Vol. 58: Howard Zane's Piermont Division
Built by Howard Zane, the Piermont Division is one of the most artistic layouts in our hobby. Of course it is – it’s straight from the mind of a graduate of the famous Parsons School of Design! Howard has worked professionally as a painter, sculptor, and industrial designer, and that training and talent are apparent everywhere on his masterful layout. This dazzling HO railroad winds through the coal mine country of 1950s Appalachia.
The Piermont leases equipment for many eastern roads because Howard can’t limit himself to a favorite prototype. Since retiring in 1987, Howard has devoted much of his time to building and rebuilding this layout. In fact, his basement has been expanded twice already to handle this massive railroad!
Allen Keller joins Howard in his basement layout room to discuss the railroad and all that goes into it. Howard has been an artist for many years, but to him model railroading is the ultimate artform, and nothing has been as challenging.
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2:11Overview of the Piermont Division Model Railroad
The Piermont Division is one of the most artistic layouts in our hobby. Its builder, Howard Zane is a graduate of the famous Parsons School of Design. He has worked professionally as a painter, sculptor, and industrial designer and this training and talent are apparent everywhere on this masterpiece layout. This HO railroad runs through…
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9:51Touring the Piermont Division
The tour of the Piermont Division of Howard Zane begins with two big articulateds from Clinchfield leaving the Bond engine terminal. The lead engine is a Number 742, a 2882, and the second engine is Number 670, a challenger. In the back of Ticknor Yard is the city of Old Bridge. The two giants will…
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9:14Operations on the Piermont Division
Operations on the Piermont Division model railroad of Howard Zane begin at Ticknor Yard, as ABA set of F7s leaves town with the Bond Engine terminal off to the left. The leased C&O units come out of One Mile Tunnel and pass the Cola Marshalling Yard. Then it’s on to Gilbert’s Gulch and then Morgan.…
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5:02Owner Inspiration & Techniques on the Piermont Division
The Piermont Division of Howard Zane has changed much since Allen Keller saw it last. Allen asks if Howard thinks the layout is complete. Howard’s response? A layout is never complete. Every time he sees someone’s layout or some photographs, he wants to make a change in the layout. Since Allen has seen it, Howard…
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8:27Constructing a Waterfall
Howard Zane has done beautiful water scenes on his Piermont Division model railroad. Allen Keller asks his secret. Clear silicon blue is Howard’s favorite technique. He goes on to demonstrate his technique in this video lesson. Howard starts with a sheet of gator board found in most art stores. To cut the gator board, Howard…
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3:52Creating Coal Piles with Howard Zane
Howard Zane demonstrates how he creates a coal pile in a tender in this video. If your tender doesn’t have a molded coal pile, the simplest way to make the pile is with a piece of modeling clay found at most art or craft stores. Howard starts by ripping off a piece and kneading it…
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11:05Super Elevated Curves & Design on the Piermont Division
Howard Zane loves seeing a train bank around a curve on a model railroad. The best way to create this is to elevate the outer side of the curve. Using flextrack, Howard glues a shim of styrene to the outer rail, making sure to not cover the holes. The outer rail will flex with the…
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9:40Creating Concrete Roads with Howard Zane
For his cardboard concrete roads, Howard Zane uses cardboard found at any print shop. First he freeforms the shape of his road, in this instance a 2 ½ inch narrow road commonly found in Virginia. Next he cuts the road out using a scissors or X-acto blade. With the road cut out, the next step…
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