The layout is based on the PRR's line between Cresson, PA and John's hometown of Punxsutawney, PA. Operating sessions use 17 crew members! HO scale, using Atlas flex, Walthes Shinohara turnouts, RailCrew uncouplers, RRCirkits MotorMan and TowerMan devices to interface with JMRI. Operating sessions use TT&TO methodology. The scenery is 90 percent complete with many custom/scratch built structures. Because John lives in the gated community of Heritage Hunt, please have the address and your ID ready to expedite entry.

The O-scale Aquia Line developed since 2009 models the U.S. Military Railroad between Aquia Landing and Falmouth Virginia during the late winter/early Spring of 1863. The USMRR rebuilt 20 miles of the original RF&P line to Falmouth as a supply line to the Army of the Potomac in its winter encampment after the first battle for Fredericksburg, VA. The model features period locomotives, some DCC, some battery-powered, and connected to rolling stock through working link & pin couplers. There is also a working simulation of a Civil War-era telegraph system from a dispatcher station in an adjacent room. Two or three crews of two-persons each take trains over the single-track line from Aquia Landing (with ferry connections to Washington and points north and several modeled period ships) through several towns with passing sidings to the small yard at Falmouth, overlooking the Rappahanock River. Usually a train leaves each end of the layout almost simultaneously, so meets in the stations in between involve careful planning.

The layout depicts railroading in Catasauqua, PA (just north of Allentown) in the mid-1950s in HO scale. At that time, the town and its environs hosted six railroads. The Lehigh & New England Railroad’s Catasauqua Branch touched them all and plays the featured role on the layout. In addition to serving local industries, the Catasauqua Branch was one of the L&NE’s primary interchange gateways thanks to busy connections at the end of the branch with the Reading and Lehigh Valley railroads. Only a few prototype miles are modeled with the goal of recreating select scenes as faithfully as possible in a space of approximately 16’x23’ + adjacent staging. Access to the layout is via basement stairs only.

The layout is a Two-Rail O Scale in an 18'x90' basement. The layout is built primarily from parts of three OS2R heritage layouts, the best known of which is John Armstrong's Canandaigua Southern. The layouts are integrated into a single, multi-level track plan. Operations are a mix of Canandaigua Southern (featuring original CSRR engines and rollng stock) and Nickel Plate. Long trains are featured. The era is set in 1958, although more modern equipment is sometimes operated. The layout is DCC and sound-equipped. The layout was featured in Great Model Railroads 2016, but much has been added since then.

An HO Scale Model Railroad modeled in 1958. Slipping through the suburbs of Montgomery County Maryland in the early 1900’s the Georgetown Branch split from the Baltimore and Ohio Metropolitan Subdivision in Silver Spring Maryland and ended in Georgetown Washington D.C. The mainstay of the branch was freight service mostly building materials, lumber, steel, coal for home heating, and in Georgetown coal for the steam generating plant that heated congressional buildings in Washington D.C.

The Central Maine Railway is a freelanced railroad modeled in O scale Proto 48 that operated in Maine in the late 1890s. Running between Bangor and Portland and west to a connection with the Grand Trunk Railroad, the main focus of the layout is the area between Belfast and Camden with a car float/tug operation from Camden Junction to Stonington on Deer Island. A steamship company also operates a passenger side-wheeler between Deer Island and Camden Junction. The layout occupies two rooms plus a staging area with a total area 1,000 square feet. All the locomotives, cars, and buildings are scratch built. The engines are operated though radio controlled NCE handheld radio devices and operate on hand-laid track. The scenery is real dirt and stones with a hand-painted backdrop. There are also more than a thousand handmade trees. Of special interest, besides the ships, is the fully operational rotary snowplow, and a full-size Victorian Shingle Style “cottage.” Model Railroader has already published a photo of the layout with a full article coming in the future.

My layout is a prototypical representation of CSX's "Downtown Spur" in Miami as it existed in 2006. The prototype branch is 3 ½ miles long and serves a variety of customers ranging from produce manufacturers, scrap yards, and an LPG dealer. The layout, which is HO scale, occupies a 20 foot by 20 foot space in my basement. Details, photos, and a trackplan can be found on my website, www.lancemindheim.com.

The Delaware and Hudson Railway — Susquehanna Division is an under-construction three level point to loop layout with a planned mainline length of over 500 feet. It represents the D&H from Albany, NY to Binghamton, NY and Wilkes Barre, PA. Currently over 50% of the mainline is installed and operational, with basic scenery in place on the upper level. With the decline of anthracite coal traffic by the mid-20th century, the D&H concentrated on bridge traffic, with principal connections being B&M, CP and CN on the north and EL, PRR (PC), LV and CNJ on the south. My pre-Contrail 1975-era D&H will operate with 14 daily through freights, including a pair of LV/ D&H run-throughs from Allentown, PA to the B&M connection at Mechanicville, NY. Also seen are extras including EL and N&W power. Albany, Binghamton and Wilkes- Barre are represented by staging yards, while major classification work is performed in yards at Mechanicville and Oneonta, NY. The sawtooth profile of the Susquehanna Division requires helper operations in places, further adding to the action.

The Wilson Creek Division represents late 50’s railroading in the hills of Eastern West Virginia. The railroad is proto-freelanced with settings suggested by locations in the general area. The B&O line is modeled around the town of Norton WV, with staging toward Grafton and Charleston, WV. West of Norton the line to Richwood WV branches off to the town of Cowen, with Richwood staging at the end of the branch. The Western Maryland and C&O connect at Norton, with their staging represented at Elkins and Durbin, WV. Operation features substantial industrial trackage and live interchange at Norton, as well as coal and industrial traffic along the branch, including a coal preparation plant and papermill at Cowen along with a connection with the NYC. Scenery is 95% complete. The railroad is a single deck, around the walls of a 15 x 22 foot room with a central peninsula and grade up the branch. It was rebuilt for operation and is now holding regular operating sessions. Car forwarding is by Car Cards and Way Bills with NCE radio controlled throttles as well as one Proto Throttle. Ninety Eight percent of the locomotive consists are equipped with sound decoders (mostly Sountraxx) and fine-tuned with Decoder Pro. Op sessions are held using a crew of 5 and utilize a fast clock set at 3:1. Access to the layout room is not handicap accessible and a duckunder needs to be negotiated to enter the room.