Hackensack man launches new program
HACKENSACK - From working on the Apollo space program that sent Neil Armstrong to the moon in 1969 to working on a small model train town today, 86-year-old Duane Mitton of Hackensack has had an interesting life.
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Mitton, who graduated from Staples High School, said he plowed corn as a teenager and he didn't like it. He wanted to do something else, like being a radio operator on a merchant ship. He tried that for awhile and then World War II came and he had to learn cryptography.
But a vast part of Mitton's life, he built missiles for a technology company that is now called Lockheed Martin. The company's main office was in California, but Mitton traveled to several of its satellite offices in South Carolina and Washington. Mitton, who lived in Virginia at the time, built missiles and worked on the Apollo and Gemini programs.
Pat Wimperis, a caregiver with Home Instead Senior Care in Brainerd, and Duane Mitton, a resident at The Senior Class in Hackensack, worked together building this model train community. Brainerd Dispatch/Jennifer Stockinger
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Mitton enjoyed his career in aeronautics and his wall at his apartment at Hackensack Senior Class, an assisted-living facility, is proof of how proud he was on his work. His wall includes photographs and awards of his career, including an Apollo Achievement Award Mitton received for his work on the Apollo program that was given to him by NASA.
Mitton's life changed a year ago when his wife of 60 years died. Mitton, who has macular degeneration and is legally blind, decided to move closer to home and he knew that the Hackensack Senior Class - that was built on the site of the old Hackensack School - was opening.
When Mitton moved in he began a new hobby. He wasn't the woodworking or crafty type man and with his eyesight his options were limited.
Julie Swenburg, activities director at Senior Class, knew they needed to find a hobby geared for Mitton and thought a model train layout would be a nice fit. Swenburg said a Brainerd man who works with a grief support group who started a train layout in Pine River and that is where the idea came from.
The trains are what has kept Mitton active and has improved his quality of life. With the help of his caregiver, Pat Wimperis of Home Instead Senior Care in Brainerd, they've created a small railroad he calls "The Senior Class Express."
The two spend about 15 hours a week since they began the project in December.
Pat Wimperis, a caregiver with Home Instead Senior Care in Brainerd, tested the voltage for the train's signal light crossing, while Duane Mitton, a resident at The Senior Class in Hackensack, watched. Brainerd Dispatch/Jennifer Stockinger
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"I'm the thinker and she's the doer," Mitton said because of his eyesight. "I tell her how to do things and she does it. She wants me to do all the thinking, but she also thinks on her own on how to do things."
Mitton and Wimperis have gone on many trips to find pieces for the model train layout, including going to the hobby shop in Brainerd, where they found a Northern Pacific train car.
"My nephew gave me a few cars and some tracks too," said Mitton.
Mitton said he doesn't want a large town, so he wants to keep it where it is with a train station, a barn with animals, a church and a house. The town is built on top of a 4-foot high table and the electric train runs around the structures in a circle. Around the structures is fake grass.
"I'd like to eventually have a mountain, a railroad yard and a train yard," said Mitton. "But we have to take it day by day."
Currently Mitton and Wimperis have been struggling with the wiring for the crossing signals and setting up a timer. They work on the electrical things in his "laboratory," also known as his dining room. They are close to having the signals working.
This is a bird's-eye view of the a model train town at The Senior Class, an assisted-living facility in Hackensack. Brainerd Dispatch/Jennifer Stockinger
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They not only work on the train, but they also work on bicycles and other items in a shop outside of the assisted-living facility. Riding bicycles is another one of Mitton's hobbies.
"I used to ride a lot," said Mitton. "On my 64th birthday I rode from Abilene to Austin in Texas. I think it was about 300 miles. Now I can't ride as much. I have a tricycle I ride around town."
Mitton plans to keep up on his hobbies and he still has a goal he wants to complete before he dies.
"I need to eat more carrots so I can go into the watch repair business," Mitton laughed. "With Pat's help we also want to recreate portions of the 8088 computer."
JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851.