Operating Sessions List

This railroad depicts the B&O’s Shenandoah Valley branch, circa 1949 running from Brunswick, Md. south through West Virginia terminating in Strasburg, Va at the Southern interchange. While there is plenty of action during a session, the layout is spread out through a large basement so the sensation of running on a quiet branch line is evident. John uses both steam and diesels in his operations. HO scale, wireless throttles, TT&TO. Crew of 10.

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 Erie Lackawanna climbed steep grades both east and west out of Scranton, PA. This 28- by 34-foot HO Scale layout faithfully models the eastward climb to Pocono Summit and East Stroudsburg in July-August 1975, and nearly all trains require helpers to climb the grade. ProtoThrottles are used to control sound-equipped DCC locomotives, helping operators feel the struggle up the grade. Two eleven-track and one seven-track staging yards provide traffic. Two on-line yards and multiple on-line industries provide operating interest beyond the mainline action, and the Bloomsburg Branch provides a live interchange with the Reading Railroad plus additional industry. The layout is dispatched using ABS/Rule 251 on the mainline and timetable and train orders on the Branch. Turnouts are both commercial and handlaid, using code 83 rail for the mainline and code 70 in the yards and industrial areas. The layout is fully operational, and scenery is about 50% complete.

Rich Steinmann's Erie-Lackawanna Morris and Essex Division models the section from Madison on the east through Morristown, Morris Plains, Dover, Wharton, Port Morris to Blairstown, Netcong, and Phillipsburg on the west. “Chatham” staging to the East (beyond Madison) represents Hoboken and Croxton Yard. “Blairstown” staging to the West (beyond Port Morris) represents Scranton, Buffalo, and Chicago. The Sussex Branch ends at Sussex staging and the Old Main ends at Phillipsburg staging. At Morristown, you will find the Morristown and Erie Railroad. There are several other interchanges: with the CNJ (at Dover and Wharton), with the Wharton and Northern and Mount Hope Mineral at Wharton, and with the Rockaway Valley at Morristown. Main Jobs include a Dispatcher, an Operator, Port Morris Yardmaster, Assistant Yardmaster, the Wharton Drill (two-man crew), the Morristown and Erie (two-man crew), and seven other E-L locals. We also run four through freights, three long distance passenger trains, three local passenger trains, and several runs of the MU. Control is by Digitrax (simplex and duplex radio and tethered throttles). There is also capacity for 4 WiFi Throttles.

The layout recreates the Virginian in 1959 (no steam, last year of independent operation) between Norfolk and Roanoke (sadly, no electrics). The Robert Sprague design is located in a 13’ by 39’ basement room, with Digitrax controls (bring your favorite throttle or use one of mine). It is not ADA accessible. The operating scheme includes four jobs: the Suffolk and Alta Vista turns, the Suffolk Shifter, and the Through Freight. As a very new layout (first session was August 13, 2024), the operational scheme is in development, currently using a traditional car card system.

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 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, W.V. West of Norton, the line to Richwood W.V. 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, W.V. 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 and a connection with the NYC.