There's no stopping grandparents.

When it comes to pampering, spoiling

and just plain favoring grandchildren, grandparents are pros.

Indulging children is one thing, but gratifying grandchildren is an art and there are plenty of artful grandpas and grandmas waiting to demonstrate.

Take Clayton and Ellen Petersen for example.

Or take, Ron and Carolyn Yocoms. They're just as bad -- in

a good way -- as the Petersens.

Each grandfather has constructed a train engine and coal car for their grandsons. The projects are very similar, but neither the Petersens nor the Yocoms knew the other was at work, creating something that would make their grandsons so happy.

This Father's Day, the "dueling grandpas" Petersen and Yocom are kings of the hill in their families.

The Petersen train

"It all started when Ellen found a picture of a train in a magazine. She loved it at first sight and thought Trevor should have one," Clayton Petersen said.

That was early this year and Clayton, who retired from Hormel Foods Corporation after a 39-year career as a production supervisor, was the right man for the job.

He grew up on a farm near Spencer, Iowa, the son of a farmer, who was adroit, as most farmers are, at "fixing things."

The Petersens have three other grandchildren, but Trevor, 18 months is the youngest. He is the son of Lori and Jarred Winkle, who live in a suburb of Green Bay, Wis.

Clayton is a talented wood craftsman, well-known for his custom made furniture items.

It took him three to four weeks, working off and on in his spare time,

to construct a train engine and coal car 16 feet in length and 3 1/2 feet wide resting their wheels on track

It has a smokestack and the wheels are raised, so they spin around on the all-wood track.

It was completed and disassembled

in Austin for the trip to Wisconsin. On Memorial Day weekend in May, Trevor's father, Jarred, and his grandparents, Clayton

and Ellen Petersen as well as paternal grandparents, Eldon and Bette Winkle, Lyle, and great-grandparents, Norman and Lillian West, all helped assemble the train as well as a backyard play system.

"What made it special is that we had four generations working on a project like this," said Clayton.

The Yocom train

Ron and Carolyn Yocom saw plans for a backyard train in

a magazine.

They were immediately curious about the project. Their son and daughter in law, Greg and Shelley Yocom live on a comfortable acreage in far southwest Austin with their daughter Laura, 17, and son, Hunter, 4.

Ron Yocom, who works at Hormel Foods Corporation's flagship Austin plant described himself as a "Jack of all trades."

When it comes to his grandson, Hunter, whom he calls "Bud," he became a master craftsman. "We ordered the blueprints and went to work," said the grandfather. "Once we got started, it only took about a week."

The grandfather framed the locomotive and coal car at his residence on Austin's far east side. Then, he disassembled it and hauled it across town to his son, Greg's house.

Ron said his father was an inspiration to him and taught him his carpentry skills. "Mostly, it's trial and error, but I enjoy building and repairing things," he said.

Greg Yocom works for the city of Mapleview and his wife, Shelley, works for Austin Packaging Company.

They have a large playground system in their backyard for Hunter and Ron Yocom constructed a permanent baseball hitting tee so, he said, "We wouldn't have to chase the ball all the time when he hits it."

However, the site of a

4 foot wide, six-feet tall and 16 feet long train engine and locomotive complete with rail crossing and stop signs and a bench to wait for the next train creates something that any grandchild would rave about.

The treated lumber 2-car train is something to admire and shows how skilled Ron Yocom is at building things. For instance, the wheels have six pieces to them and crossbars.

The grandfather still has his shopping list of lumber for the project. 2 by 4s and 2 by 6s, deck boards, plywood, galvanized piping, 300 screws and the rest.

Obviously, he's ready to share the plans with other grandparents, looking for the ultimate way to spoil a grandchild.

"I'm happy and pleased I was able to do something like this for my little Bud," said the grandfather.

Lee Bonorden can be contacted at 434-2232 or by e-mail at :mailto lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com