2023 Meet Details

This railroad came about when I realized the duckunder on the previous railroad had to go. That left me with 3 walls instead of four, and I had been thinking about making a change anyway, so it became an end-to-end switching layout. The concept is a shortline in Arkansas interchanging with the Rock Island. For space reasons, the interchange yard is not modeled, just the “yard lead”. A small town twenty miles away has three industries and a team track to be switched. A train will have three or four cars.  An Atlas SW-8 with Loksound is the motive power.  Turnouts are #5, code 125 made in Fast Tracks jigs. Track is mostly hand laid but I used flex track for straight track areas where I could. NCE Switchit Mk.2 with Button Boards and Tam Valley Frog Juicers are used with Tortoise switch machines, and my 20-year-old Lenz DCC system still works fine. Structures are mostly scratch built from Task Board, GatorBoard, clapboard, and corrugated sheets, with Tichy and Grandt door and window castings. The trestle was scratchbuilt and was used on the previous layout. I hope to add static grass by meet time. It's surprising how a three or four car train can take 45 minutes or an hour to set out and pick up.

Mike Ross’s Virginian layout has a nearly 500 foot mainline that includes spectacular mountain operation, as well as a 2nd loop that serves as a branch line for local trains and switching.  The layout features a long, curved stone arch bridge, a fully detailed trestle, and lots more scenery has been added since last year.  Two trains are operated simultaneously.  Foreground trackage is all handlaid with ties, tie plates, and four spike per tie.  A lot of scenery has been added in the last year.

(Photo Coming Soon!)

Kyle Creel's Blackrock-Grizzly Railroad is On30.  Most of the trackwork is Micro Engineering code 83 weathered rail, but about 20% is hand laid from previous incarnations of the RR.  This is version 3.  Minimum radius is 20 inch; there is one grade of 2.5 %.  Layout height is 47 inch to 50 inch.  The layout is designed to run point to point, point to loop, or loop to loop for continuous running.  The canyon walls drop to the floor.  All structures are scratch built from Kyle’s own designs except the depot at Blackrock which is based on the Squawbottom Depot on John Allen’s G&D.  Kyle painted the backdrop in acrylics. 

This near anagram of a name was suggested by one of Mike's grandsons, AND IT STUCK. The layout occupies a 30 by 50 foot room upstairs. Mike has an interest in both two rail O scale model railroading and collectable Lionel trains. Unable to decide which hobby should claim the layout space, Mike elected to combine both into the layout.  The three rail portion uses Gargraves flex track while the two rail portion is entirely hand laid with tie plates and lost wax castings. The two rail track is about 90% complete.  The three rail track is complete. All Lionel is original before 1955, but friends bring over all makes and models of Hi-rail trains.  The two layouts share the same scenery, but at different levels since there is no way to solve the mechanical problem of a level grade crossing between the two. Curves on each layout are wide enough to permit operation of any model without restriction.  There is no particular prototype for either railroad. Mike can run what he likes and switch the predominant railroad at any time.

The main layout is two-rail O Scale with a very clever (and long!) track plan, but Mike also tucked in a high-rail layout in the middle to showcase his exceptional collection. Both Mike’s two-rail layouts feature hand laid track and turnouts using Lou Cross’s Right-O’-Way components.  Mike has been diligently working on scenery and now his trains pass through many photogenic scenes.

Description Coming Soon!