Midwest Railways 5-Download Set

5-Download Set: Midwest Railways

The Midwestern part of the U.S. can be represented by mountains or plains. These series of videos will show you how others have created depth in limited space with hills and even flat terrain. 294 minutes.

Tony Koester’s Allegheny Midland Railroad – 59 minutes

Join us as we take a trip through the high mountain rails of West Virginia to explore Tony Koester’s unique model of Allegheny Midland Railroad. Tony’s scale model still stands as one of the most ambitious model railroads the world has ever seen. Follow along and learn about methods of modifying common plastic kits into one-of-a-kind structures and much more!

Grosser’s Nostalgia Trip by Ray and Renee Grosser – 59 minutes

“Grosser’s Nostalgia Trip” is a 1950’s era re-creation of the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Saint Marie Railroad, otherwise known as the Soo Line. You may have seen this layout at a train show, or at the NMRA National Conventions. Ray and Renee are the husband and wife team who built the Soo Line as a way to remember their childhoods in Minnesota. They both had family members who worked for the railroads. By taking this layout to conventions across the country, the Grosser’s are popular and well-traveled promoters of the model railroading hobby. Renee is one of the finest structure builders in the hobby today, and Ray is responsible for planning and developing a multiple award-winning portable layout. Ray and Renee will show you about designing houses using pictures, applying a stucco-like finish, making stone walls, building foreground quality trees and installing a Digitrax DCC decoder in a steam locomotive.

Gary Hoover’s Missouri, Kansas & Quincy – 59 minutes

Gary Hoover’s Missouri, Kansas & Quincy is a modern HO railroad that covers half a continent from Chicago to California. Challenging scenery and photography are two topics that motivate Gary to keep improving. The layout has prairies, deserts, mountains and a seashore. Gary has published many articles and spectacular photos using the layout as a prop. He even likes to backdate the railroad for special photo articles. You’ll see heavy intermodal traffic with modern power from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Denver & Rio Grande Western and even the Southern Pacific. This layout was designed to provide operators and viewers with an exciting railroad journey through a variety of scenery. You will learn about making fields and stucco walls from drywall compound, operating slow motion semaphores, moving tunnel curtains, and taking layout photographs. The Missouri, Kansas & Quincy is a great Model Railroad because Gary has created a marvelous railfan experience with his artistic ability to capture the essence of a model scene.

Lance Mindheim’s Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville (Monon) – 58 minutes

Lance Mindheim’s “Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville” is an N scale layout that was built for reliable operation. He created the Monon as a way to have full timetable and train order operations. The railroad is based on southern Indiana in 1955 with a perfect setting of hills, realistic creeks and winter grass and trees. He uses weathering to create and enhance details. Lance, a customer layout builder, will show you how to model a creek, paint a backdrop, make convincing grass and undergrowth and cast your own shale rip rap.

Mike Burgett’s Chesapeake & Ohio – 59 minutes

“Mike Burgett’s Chesapeake & Ohio” runs along the James River Valley in Virginia in 1965. This HO double deck railroad was built with the prototype always as a guide. The layout is a coal hauling line yet it has no coal mines. The black diamonds are brought to the Clifton Forge Division from subdivisions that serve the mines. Mike is a professional railroader who knows railroad practices firsthand. He is Signal Supervisor for the Canadian National. He has studied the C&O since he was a child and had as his mentor a retired Signal Supervisor for the C&O. Mike built the railroad’s signal system and CTC machine before he even built the railroad. His knowledge of the placement and operation of signals has been applied to this layout and has kept the whole system relatively simple yet prototypical. Even though he works full time for a railroad, he loves to operate his model railroad as if it were a real railroad. However, he has not short changed the quality of his scenery, rolling stock or locomotives. The mountains, rock castings and trees are all beautifully done.
The layout features a 600 foot mainline in a 24×36 foot basement with two decks. It’s based on stories and research that he has gathered from current and retired railroaders and supports his belief that the prototype has the answers for model railroads. The layout is a time machine for Mike and his friends when they run 8 to10 trains during their operating sessions. Mike will show you how to operate an OS Section, install signal details and place right of way phone poles.