Vol. 43: New York, New Haven & Hartford
John Pryke’s New York, New Haven & Hartford model railroad layout follows an important historical line that ran from New York to Boston and is set in 1948. This HO scale railroad features three yards with short running distances between them. Passenger trains play a major role in the operations. Research is part of the fun for John as he works to create the feel of a class 1 operation with heavy running and lots of motive power.
The line boasts many brass steam engines that John has scratch built, one of which is almost 40 years old and still running. Everything on his layout is nicely weathered to reflect the atmosphere of post-war railroads. When Allen asks John why he decided to create the New Haven model railroad, he learns that the New Haven was the first class 1 steam diesel railroad that John remembers. Everything in New York City was electrified at the time, but electric could never compete with the roaring of a steam engine.
The New Haven model railroad is built on L girder benchwork with a minimum radius of 36 inches. All track is hand laid with super elevating curves. This island-style HO layout takes up 20 by 30 feet in John’s basement, and gains running distance with a track plan that doubles back on itself, so scenes that are visibly close may represent scenes that are actually many miles apart. Our tour of the New Haven begins in South Boston.
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2:17In this video, Allen Keller will give an overview of the New York, New Haven & Hartford model railroad layout of John Pryke. The New Haven model railroad follows the line from New York to Boston in 1948. This HO scale railroad features three yards with short running distances between them. Passenger trains play a…
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7:22We begin the Allen Keller tour of John Pryke’s New York, New Haven and Hartford with the Merchants Limited leaving South Boston with a streamlined Hudson on the head-in. The 464 eases by the south station interlocking. Number 1407, a class I-5 goes through the South Boston commercial district at the end of the yard.…
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9:38In this video, Allen Keller details the operations of John Pryke’s New York, New Haven and Hartford model railroad. Operations begin at New Haven, where a J-1 Light Mikado will handle the eastbound peddler. Number 3012 goes by the New Haven interlocking tower and the engine facility. On the right is a small yard for…
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4:04John Pryke’s version of the New Haven model railroad, the New York, New Haven and Hartford, runs from Boston to New York with a track plan that doubles back on itself. Allen Keller asks him why he selected this area. John felt the railroad needed a definite run in terms of time and distance for…
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5:57John Pryke modeled the New York, New Haven and Hartford after September of 1948 which was a very interesting year. He describes to Allen Keller that the New Haven had ordered 33 Alco PA units as their new diesel motive power for passenger service. The first 10 units came in a very nice orange color…
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6:57In this video, John Pryke, modeler of the New York, New Haven and Hartford will show some details of his R3 A 3 cylinder mountain. John began scratch building this locomotive engine originally in 1961 and then rebuilt it when he learned that the National Model Railroad Association’s national convention was going to be near…
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11:00John Pryke, modeler of the New York, New Haven and Hartford demonstrates weathering on a standard city building model railroad kit. He has added display windows and curtains which make the building look a little bit more lived in. The first step to make the model railroad kit look more real is adding mortar to…
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9:36John Pryke, owner of the New York, New Haven and Hartford, has two of his regular operators with him—Dave and Chris. In this video, they are going to go step by step through the first three moves of one of the New Haven’s sequence timetables. John is using a schematic of the layout, which is…
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2:51John Pryke has removable sections of model railroad scenery on his New York, New Haven and Hartford model railroad. Allen Keller asks about the necessity for this. The railroad has a piece of main line that runs right up the middle of the layout. That piece of main line happens to be a switch, so…
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