History of Litchfield Station and Mr. DCC
First There Was Litchfield Junction
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber company began growing cotton for tire cord in the Phoenix AZ area in the early 1900s. Bill Litchfield, a relative of the Chairman of the Board at the time was sent out to run the operation. Bill built a city for the workers (the beginnings of the current city of Goodyear) and a place for the managers (now called Litchfield Park).
The Litchfield Branch of the Southern Pacific left the Phoenix division mainline in Goodyear at Litchfield Junction, as shown in this aerial photo of the Goodyear-Phoenix airport. The mainline runs from the center right of the photo to the lower left. The branch runs due north from the WYE just above the white lettering. This 5.4 mile branch was used for loading cotton and taking the executives to Litchfield Park where their business cars were parked. The turnouts were removed from the mainline in 2009.
Then There Was Litchfield Depot
A depot was erected about 1/4 mile east of Litchfield Junction (just off the right side of the aerial photo above) and called Litchfield.
This depot served the Southern Pacific railroad for many years. It was abandoned and sold and moved. (Thanks to Gary Gelzer for this historic photo - click on it to enlarge.)
The picture above shows Litchfield Depot as it was in 2001. It was moved to a farmer's field a few miles west of its original location and used as a stable and warehouse!
In February 2009, it moved! CLICK HERE for details.
Who is Bruce?
I started Litchfield Station as a DCC supplier for this millenium. CLICK HERE to read the story.
Then there was Litchfield Station
Since Bruce & Linda's residence is about a mile west of the terminus (Litchfield Park) of the Litchfield Branch, we decided that the name had a nice ring and decided to use it for the business Bruce created in 1991 (with the appropriate D.B.A. from the Arizona Secretary of State). Since depot refers to a physical building and station refers to a stop, we decided to use Litchfield Station. For most of our customers, we were a stop along the Internet, not a physical presence.
We located LItchfield Station in commercial space in Avondale in 2009, closer to Litchfield Junction and the original Litchfield Depot. But that's another story . . .
Bruce started Litchfield Station in 2001 to do a few decoder installations. He operated the business out of his and Linda's residences in the Phoenix area (winter) and near Flagstaff (summer). Adding DCC related items increased the business over the years.
The local modelers started calling Bruce by "Mr. DCC". The name stuck.
Then, in 2006, Linda broke her foot and was unable to continue working on ladders (she was a professional faux finisher and muralist). Bruce needed help and talked Linda into joining him in the business.
In 2007, Bruce and Linda sold their summer home near Flagstaff and moved Litchfield Station into commercial quarters in Avondale, near their (now year-around) home. They began advertising internationally and seriously promoting the buisness.
As the business grew, folks were added. By April of 2008, we had a team of folks.
In early 2010, Bruce & Linda and most of the team members decided to retire. Jack Baer purchased the business and, at least for now, is keeping it in the same place!
Throught the summer of 2010, Bruce moved the Mr. DCC's University data from the Litchfield Station site to this site.
While he cannot, by agreement with Jack, operated a DCC specialty business, Bruce continues to offer some model railroading services - CLICK HERE to learn more!