Wow, that's fantastic! Nice smooth trackwork and steady video. How long is the mainline run? Can't help but notice its all diesel.
Thats quite a ride John! Great scenery and bridges and about everything else too! Some good track work as well. What kind of switches did you use?
Tom, I used Atlas # 6 and #8. The curved switches are Walthers/Shinohara's Don, The main line run I would say is about, around 350'-400' I do have a 4-8-4 steam locomotive with sound that run excursions on some of the sessions. You need to bring that 4500 over!
The only thing better than seeing photos and video of Johns layout is to see it in person. John's a great host during op sessions and an even better modeler. Brad
I live in STL (Hazelwood), I'm a little intimidated by the thought of operating but I'd love to watch others operate in a session, John.
Craig, I definitely understand about being intimidated, I experienced it, however, once you start initiating your urge to participate in ops and get a few sessions under your belt and realize how much fun and enjoyment you can get from that aspect of the hobby. I will send you a PM and get you introduced to an op session. Not only just mine, but to all of the other fine layouts that I operate on. John
Craig, operating is what makes the modeling efforts all come together. It gives the model railroad a meaning and purpose; reproducing in miniature what happened in prototype. There should be no reason to be intimidated; most every operating host I have met will tell you the purpose is to have fun. You really should get involved with John Peluso, Gary Gross, Bob Brady, John Schindler, Rene Lavoise and the rest of that bunch in the St Louis area. It's a great group of guys and they have a lot of fun.
Tom, Layout is not CTC. The signal is automated by "Logic Rail System" circuit using photo cells to activate it. Eye Candy sort of speak, makes photo taking appeal. A dispatcher is isolated in another room using a schematic magnet board for train movements and is in contact with road crews using 2 way radio.
Revisiting this thread after more than a year. You know, I guess one of the cool things about aging is that you get to see things you saw once before (but forgot it) so it's new all over again! John, you're layout is truly national caliber. Pick your publisher and offer a few sample pics and I'll bet you'll get offers for publication. That is, unless you'd rather avoid the notoriety that comes with a nice layout once it goes national/global. I simply love the atmosphere you've created and the fact that it appears to be solidly set in the black and yellow era (and you're doing a good job representing it), just makes it that much more classic looking! I can't say "well done", or "excellent", or any other superlative enough. It's truly a GREAT layout. Andre
John, l had a whole box of old rail logic boards given to me. But they all had to be modified to work with LED signals. I sent them to the east coast to be done and that was the last I saw of them. Which is a bummer I would have liked having signals. Had a signal guru here from Utah a year ago he brought some examples, we sat down and after we went pass the $1500.00 mark I started losing interest at an accelerated rate. True CTC is even more pricey. ABS would be fine with me. I always enjoy seeing your MRR images and videos. A truly first class operation.
