The layout is set in northern Wyoming and southeastern Montana. The top level is the Burlington Route from Sheridan, WY to the connection with the Northern Pacific mainline on the Yellowstone River at Huntley, MT and is mostly rural, open spaces. The lower level is where the Burlington has trackage rights over the Northern Pacific from Huntley to the city of Billings the large yard at Laurel.

Major industries served by the railroads in 1967 are coal mines, sugar beet factories, oil refineries, a meat packing plant, steel fabrication, flour mills, grain elevators and agriculture.

Construction began in January 2015 and about 1/3 of the track has been laid. The layout is housed in a 85' x 15' 1895 Texas and Pacific section house moved down the tracks from Roanoke. This is the second layout to be built in the section house.

Freelance, located in southwestern Colorado. Double deck with Chinook Southern running point to point thru both decks, from Chinook yard to Frustration Flats yard,; Poudre Valley running point to point from Frustration Flats to Fairplay. Steam era with mostly wooden 36 and 40 foot cars. Mountainous scenery.

Layout is complete; fine tuning and detailing continues.

The Midwest Terminal is a generic walk in, U shaped switching layout representing an industrial area branch line in a big Midwestern city. (rotating between Chicago, St. Paul, KC or others with different locomotives for each session).

Operations start from DIRTY (Downtown Industrial Rail Transfer Yard) and operators always begin their shifts “just after” the transfer trains from two major railroads have dropped off that day’s cuts of cars. One operator will classify in the yard and switch adjacent industries, including grain elevators, concrete plant, gravel pit and steel mill, while the other takes cars for various industries along the branch, including brewery, pipe manufacturer, cold storage, logistics center, newsprint supplier, Ethanol Terminal, Propane distributor, lumber, rail/truck transfer tracks and others. The branch operations are usually split into 3 distinct runs.

One side of the layout is the 7 track yard, and the other is loosely based on the track patterns of the famous N scale Kingsbury Branch by Bill Denton, adapted to Atlas Code 55 N Scale track.

Hard flooring, 4 foot aisle and layout height of 33-36” makes this a potential “roll around” layout for maximum comfort.

The Sierra Lines is an amalgamation of the Sierra Division of the Southern Pacific Lines (SP), the Virginia and Truckee River Railroad (V&T), and the Lodestone, Sierra, and Incline Village Railroad (LSI), the Western Pacific Railroad (WP), and the Sierra Central Railroad (SC), all put together and operated under the auspices of the infamous Dr. Arthur Smith, as you all know. The Texas version of The Sierra Lines all takes place within the city limits of Sacramento, modeled to represent exactly as it would have been on April 1, 1954, given that the long expected “big one” (earthquake) and two eruptions of the Toiyabe volcano had previously occurred. Rebuilding of much infrastructure of parts of the city is still in process, and many areas have no traffic lights, no sewer systems, and no water lines.

The Fort Travis and Dayton railroad models urban communities with industries that depend on the railroad for transportation. Set in the mid to late 50's, the many industries in Gum Springs and Pine View provide plenty of switching activity. Car cards are used for traffic routing during operating sessions. The operations oriented layout, constructed in an 11' x 19' area, accommodates 3 operators. The railroad is currently converting from steam to diesel motive power so both types of locomotives are active. EasyDCC was installed to provide independent train control. Other recent changes include the addition of sound in many of the locomotives. Construction of the railroad began in 1992 and is basically complete including operating block signals and scenery. Like all model railroads changes and improvements continue to be made.

Potomac Valley lines is based on the prototype of the railroads along the banks of the Potomac River in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Railroads represented are the Baltimore and Ohio, the Western Maryland and the Pennsylvania RR. The railroad is set in the 1959 steam to diesel transition era prior to the Chessie system merger. The Eastern end of the Railroad is the Staging yard in Brunswick, Maryland. Trains bound for Baltimore, MD or Washington, D.C. end up here. The Western end of the railroad is the staging yard in Cumberland, Md. where B&O trains can be headed for Pittsburg, PA or any points west. There is a large yard at CUMBO, WV where many cars are interchanged between the B&O and PRR. There is also an interchange at Cherry Run, W.Va. with the WMRR. The branch line to the famous old resort town of Berkeley Springs, WV is modeled and has industry switching, the sand mine for Pa. Glass & Sand is also modeled. The PRR interchanges with CUMBO yard and switches most industries in Martinsburg, WV.

