Local Layout Tours

• Scale: HO – 9’ x 15’
• DC & DCC
• Percent Completed:
  • Electrical Unknown
  • Track Unknown
  • Scenery Unknown
• Entry Point: Garage door
• Handicap Accessible: Yes

The Norfolk Tennessee Southern RR is a finely detailed, two level layout with complete scenery. The two levels are unconnected and operationally independent with the bottom level being 42″ high and the top level being 61″ above the floor. The Railfan opportunities abound on this layout which is designed for simultaneous continuous running of up to five trains. Mainline traffic is diverse including; unit trains (refrigerated, grain, and coal), dedicated freight (auto parts, Intermodal & mixed freights) and passenger trains. Urban scenes with detailed structures are combined with rural farm and nicely landscaped wooded areas. Modeled scenes include Quaker Oats, Golden Valley Canning Co, Roberts Printing Co, Caldwell Jeep, Rockville Building Supply Co, and McDonalds Farm.

• Scale: HO – 14’ x 24’
• DCC
• Percent Completed:
  • Electrical 75
  • Track 95
  • Scenery 60
• Entry Point: Basement door
• Handicap Accessible: No

The LMS is a freelanced HO switching layout set in the early 2000’s. It is a modified dogbone with multiple switching for business on the main level and on the upper “mountain district.” Trains access the layout from staging using a helix located at either end of the layout. Once on the layout, all “through” trains make drop-offs and pick-ups at Griff yard. When switching is done trains, they exit North to NS DeButts Yard or South to CSX Wahatchee Yard. Consist on the layout may include coal, grain, steel, finished products for wholesalers, intermodal, and refrigerated goods. Business include Nana’s bakery, Mosley’s lumber company, Lookout flour mill, Wittich’s candy makers, Ferris scrap metals, Exelciser printing shop, Southeastern metal fabrications, Costo Warehouse, Heid Mining Corp., and Little River oil storage facilities. A team track allows access to non-rail served companies.

• Scale: HO – 28’ x 15’ plus stagging
• DCC
• Percent Completed:
  • Electrical 100
  • Track 100
  • Scenery 90
• Entry Point: Front door – stairs
• Handicap Accessible: No

The NS new Holland Division is a freelanced HO present day switching layout. It features an around the room track plan with a peninsula containing two industrial business parks and offers both East and West train movement to and from an adjacent room staging yard. Trains move from staging either to their switching destinations or the double ended yard for sorting to and from two industrial business park area or as through trains.

• Scale: HO – 13’ x 42’
• DCC
• Percent Completed:
  • Electrical 65
  • Track 65
  • Scenery 5
• Entry Point: Through gate on right side of house, down slight slope, in through back porch door
• Handicap Accessible: Yes

My layout represents the Springfield MO area of the old Frisco (SLSF) on the Burlington Northern in 1996 immediately before the merger with Sante Fe. Double-ended staging on lower level represents east terminations, Memphis and St Louis. Heading west past the Teed Junction, single track mainline passes the large Intercontinental intermodal yard, then a connection with ALCO-powered Arkansas & Missouri RR at Monett and connections from coal mines out west. The route becomes double track entering West Springfield and passes Southerland’s Lumber, French’s Mustard plant, Associated Wholesale Grocer’s warehouse and Rich Mix concrete. Like the prototype, the double-track mainline passes between the headhouse and silos of ADM, the connection to Springfield Underground (Kraft cheese storage) and Springfield Iron & Metal before entering the 7-track Springfield yard. Kerr-McGee’s railroad tie plant is along back of the yard. Continuing west from the yard, the mainline swings past Southwest Power’s two-unit coal-fired generating site before entering Aurora, which is also served by the Missouri & Northern Arkansas Railroad. After a connection with Kansas City Southern at Neosho, the BN route splits again, where the upper level double-ended staging represents west terminations, Tulsa and Kansas City.

