Vol. 02: Franklin & South Manchester - Part 1
The Franklin & South Manchester, one of the greatest model railroads ever built, is the creation of professional model builder George Sellios. Because of George’s talents you’ll see something new each time you watch this fabulous program. You’ll tour the layout behind a Mogul powered passenger and a Mountain powered freight, from one end of the 22 x 7 foot layout to the other. Although the F&SM is HO scale, George Sellios, the owner of Fine Scale Miniatures, has created a railroad that exists as surely as Chicago or New York did in the 1930s. See Part 2 here.
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2:01
Introducing George Sellios’s Franklin & South Manchester
For many years, George Sellios has been famous in the world of model railroading for his intricately detailed and high-quality structures. Followers of his products began to wonder when they’d ever get to see behind the scenes of one of his layouts, and friends, the day has finally arrived. Host Allen Keller visited George’s workshop…
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3:57
Exploring George’s Franklin & South Manchester Railroad
It’s 1935 in the United States, the nation’s largest cities and industries are very much still feeling the hurt of the Great Depression. Franklin & South Manchester Railroad hasn’t seen a piece of new equipment added to the grid in more than a decade. Paint is chipping, engines are grimey, people are hungry and stealing…
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4:42
Running Operations on George Sellios’s F&SM Railroad
George Sellios’s HO layout of Franklin & South Manchester Railroad was a long time coming for fans of model railroading. Modelers everywhere who included George’s intricate structures in their own layouts wondered when the master would construct a layout of his own, and the day finally came with the first unveiling of the town of…
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6:26
Design & Inspiration for George’s Franklin & South Manchester
Modelers around the world have appreciated George Sellios and Fine Scale Miniatures for his incredibly detailed scale structures, but it wasn’t until 1985 that George finally decided to build his first full HO scale model railroad. A passion for trains and the urge to create has driven George back to the workshop since he was…
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6:17
How George Sellios Creates Highly Detailed Structures
You know his work from Fine Scale Miniatures, those superbly detailed kit structures that modelers have used on their railroad layouts for decades. George Sellios has been a staple of the model railroading world for as long as we can remember, and we’re infinitely grateful for his creations. To get a sense of how George…
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3:18
How George Sellios Makes Realistic Model Railroad Signs
The structures on George Sellios’s model of Franklin & South Manchester Railroad are rife with realism, from weathered brick and boarded windows to the antique advertisements plastered around 1935 Boston. There’s no denying that George is a master of detail; many of the techniques beginner and expert modelers utilize on their railroads today were first…
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1:44
Why George Chose 1935 for the Franklin & South Manchester
One of the first questions modelers must ask themselves when beginning to design a model railroad layout is, in what time period should I set this scene? There are a number of considerations that go into selecting the right era for your layout, especially in regard to nailing historical accuracy. To help you figure out…
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6:27
George Sellios on Superdetailing and Planning a Layout
The term superdetailing is often attributed to those model railroad layouts that go above and beyond when it comes to adding detail to scenery and landscapes. Some of our favorite railroads have elements that can only be discovered and truly appreciated by searching and spending the time to look at every inch of the layout.…
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2:47
George Sellios on Creating a Harbor Scene for a Layout
There are a number of different ways to create water scenes on a model railroad layout. Depending on the unique specifications and scenario of your layout, you could utilize various materials, methods and colors to achieve a realistic waterway. In the case of the busy industrial harbor in George Sellios’s HO scale layout of Franklin…
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