Overview of the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville

This is the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville model railroad, commonly called the Monon. The N scale railroad is owned by Lance Mindheim who is also a custom layout builder. The railroad runs through Monroe County, Indiana in 1955. Online industries are limited, yet Lance and his friends can have full timetable operating sessions that last for up to three hours. Locomotives and cars must stand up to that kind of action, so it requires mechanical dependability with reliable track work and turnouts. Lance says all these conditions are now possible with N scale.

Allen Keller is with Lance to ask why he decided to build the Monon. Lance grew up in the southern Indiana town of Bloomington where the Monon happened to run through. The railroad had a lot of Indiana hometown appeal for him. The layout takes up 20 by 20 feet of Lance’s basement with two staging yards extending into another room. The benchwork is L girder with spline roadbed and cork. The scenery base is styrofoam. We will begin our trip from south staging. For more Allen Keller videos, visit the Model Railroad Academy archives.