He’s Got a One-Track Mind When It Comes to Loving Railroads

As a child, Bryan Reese, 26, of Orange liked playing with model trains, and his feelings never changed. So he went out and bought two trains--real ones.

“People like trains to various degrees,� said Reese, who spent $10,000 for a 1954 Union Pacific lounge car and $18,000 for a Union Pacific dome diner. “Some of us are fanatics and some are enthusiasts. I guess I’m an enthusiast. “

He charters the diner to groups and businesses, and hopes someday it will be a living. Reese, who has been promoting his train business for four years since graduation from Cal State Fullerton, said, “It’s starting to look pretty good.�

But just in case, he’s keeping his job at Knott’s Berry Farm, where he operates the theme park’s 1881 steam engine. “I make good money there and it’s regular,� he said, “and it’s working with trains.�

Much like others who have bought railroad cars to start businesses, his biggest reason is the love of railroads, the clickety-clack of iron wheels on iron rails and a chance to recreate yesteryear’s railroad scene.

Reese and David Rohr, of Fullerton, who operates the Golden Spike with a dome liner and lounge car, both offer charter trips of three days and longer out of Orange County, catering mainly to businesses, corporations and retired folks with lots of time and money.

The two firms sometime combine their 85-foot-long rail cars for large parties and long trips by hitching on Amtrak’s regularly scheduled trains. That costs from $1 to $2.60 a mile. When not in use, the cars sit on sidings at a rent of $75 a month.

Typically, charter train travel costs from $125 to $165 a day per person.

Houston attorney Paul DeVerter, vice president of the nationwide American Assn. of Private Railroad Car Owners, with a membership of 330, said only about 20 of the members charter the cars “and most of them do it as a hobby.�

Not so for Reese. “One of these days,� said Reese, who researches train lore and helps restore trains for the National Railway Historical Society, “I’d like to do this full time. It’s important to do what you like, and I like working with trains.�

Myron K. Ball, 62, of Mission Viejo always had the knack of entertaining himself and others.

For instance, he spent a decade playing lively march music as a morning disc jockey “to get people to feel alive once they woke up. Then I’d follow with sweet swing with some good Glenn Miller music to get them feeling good.�

And once in a while, he would hedge his bets with some religious music. Country music, too. After all, KUIM in Grants Pass, Ore., isn’t free-wheeling Southern California.

Later he became the station manager, but more recently, Ball decided on a new career. Armed with a degree in radio broadcasting from the College of Pacific in Stockton, he became, of all things, a bus driver for the Orange County Transit District on the San Clemente to Santa Ana run. Of course he became a top driver.

He just received a certificate of appreciation as coach operator of the month, the second time he has been chosen from the district’s 700 drivers to receive that award.

Teaching investments taught J. Wesley Grayson, 90, of Laguna Hills a thing or two. In fact, it became millions of good things in the form of dollars earned through his wise investments after he quit teaching.

Now he is giving the money away in great sums to bright and needy students at a Baptist fine arts college in Tennessee.

“I enjoy giving it,� said Grayson, who figures he already has plunked down $3.5 million in scholarships to 86 Mars Hills College students since 1980. “I’ve given most of my money away, but I’ve retained enough to live comfortably the rest of my life.�

Although Grayson taught at the University of Kansas and Ohio State University, “We (with wife, Polly) decided to give the money to Mars Hills,� where his wife’s uncle, Robert Lee Moore, served as president of the 1,200-enrollment college for 40 years.

“I enjoy the scholarship program,� said Grayson, who delivered last year’s commencement address at the college. “It has made it the best years of my life.�

Acknowledgments--Girl Scout Ilona Bartfay, 11, of Fountain Valley named Sweepstake Queen of Goodwill Industries 20th Annual Doll Fair by winning first place in the character doll contest. She created a doll depicting Laura Ingalls of television’s “Little House on the Prairie.�. . . Ellen Covey, Garden Grove fire safety education specialist, named by Orange County Fire Fighters Assn. as Fire Fighter of the Year. Selected over 15 others, she is first woman to win the award.