Towns modeled:
B&O RR: Brunswick, MD (East Staging), Martinsburg, WV, CUMBO, WV, Greenspring, WV, Hancock, MD, Berkeley Springs, WV, Paw Paw, WV, Cherry Run, WV, Cumberland, MD (West Staging)
WMRR: Cherry Run, WV, Big Pool, MD, Williamsport, MD
PRR: (Hagerstown, MD (staging), CUMBO yard, Martinsburg, WV

Specs: Benchwork: L-beam, Style: Folded dogbone, Roadbed: ½" plywood with cork, Track: Peco code 100 track, 26"r min, Turnouts: Peco Medium min. ,Grade: 2.25 max. Height: 45" to 53", Mainline run: 152'

Layout Status: Main line is finished, Branch line and sand plant at Berkeley Springs are finished, interchange to WMRR is finished but WMRR industries are under construction. CUMBO yard is finished. PRR interchange is finished and industries on the PRR is under construction and about ½ done. No ballast has been applied, only a few structures are in place and no scenery has been done. Turnout control for staging ladders is electric and automatic, but all other turnout are still manual.

The Oregon Joint Line is a joint NP/GN mainline through the mountains and canyons of eastern Oregon connecting the Pacific Northwest with California. The layout, which is set in 1969 just prior to the BN merger, has plenty of pool power from the connecting California roads (WP, SP, and ATSF). Most heavy trains (freights are typically 22-28 cars long) receive helpers for the shove up the 2.2% grade to the summit at Snowline. A forest products shortline, the "Oregon & Northeastern", switches the Hines Lumber pulp/plywood complex and makes log runs out to Canyon Reload. The major terminal area has three yards (NP, GN, and the O&NE) with plenty of transfer/interchange activity and industrial switching.

1956! Fictitious 200 mile stretch between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with a 25 mile branch line into Johnson City, West Virginia. The branch line is served by the cities of Westbrooke, PA and Keyserton, PA.

Code 83 flex, 140 feet mainline with #6 and bigger turnouts and 22" minimum radius turns.

The Rocky Mountain Central (HO) and the Colorado Pacific (HOn3) are based on the D&RGW and the Colorado Southern in the mid 50s. Steam is still the primary motive power (most with sound). The layout features two large yards, a dual gauge interchange, logging operations, mountains that extend to the floor, laser etched control panels, and a unique benchwork design that allows easy access to under layout work.

The Chicago and North Western Iowa division in the Belle Plain area is the focus of this 15' x 35' foot railroad. Branch lines of the Milwaukee road and the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City are also represented. Layout is a John Armstrong design heavily modified by adding more towns and switching and was featured in Model Railroad Planning. Many structures are still in the mockup stage. A great deal of recent effort has gone into making the railroad ready for operation. Control is RailCommand with car routing by car cards and waybills. Lloyd is a consummate craftsman well known for his detailed models and articles in the hobby press. He is also a C&NW authority and has authored four Volumes for Morning Sun Books on the Chicago and North Western in color as well as over 30 magazine articles. Jobs include the Cedar Rapids and Iowa city yard and road Engineer; Wausau yard plus Plymouth Patrol; New Ulm turn out of Belle Plaine Engineer; Columbus Engineer out of Belle Plaine; and the Belle Plaine Yardmaster building and breaking down the above trains for main line set out and pickup at Belle Plaine industries.

Historically, the St. Louis Southwestern (Cotton Belt) went into receivership in the late 1880's as the Texas and St. Louis (T&SL). When it emerged from bankruptcy, the company rebranded itself as the St. Louis Southwestern Railroad. At one time it was also the second longest narrow-gauge railroad in the United States and stretched from East St. Louis, Missouri to Gatesville, Texas, all narrow gauge. My railroad models the premise that the government would not allow the railroad to abandon service on some narrow-gauge routes, and therefore, narrow gauge steam could be found into the diesel transition era in mid America and East Texas. 

