Model Railroad Open Houses

One of the more unique facets of this hobby is how people will open their homes to perfect strangers  so that they can show off their modeling talents as well as progress building a model railroad. This has become an annual occurrence in northeast Ohio, as well as other parts of the US, during the month of November. Within our local area, we are lucky enough to have two Divisions of the NMRA as well as several independent clubs, partake in layout visits. This past weekend, Division 4 had four layouts open in the areas south of Cleveland, and I was lucky enough to get to get all those fall chores, such as gutter cleaning and leaf raking, done so that I could visit each location.  It also didn't hurt that the day was a mixture of sun and clouds, as well as cooler autumn temperatures, making nice conditions for a drive in the countryside. 

The first stop was the Allegheny and Northern, a layout created by Dave Bitte. The HO scale Allegheny & Northern is a free-lanced, short line railroad located in central-eastern West Virginia during the summer of 1965. The unique aspect to this layout is viewing everything through a series of openings in the valance, which runs from the ceiling to below the operating level, making each scene appear like a museum diorama. The backdrops are also sensational. The RR supports branch lines, interchanges and multiple on-line industries to keep a crew of 7-8 busy.

Upper and lower valence

Diorama view of part of the layout, the upper and lower valence easily trick you into thinking that these are rolling hills within WVa

My next stop was to Jerry Kreuger’s basement, where he is in the process of modeling central Illinois in the late 60s to the early 80s. This double deck layout is currently under construction, although both levels have been built and connected by a massive, two track helix. The lower level is primarily staging and classification yard/engine facility. 

Third stop of the day was Aaron Dupont's USS-Acme Steel layout.  This is a switching layout loosely modeling the Chicago area. Main industry is USS-Acme Steel featuring three blast furnaces, basic oxygen furnace, rolling mills, sintering plant and all the necessary support buildings. Also non-steel related switching area representing the Calumet River area. Continuous running loop around 22' by 50' basement featuring 50 car trains.

Entire layout is devoted to switching this massive steel mill; requires 5 operators

Last stop for the day was the Union Valley Central RR, built by John Puch.  This is a double loop HO scale layout based on small towns in Ohio and Pennsylvania. It also features an operating coal mine, power plant with coal dumper, beer factory, interchange track and small yard.

Nice two-room layout with lots of running and great scenery

A great day of model railfanning and thanks to all for opening up their layouts.

Getting Organized

I've spent some time over the last several weeks getting the rails organized and ready for the ONRH&TS convention.  The biggest and best investment was purchasing about a dozen heavy duty plastic totes. I opted to use two sizes for the storage of rolling stock and other building and scenic supplies.  Large 18 to 35-gallon totes are used to store large amounts of rolling stock, with each type of rolling stock getting it's own tote. While this may seem like I have a large number of rolling stock, I really don't but you have to remember that rolling stock such as centerbeam flatcars, wood hoppers, etc require a large amount of room and typically can't stored on their ends.  I use the 3-10 gallon totes for those cars which I don't have many pieces.  While not an endorsement, I prefer the Rubbermaid Roughneck totes as they seem to be a heavier duty plastic material and not prone to cracking like some of the cheaper plastic totes available.  A small and large tote can easily be stacked beneath the layout, creating storage space and plenty of room to organize rolling stock for the next operating session.

I built shelving for my paint bottles and small objects in the process of being built or repaired.  This is located just above the work scape and includes a fluorescent lamp mounted to the base.  I also mounted a strip of corkboard immediately below so that I can tack up drawings or building plans, which can be quickly and easily referenced from the work bench.  Also very handy to get the small extras out of the way of the work surface.

The next item was taking some plastic electrical outlet boxes, cutting them to size so that they could be used to hold throttles.  I use the cheapest gang box, which costs about half a buck, and cut off all of the extra plastic which holds the nails, turn them on their side and cut a slot down the center and through to a portion of the base.  A little black spray paint and you have a great throttle holder which is easily screwed onto the layout fascia.