- Canyon Creek Scenics

Our History

A few words from Pete Vassler:

As with the many other individuals involved with cottage industries serving the model railroading industry,
I had a need for a really nice product—in my case great looking conifer trees—but could not locate any that suited my requirements.
I wanted nice small ones, eye popping big ones with tons of detail,
as well as dying and dead trees to complete the realism I was striving for in my forest scenes.
The answer I came up with was to make 'em myself.

Now, I could skip forward quickly by saying “the rest is history,” but I am writing this at the end of 2004
and nearly nine years is a long time to be making model trees.
I decided back in 1996 to do it right, so I embraced conifer trees by observing them closely through all four seasons,
taking photos of them, climbing them (Yep! That's work for an artist! I have a lot of respect for loggers!),
taking samples back to my studio to copy the colors of the bark, foliage,
and lichen under indoor lighting so they would look as natural as possible.
I still observe trees of all kinds and take photos whenever I travel to get ideas for my DeepWoods ™ creations.
The results of my research I think show in the finished product(s).

Very early on, people asked if they could buy my trees—and NOW the rest is history.
With the help of my wife, Barbara, we traveled to shows, then later with the help of two special friends,
Charlie and Dan, we were able to take our show online so the world could see what we do.
Now Canyon Creek Scenics' trees are in a lot of places: much of the US, Japan, Europe and South America.
They are in the movies too.
We have met the greatest people in all scales of model railroading as well as the military modeling hobbies,
the movie industry, and the world of architecture.
It is truly amazing what these very talented people have done with our trees and tree kits.
They delight us by sending photos of their work.
One customer in Belgium sent us an entire movie on DVD—what a surprise!

Nice looking, large model forests take a long time to complete, but we plan to keep making trees as long as the Good Lord allows,
so there is time to grow your forests slowly and steadily until they are completed and are so gorgeous that,
as Charlie Comstock once suggested, “You can hear the little animals scurrying through the underbrush!”

Happy Modeling!

Acknowledgements

We have been told many times that Canyon Creek Scenics trees are the finest of all;
enough times that now we believe it may be so, and we have several people to thank for that.
This website of forest scenery products was originally designed by my friend, Charlie Comstock.
The webmaster duties have shifted to another talented friend, Dan Moss.
Websites take an enormous amount of time to produce and for this reason
I would like to thank Charlie’s wife, Betty, and Dan’s wife, Mary
for the valuable time their husbands spent helping us instead of them.
These are fun guys - I’m sure they were missed.
My wife, Barbara, organizes the tangle of details
that seems to grow exponentially with a business,
keeps raw materials purchased and the bills paid.
She is the artist behind much of the business stuff you see
(like the logo and various business forms and the illustrated instructions found in the kits)
and not only makes some of the products,
but sees to it they are packed nicely and shipped to the customer.

I have a group of model railroad buddies who are mentors in many aspects of the hobby:
Bill Metzger, who, when he ran the Evergreen Roundhouse, was my first customer—thanks, Bill!
Then there is Ralph Livermore, Len Bruening, Fred Page, John DeCamp, Terry Shellenberger, Rich Pennisi,
Jim Barta, Jerry Sheffield, Dan Moss and Charlie Comstock, Shaun Toman, Steve Kelsey, and Dick Yager—every one a superb model railroader.
These are the guys I summon to answer all my model railroad and computer questions.
And when it comes to logging modeling I had Lyle Noah and Hal Peterson, both now deceased, to get advice from. Big loss there.
Dan Moss also keeps my PC buzzing along—and has done that for years and I’m most grateful.

Please, begin your tour of Canyon Creek Scenics and enjoy!
Pete Vassler November 2004
Owner and Tree Maker, Canyon Creek Scenics