• Scale: N – 16’ x 11’
• DCC
• Percent Completed:
  • Electrical 100
  • Track 100
  • Scenery 5
• Entry Point: Side door (has stairs – 1 cat)
• Handicap Accessible: No

The Norfolk Southern Heartland Division is a “modern-era” N-scale layout depicting Norfolk Southern operations between 2000-2020 on a fictitious route linking the midwest and the southeast. CSX trains operate on trackage rights and foreign power is common. The two level layout measures 16’x11’ not counting the helix and has a mainline run of approximately 150’ not counting staging yards. Staging is accomplished with a 20’ combined main North/South staging yard adjacent to the layout and a smaller hidden staging yard. The Heartland Division is heavy on operations, with numerous road freights, several of which work at various locations along with yard and local moves. The layout is DCC controlled by Digitrax, with numerous sound-equipped locomotives on the layout. While there’s no signaling at this time, the line is dispatched via track-warrants. Operating sessions are busy with around 25 trains to run.

• Scale: HO – 65’ x 20’
• DCC
• Percent Completed:
  • Electrical 95
  • Track 100
  • Scenery 40
• Entry Point: Front door (has stairs)
• Handicap Accessible: No

The Key West & Northern Railway is a three decked layout with a helix between levels. It models some Florida East Coast Railway locations along with freelanced locations, though some of those reflect actual locations. We host operations twice a month. The main yard is a terminating yard, with the cars delivered to local industries then picked up to make up outgoing trains. There are mainline trains that may preform one or two pick-up/set-out of blocks of cars and locations where the blocks are worked by local switchers. There are turns that leave a yard, do work and return to their starting location. Also, I have passenger trains, with some setting out or picking up express cars. MRC wireless DCC system is used to run the railway, with WiFi. We can operate with or without a dispatcher. There is a 50″ duck-under most will need to negotiate to operate the railway. Round topped stools with rolling wheels are provide and for the 46″ duck-under that one person will need during the session. We turn the 4-sided waybills during Ops as some cars and trains run more than once in a session.

• Scale: HO – 8’ x 16’
• DCC
• Percent Completed:
  • Electrical 95
  • Track 99
  • Scenery 80
• Entry Point: Basement door
• Handicap Accessible: Yes

The “HOW Railroad” is a free-lanced HO scale railroad set in the transition era depicting small town east Tennessee. It was inspired by my childhood and teenage experiences watching mainline train operations, reading the “Complete Book of Model Railroading” over and over again, and my wife’s encouragement to build the railroad I had always envisioned. Although not built to be a prototype of its namesake towns, it features many of the structures found in the locations. Major structures are a roundhouse and turntable in one yard with a focus on a maintenance shop in a second. Sidings include a feed mill, freight house, and an ice-house with platform. The town of Ooltewah has a Gazebo, General Store, F.W. Woolworth and a Sportsman Warehouse. Harrison has Harrison Hardware, gas station and Corner Emporium. The track plan is a 3 track mainline with crossovers allowing trains to run in opposing directions providing access to the sidings for switching of cars at the appropriate industries. Other scenic features are bridges, tunnels, and a Scratch-built Pilgrim’s Pride Chicken plant. I enjoy running steam locomotives representing many of America’s greatest railroads.

• Scale: HO – 44’ x 20’ ~ N: 36’ x 4’
• DCC
• Percent Completed:
  • Electrical 100
  • Track 100
  • Scenery 85
• Entry Point: Double door to building behind house
• Handicap Accessible: Yes

HO modular layout, semi-permanent, double track continuous running, representing the Chattanooga area with several industrial switching areas. Theme: steel related, ADM, Steel Coil storage facility, blast furnace, coke plant, rolling mill. The Black River module has great scenery. NTrak modular layout, switchback modules with era based prior to 1920 climbing uphill to model a sawmill and tanning mill. Also included is a large yard consisting of multiple modules.

