Fellowship

Dave Revelia and Brian Nolan were both excellent modelers who didn’t know each other because they lived on opposite coasts of Florida. Jon Addison was a good friend of Dave’s, and when Jon and Brian met at a train show, he suggested that Dave and Brian get together since both were firefighters, excellent model builders, and shared many interests. They became best friends and travelled to many train shows often with Jon Addison.

Brian and Dave dominated many model contests between 2000 and 2006. Their favorite venues being the annual National Narrow Gauge Conventions (NNGC). These shows include what many modelers consider to be the premier model railroad contest in the country each year.

Dave won the NNGC Best-of-Show award in 2002 for his Ott Fence diorama. He won again in 2004 with his 3/8-inch scale Logging and Tractor Repair Shed. Brian Nolan won his NNGC Best-of-Show award in 2005 with a fabulous O scale model called “Ullian’s Machine Shop.” The two friends produced several other award-winning models during this time.

At the 2008 NNGC show in Portland, Oregon, the Sundance team, of which Dave is a member, won the Best-of-Show award for the show-stopping large scale Sundance Central Railroad. It was the debut of this spectacular train layout, and it would go on to travel extensively across the country to much fanfare and acclaim.

The 2007 Craftsman Structure Show

The inaugural Craftsman Structure Show in 2007 in Mansfield, Massachusetts, was notable for probably having more significant finescale railroad dioramas under one roof at the same time in the history of the planet. The first of several successful shows was attended by about 300 serious builders who specialized in structure and diorama buildings.

The show’s creators and directors were Jimmy Deignan, Doug Foscale (of FOS Scale), and Scott Mason. George Sellios was on hand displaying some of his wonderful creations, and he hosted an open house at his fabulous HO scale Franklin and South Manchester Railroad. George also was one of the first inductees into the Craftsman Structure Hall of Fame at the concluding awards dinner. The other charter inductees honored were Dave Frary, Mike Tylick, Dick Ewell, Brian Nolan, Dave Revelia, and Marvin Kemper. Dave Frary and George Sellios were also presented with Lifetime Achievement Awards.

A big feature of the shows were the clinics put on by many of the hobby’s best presenters — including Brett Gallant (Sierra West), who put on four show-stopping clinics. Other clinicians were the new Hall of Fame members, and Bob Mitchell, Rich Beaubien, Bob Van Gelder, Jimmy Deignan, and Russ Greene.

Dave Revelia and Brian Nolan spent all of their show hours onstage, offering close-up and one-on-one clinics on figure painting, and tips on fine scale modeling.

The highlight of the show was no doubt the huge number of incredible, highly detailed and masterfully built dioramas from all over the world. Dave Revelia brought a PODS container filled with models built by himself and other talented Florida modelers including Brian Nolan. Other outstanding dioramas were by Dick Elwell, Carl Laskey, and Bob Mitchell. The pilot models in the manufacturer’s room were a rare chance to see which models later became very successful kits.

In addition to George Sellios’ fabulous Franklin and South Manchester layout, the home layouts of Bob Van Gelder (South River Models), Dick Ewell, and Jimmy Deignan’s Pennsy Middle Division, created by Dave Frary, were also open to the attendees at different times during the weekend.

Dave Revelia and Brian Nolan brought most of their outstanding models to the show, and they were two of the biggest stars there. Dave later conceived of, and built the most famous model railroading and model military museum in the U.S. — the Suncoast Center for Finescale Modeling.

The Sundance Central Modular Railroad

Frank Palmer and Richard Schmitt asked members of the Florida Garden Railroad group, Tampa Bay Division, if they were interested in forming a modular group. Within a few weeks there were eight members, but after a couple of years the number dwindled to Richard, Frank, Jim Hopes, Keith Wolfe and Dale MacKeown.

Richard asked Dave Revelia if he knew of anyone interested in joining the Sundance Central group and modeling in Fn3. Dave said “What about me, I’ll join.” And then there were six, and it stayed at six for quite a few years. In recent years, the group added two more members, Jon Addison and the late Tim Godfrey. Most model railroaders know of Jon’s fantastic Sn3 Silverton Central.

