winning Scratch-Built Western Maryland
(WM) I-2 Decapod
NMRA Competition Submission from the 1980s
Photos of the WM I-2 from my 2003 Visit
Other Excellent Models by Don Adams
Be sure to check out my collection of Railroad-related desktop wallpaper here.
If you find the information here useful or enjoyable, please be sure to drop me
a note in my guestbook.
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