• Scale: HO – 11.5’ x 14’
• DCC
• Percent Completed:
  • Electrical 50
  • Track 20
  • Scenery 0
• Entry Point: Garage side door
• Handicap Accessible: No – has stairs

The B&M North Shore branch is a proto freelanced version of a piece of the original Eastern Railroad through Beverly and Salem, MA. Key industries include the historic United Shoe Machinery Corporation in Beverly that included the largest concrete building in the world prior to the building of the Pentagon. Salem includes the original Parker Brothers Games factory along with Vincent’s Potato Chips (a famous regional brand). “The Shoe” does double duty as Whitney Wonka’s Chocolate Factory because she is my granddaughter, loves trains and adds creative whimsy. Salem will eventually include the original Salem Spot, where trains appeared to enter a medieval castle through the drawbridge, as well as Beverly Depot, designed by architect Bradford Lee Gilbert. Staging represents both Boston and points further north along the old Eastern Mainline. The layout is set during the steam/diesel transition era {1950-1955}, is primarily for switching, yet allows for continuous running on both mains when desired.

• Scale: HO – 13’ x 22’
• DC
• Percent Completed:
  • Electrical 100
  • Track 100
  • Scenery 100
• Entry Point: Garage door basement level
• Handicap Accessible: Yes

NONAVILLE is basically 4 rail lines with 10 possible trains available to run. It is DC powered and features Santa Fe, Missouri Pacific and Burlington Route locos, reminiscent of my boyhood in north central Missouri. There are four major areas of the layout: A farm section with much rural activity; a village section of small-town USA ambience; a industrial semi warehouse section with scenes of various products and outskirt businesses, and a fourth section containing rural grain elevators, an adjacent oil depot, a concrete facility and mixing facility. Between these main sections are neighborhood scenes, a passenger station featuring both Burlington and MoPac passenger trains, a lake with a waterfall, hillside hikers. Two scenes outside the layout perimeter include a junk yard and the NONA COUNTY Diamond Mine. The layout is tiered and basically a continuous run design.

• Scale: N – 10’ x 16’
• DC
• Percent Completed:
  • Electrical 95
  • Track 95
  • Scenery 45
• Entry Point: Through gate into back yard, enter at 1st back door on your left.
• Handicap Accessible: Yes (has stairs)

The I&W is an N scale DC powered fictional railroad located in the southwestern tip of Virginia, set it the steam transition era of 1950 to 1958. Roughly patterned after the Interstate Railroad it serves as a bridgeline with connections between SRR, N&W, Interstate and C&O railroads. With multiple branch lines, “Coal is King” on the I&W. Additional revenue is generated by a lumber mill at Ken’s Cove and several industries in the city of Williamsburg.

• Scale: S – 25’ x 30’
• DCC
• Percent Completed:
  • Electrical 100
  • Track 100
  • Scenery 100
• Entry Point: From patio, accessed through gate on left side of house.
• Handicap Accessible: No (has stairs)

The C&O Alleghany Subdivision is a S scale prototype based layout representing the C&O mainline from Covington, VA to White Sulfur Springs, WV. This double tracked layout includes a yard at Covington, VA with stops at Roscevert, WV and Alleghany, VA. Highly detailed, the layout has many structures that have been scratch built or kit bashed to represent actual structures found on the prototype. While it is a continuous run layout, it has hosted operating sessions using a point to point configuration. This layout has been featured in Model Railroader and S Scale magazines.

• Scale: HO – 24’ x 30’
• DC & DCC
• Percent Completed:
  • Electrical 90
  • Track 100
  • Scenery 90
• Entry Point: Direct entry from driveway
• Handicap Accessible: Yes

The layout is a compressed three (3) island, double deck “snapshot” of the 1950’s area around Cincinnati, OH. In this era, Cincinnati was a connecting point for seven (7) major railroads with both passenger and freight serving all points N, S, E, & W. Until a few years ago the city of Cincinnati owned trackage rights into the Chattanooga famous Choo-Choo making the Queen City & Scenic City an interesting pair! Cincinnati is also a city of seven (7) hills making hilly scenery an obvious choice.