The Sundance Central Modular Railroad traveled to Tampa, Florida, and Perry, Georgia, many times for train shows. It also went to Ontario, California, for the Big Train Show on the Queen Mary, and National Narrow Gauge Conventions in Portland, Maine; Portland, Oregon; Hickory, North Carolina; St. Louis, Missouri; and Kansas City (Overland Park), Kansas.

Brian Nolan And The Nolan Wagon Works

A few months before the 40th NNGC in 2010 in St. Louis, Missouri, Brian Nolan suddenly died. Brian was Dave Revelia’s best friend, and was beloved by not only his family, but also fellow first responders, and other friends and model builders.

Before the St. Louis Convention, the members of the Sundance Central were adding significant additions to the growing railroad, including beautiful backdrops by Hal Reynolds of Peabody, Massachusetts, and a significant sawmill. The Sundance Central was making its first appearance in St. Louis. It took the six members and two helpers to drive two 26-foot-long Pensky lift-tail-gate trucks from Florida to the convention. It takes the team 12–15 hours to set it up and 5–6 hours to take it down and pack it back into the trucks.

Dave had been working on a large scale sawmill for the Sundance Central, but was running out of time, so I asked if I could help. So, Dave asked me to build a small dynamite shack. I was eager to try a 1:20.3 scale model of this little structure since I had already built an HO version of it for my sawmill diorama that won the Best-of-Show award at the 2009 Colorado Springs NNGC.

When Mike hauled the dynamite shed to St. Louis (it fit in the overhead of the plane), it unfortunately was too large to fit the footprint of the new mill. During the show it resided on a table next to the exhibit alongside a photo of the late Brian Nolan. Though I was disappointed the model didn’t fit the sawmill, I was happy to hear later that Dave Revelia had taken it back to Florida, where it was turned into The Nolan Wagon Works, a fitting memorial for Brian Nolan.

Nolan Wagon Works

When Dave and Frank decided to incorporate Mike’s building onto the Sundance Central layout, there was very little space left that could be used.

The site they selected required modifications to Mike’s building, and that is when Dave realized this would also be a good time to remember and honor his friend, Brian Nolan.

After Dave and Frank modified the building to fit the limited space, Dave added the name Nolan Wagon Works to the building. He also created a cloth banner proclaiming “Out of Business.”

Richard Schmitt built a wagon to be placed next to the building. He assembled a Grizzley Mountain Engineering laser-cut wood dump wagon kit. These kits are meant to be background models with limited detail. Since this would be a foreground model, several details were added to bring the wagon to life. Metal rims were added to the wheels, along with axle hubs with nuts and metal bands, scratchbuilt trees, yokes and stay chains used for the horses. Then metal springs were added for the seat, and metal brackets for the wood board sides.

All the wood was grained using a wood burner. Rust powders were added to all the metal parts. The finish stain to the wood was done using a solution of brown and black shoe dye with alcohol.

The overall project turned out very well and the team appreciated Mike’s donation of his scratchbuilding to the Sundance, which was then used to honor our late friend and fellow master modeler, Brian Nolan.

Suncoast Center For Finescale Modeling

These and all of the other incredible models are permanently on display at the Suncoast Center for Finescale Modeling. The Center is a 5,000-square-foot museum in Odessa, Florida, with a mission to build and display museum-quality work. The Center features five operating train layouts in various scales and dozens of military model dioramas. Most of the models and displays were built by the members, but the Center also features work from other artists from around the world.

The display floor was built around the Sundance Central Modular Railroad, the largest and most popular feature. Jon Addison’s famous Silverton Central railroad is also displayed, along with the Muskrat Ramble On30 layout built in Australia, and the Center’s newest addition, the Lakeshore Industrial Railroad, an O scale standard gauge switching layout where visitors to the Center can make switching moves with the assistance of a conductor from the team. Dave Revelia has introduced his own collection of military dioramas in various scales ranging from the Civil War to Vietnam, many in collaboration with artisans from around the world.

The Sundance Central Modular Railroad group currently consists of Richard Schmitt, Frank Palmer, Jim Hopes, Keith Wolfe, Dave Revelia, and Jon Addison. Dale MacKeown passed away in October 2016, and Tim Godfrey passed away in November 2020.

The Center for Finescale Modeling is open to the public the third Saturday of the month from September through May. You can learn more about the Center at www.finescalemodeling.org and follow them on their You Tube channel. You will also enjoy this link.