Layout Update Mondays: Final Edition

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.  Due to a (good) change in my schedule, my available hobby time is going to be shrinking.  This leaves less time to work on the layout and blog so I decided it was time to end regular posting to the blog.

For the time being, I plan to leave the blog in place for folks to come back and enjoy the story of the construction of the Tribute to Springfield layout plus the history of the Railroad Hobby Show I've managed to collect. I plan to still update with posts from time to time with updates about the layout.

I am still looking forward to attending the show this coming January with the Mohegan Pequot Model Railroad Club and hope to see you there. As a reminder, below are some links to official show sites if you need up to the minute information about the show.

• Railroad Hobby Show Official Website
• List of Exhibitors
• Show Map
• Amherst Railway Society Facebook Page (for real time updates)

So thanks again for following along over the last year or so and see you next year on January 28 and 29th, 2017 at the Railroad Hobby Show!

Module Monday: The Streets of Bethlehem

The Streets of Bethlehem city module.

Over the year's I've had a chance to photograph numerous modular layouts at the Railroad Hobby Show and interview the module builders.  Here is a look back at one of these module profiles which was compiled during the 2009 Railroad Hobby Show.

Module Spotlight Scale: HO Size: 28"x72" Standards: Club Years Constructed: 2003 Features: Swamp, Beaver Dams Era: 1950s Club: Central New York Modelers Owner: Bill Brown, MMR

For this week's Module Monday, we return to the Central New York Modelers and look at another one of their modules.  This month we look at the award winning "The Streets of Bethlehem" built by Bill Brown, MMR.  The module features a spectacular city scene from the 1950s complete with tremendous detail and animation.  On the module, Bill shows off his structure building ability with lots of kit, kitbashed, and scratchbuilt structures each weathered and detailed.  The module has lots of lighting with street lights, interior building lights, and flashing traffic signals.  A high line on the module is animated with a reversing circuit that allows a train to move in and out of the scene, capturing the viewers attention.

To make transportation easier, the entire back portion of the module which features the bulk of the city lifts off as a separate piece.  When the module was first constructed this allowed the city portion of the module to be placed into the home layout Bill had.

Bill has one numerous awards with the module.  The first award won was the Baldwin Award for Best in Show during the June 2003 NMRA Northeast Regional Convention held in Fishkill, NY.  In 2006, the module won the DPM Module Award for the best use of DPM City Classics structures on a module as well as the Best Module in Show at the 2006 National Train Show in Philadelphia, PA.  Of course, the module also received Best in Show in 2010 at the Railroad Hobby Show.

A repair shop on the front of the module.

Showtime: Layout Media Credits

Model Railroader Video Plus segment.

Want to see the Tribute to Springfield layout in action? During the National Train Show in Indianapolis, IN, I was fortunate to be interviewed by the Model Railroader Video Plus crew as well as TrainMasters.TV.  Cody Grivno stopped by for a discussion about the layout and the final product can be see in Part 2 of their National Train Show report. (segment starts at about the 10:30 mark at the link here.)  The layout was also covered in Part 2 of Trainmaster.TV's National Train Show coverage. (If you are a subscriber, the link is here.) My thanks to Miles Hale and Barry Silverthorn for including the layout in their show as well.

In addition, this YouTube video has a clip of the layout: NMRA 2016 National Model Train Show (starts at 31:25)

Exhibitor Thursday: Amherst Rail Store

The Amherst Railway Society Store inside the Better Living Center.

Exhibitor Spotlight Name: Amherst Rail Store Display Style: Tables Type: Organization Size: 16'x24' Present Location: Better Living Center Home Location: Amherst, MA Website: www.amherstrail-store.org Social Media:

One of the vendors at the show is also the show's host: the Amherst Railway Society.  The organization has several tables where they have flyers and literature as well as numerous items for sale inside the Better Living Center near their HO scale Amherst Belt Lines modular layout.

At these tables, you can find all kinds of Amherst Railway Society and Railroad Hobby Show apparel - like shirts, aprons, sweatshirts, and hats.  In addition, the group has sponsored several books which can be found at these tables along with show cars in both HO and N scale.  If you are interested in joining the group, the fine folks running the table will be happy to process your application.

All of the items which are available at the show are also available online.  Visit the Amherst Railway Society store at: www.amherstrail-store.org

Wordless Wednesday: MPRR G Scale Switcher

Module Monday: NYC Adirondack Division

Charlie's Adirondack Division of the New York Central.

Module Spotlight Scale: HO Size: 24"x48" modules - 15 total Standards: Club Years Constructed: 2000 Features: NYC Adirondack Division Era: 1925-1927 Club: Atlanta Interlocking MR Owner: Charlie Crawford

At the 2009 National Train Show in Hartford, I had an opportunity to meet Charlie Crawford and photograph his modular layout featuring the Adirondack Division of the New York Central.  The layout started with just a single 2'x4' module featuring an icehouse then was expanded to 15 sections making up 66 linear feet of modules.

The theme for the layout was inspired by a trip to upstate New York in the early 1970s during a vacation.  After seeing some photos of the prototype in the area, Charlie had the bug and began the process of planning the railroad.  The current layout models areas from Thendara (Old Forge) to White Rock Curve.  The model follows the prototype with its main traffic coming from passengers, forest products, ice, and general freight for the area.  With the layout set in the mid-1920's the motive power and equipment is generally small steam engines such as Moguls, Consolidations, USRA Mikados and Ten-Wheelers.  Over half of the rolling stock on the layout had to be custom decorated to match the railroad.

Despite living in Georgia, Charlie brought the layout to the NMRA National Train Show in Hartford, CT.  The module set was packed up in a minivan for the 1000 mile trek and Charlie set it up and operated the layout solo for the three days of the show.  That is an impressive feat!  To top off the trip, several modules also earned Honorable Mentions in the module contest.

A passenger train passes Wood Lake Inn.