The T&SL is a 39' X 19' HO/HOn3 layout which models the Cotton Belt in East Texas in 1958. Motive power is primarily first-generation diesels with an occasional steam engine making an appearance. The layout currently allows for 4-6 operators with a dispatcher. All trains run extra with the exception of passenger service and the Blue Streak Merchandise. Construction on the layout began in March of 2019. Scenery is roughly 75% complete at this time. The pike uses JMRI for dispatching and car inventory. Currently the narrow gauge is not in service pending additional expansion which should be completed by the end of 2022. There is a 10-track staging yard that represents Texarkana and points north. Trains arrive and depart Tyler yard where they are broken down and reassembled for departure.

The MCIS St. Clair Subdivision is a 13'x12' double deck shelf style HO scale layout. Representing the eastern end of this modern Michigan regional, the "Clair" sees a variety of daily trains including manifest, local, and unit.  Constructed in 2011 the layout is now 60% sceniced and fully operational. Utilizing two staging yards, a 3.5 turn helix, and on-layout classification yard the layout hosts a lot of railroading in a small space that will keep crews busy around the clock. 

The PRR Laurel Valley Secondary (2 rail O scale, ¼ inch / ft.) represents the 45 miles from Pitcairn Yard in East Pittsburgh to Moss Lake and Bowest Yard at Connellsville, PA in October 1957. This heavy industrial RR has 31 industries in four industrial districts. The PRR Snow Hill branch line serves the town of Laurel Springs and the large 3 track Penna. Coal and Coke Co. mine #42 at Snow Hill. Industrial districts, Moss Lake, Earlton, East Pittsburgh and Post Oak have 63 car spots.

On display: My 20 car military train with 17 flatcars with 28 vehicles, my 18 car reconditioned RBB&B circus train built circa 1960’s, a 3 track icing facility servicing 21 reefer cars and an award winning double track deck truss bridge. Authentic Pennsylvania RR station sign, PRR interlocking tower signs, a Truc-Train trailer logo disc, PRR wood box phone, RR lanterns, prints and stuff.

Welcome to another country and also another continent! Namibia is situated between South Africa, Botswana and Angola (touching a bit of Zambia) and the Atlantic ocean to the west. The TransNamib is the semi state railroad company, and we model it in N scale as the TxNamib. All modern equipment, modeling yesterday with only room for the western and northern parts of the railroad from Walvisbaai, the port city; Windhoek, the capital (with continued service to South Africa into staging); and Otavi, Grootfontein and eventually Tsumeb in the north. 9 mm is "narrow" enough and like in any 2nd world country, we use any equipment we can get our hands on that works!

Come have fun in this sparsely populated country, moving rail cars from the ocean to the city or north and all the way back on another day! Scenery is scarce, just like water in Namibia. You are welcome to take photos, but publishing them on the internet is not allowed.

Based on the CB&Q Fox River branch from the Eola yard (staging) in Aurora, Illinois to Streator, Illinois. The layout is set in October of 1954 and is based on prototypical operations. The other railroads that the CB&Q crosses are active and modeled including the CRI&P, Wabash, GM&O, Illinois Midland, and ATSF. Silica Sand is the primary commodity and reason for the railroads existence. Two large glass factories and a large fertilizer factory keep traffic moving along with the usual granger road commodities of corn/soybeans/coal/oil/lumber. This layout is all switching with eight jobs.

It is in the 1950's and the U.S. economy is booming.  Railroads are working hard to move freight across the country. Passengers are continuing to travel by train as in the World War II period.  Due to the heavy rail traffic, the railroads have had to supplement new diesel power with steam locomotives. Coal is cheap and so is oil, thus both types of energy are fueling steam. 

The weather in the central part of the country has made rail traffic congested. The Mississippi and Missouri Rivers are over flood stage.  The Mississippi can only be crossed at St. Louis and, thus, all east west movement is through the St. Louis Gateway, whether from Chicago or south to New Orleans. 

The Missouri River at Kansas City is the only crossing in Missouri and so northern and southern movements west of St. Louis must route through Kansas City.

Spur Lines time frame is during the transition period from steam to diesel. The layout has approximately 250 feet of main line with 133 turnouts using Fast Tracks jigs. All turnouts are powered by tortoise switch machines. The track work is complete and scenery is about 90% complete. In a typical session with 4 road crews each operator will run 3 trains and will make at least one switching operation in each town. The layout for the most part, follows typical railroad operation. 

With 3 yards and 11 towns there is a lot of switching for the operators.