• Scale: HO – 15′ x 25′
• Deadrail w/Blunomi Decoders
• Percent Completed:
  • Electrical Recharge station only
  • Track 95
  • Scenery 10
• Entry Point: Basement Back of Home
• Handicap Accessible: No

The Cowen-Tracy Branch is an HO deadrail layout using Blunomi decoders with battery power and control by phones on the Soundtrax app. The layout represents the rail line from Cowen to Tracy City serving the coal mines on the Tennessee Cumberland Plateau. The ascent gained 1200 feet in elevation in 7 miles and was the steepest railroad in the world when built. It was known as the Mountain Goat Line. The original line was built to coal mines at Sewanee, TN and later extended to Monteagle and Tracy City to support additional coal operations. The line also served passengers to their local stations, Cowen being on the NC&StL line from Nashville. The branchline layout has the stone arch trestle passing over the mainline tunnel which is said to be the only instance of such an occurrence. The Cowen depot handled passengers from Nashville to Chattanooga. In 1935-36 Caboose 41 was one of the NE-3 class cars transformed for branchline passenger service. The transformation was specific for the journey between Cowden and Tracy City TN within the NC&StL network. This modification provided up to 16 seats for passenger use. It can be seen at TVRM and is the last NE-3 class member surviving.

• Scale: HO – 46’ x 12’
• DCC
• Percent Completed:
  • Electrical 100
  • Track 100
  • Scenery 100
• Entry Point: Garage door, rear of house
• Handicap Accessible: Yes

The HO scale Cherokee Division of the Southern Railway is 1970s point-to-point double-deck layout, running south from Harriman, TN through Chattanooga to Decatur, AL. The 230′ mainline features 25 scheduled trains per session and multiple switching opportunities in real towns along the route, including Rockwood, Chattanooga (Citico Yard), Tiftonia, Bridgeport, Scottsboro, Paint Rock, Gurley, Huntsville, and Decatur. The layout includes a mid-point double-track helix, with lower and upper levels at 39 and 54 inches, respectively. NCE wired and wireless throttles are used. The double-tracked helix is a long passing siding with 50’ of track on each side with 35½” radius on outside and 33½ “radius on the inside track. There are 4½ turns in the helix with a maximum grade of 1.8%. Inside the bottom of the helix is a reversing loop used by trains working industries in Bridgeport. On the top level of the helix the town of Scottsboro has a team track and an oil distribution facility.

• Scale: HO – 16’ x 24’
• DCC
• Percent Completed:
  • Electrical 95
  • Track 98
  • Scenery 85
• Entry Point: Rear of house through French doors.
• Handicap Accessible: No

The C.C.& S. RR is free-lanced HO modular layout set in the 70s through the 90s. It features an interior peninsula containing a stub end yard. The area modeled is set in the northwest Georgia, concentrated around Dalton. Some of the businesses modeled are named after actual businesses or for friends and family members. These businesses include: Manly Jail Works, Brooker Spread Company, Dalton Flour Mill, Owenby Enterprises (fuel) and Brooker Lumber Company. Also included on the layout are several of the owner’s interests, such as firefighting (he is a retired firefighter), camping, etc.

• Scale: HO – 12’ x 16’
• DCC
• Percent Completed:
  • Electrical 90
  • Track 100
  • Scenery 75
• Entry Point: Through garage (has dog & cat)
• Handicap Accessible: No

The Sequatchie Valley Lines is based on the former Nashville, Chattanooga & St Louis branch line in the Sequatchie Valley. The modeled portion of the SVL is the Inman Branch that originally ran from Victoria to the Inman Mines. The only portion still in service serves the industrial district of Vicotria. The B&L Chemical Co is the largest customer with multiple tank car unloading stations, shipping and receiving and a pellet loading facility. Other business includes Valley Ceramics, Donna’s Produce, Sequatchie Concrete, Happy Valley Bakery and the last remaining TCC coal loading facility in the valley. Recently in a effort to provide bulk transportation to local non rail industries, several of the SLV properties were updated for transloading access.