Overview of the Boston and Maine New Hampshire Division

This is Paul Dolkos’s beautiful Boston and Maine railroad. This HO layout is set in 1952 New Hampshire. Paul has been in the hobby since he was a child and has been taking pictures of trains almost that long. Today he is one of the hobby’s best known model photographers, so his layout scenes are carefully arranged for interesting photos. The railroad is highly detailed but not overly busy. Paul says he likes to keep viewers’ eyes focused on the trains and their operations, a showy picture can destroy the illusion of a real Boston and Maine railroad.

The Boston and Maine railroad is a freelanced layout that is based on a prototype railroad. In this video, Allen Keller discusses why Paul wanted to model New England. For Paul, it offers great diversity, interesting railroads, and wonderful scenery and operations. The Boston and Maine railroad takes up 20 by 20 feet in Paul’s fully finished basement. The minimum radius is 26 inches and the benchwork is L girder and open grid. Insulation foam is used as the base of the layout. The railroad runs from southern staging at South River, to north staging at North Gorham. We will begin our trip through New Hampshire at Woodsriver. To view operations on the New York, New Haven and Hartford, or more Allen Keller videos, visit the Model Railroad Academy archives.