Vol. 67: The Lakeside Lines
Tom Harris’s spectacular Lakeside Lines model railroad runs between Chicago, Illinois and Norfolk, Virginia in 1979. The model portion of this HO scale layout runs through only one Virginia town: North Franklin.
For Tom, model railroading is a family affair. Outside the house, Tom’s wife Karen has built her own G scale railroad on the front lawn. Tom’s layout consists of a 2.5-mile yard and a 2-mile staging yard. He built this huge yard so he could have full size trains of 80 cars, big curbs and long sidings with no compromise.
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2:14Overview of the Lakeside Lines
The Lakeside Lines model railroad layout of Tom Harris runs between Chicago and Norfolk, Virginia in 1979. The model portion of this HO scale layout runs through only one Virginia town, North Franklin. Model railroading is a family affair. Outside the house, Tom’s wife Karen has built her own G scale railroad on the front…
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9:15Touring Tom Harris’s Lakeside Lines
We begin the tour of Tom Harris’s Lakeside Lines model railroad layout by entering North Franklin yard from Frost Tunnel. This is a train of empty hoppers. SD 45-2 Number 4491 eases by the North Franklin station, followed by two SD 40-2s. This half of North Franklin is called East Yard and contains arrival and…
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11:17Operations on Tom Harris’s Lakeside Lines
Cumberland local train 114 comes out of Bluff Tunnel over High Bridge. Two Alko RSD-15s are on the point and pass over Bridge 203.5. These tour guides are loaded with ties from the Cumberland creosote plant. We catch a glimpse of a detoured Clinchfield train with five F units and a jeep 38. Unit 3027…
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6:52Owner Inspiration & Techniques on the Lakeside Lines
The Lakeside Lines is one of the most unusual railroads that we’ve ever documented. It’s all one yard except for our huge staging yard. Allen Keller wonders why Tom Harris decided to build something so different. Tom didn’t really try to build something different, but he just couldn’t make a lot of compromises in what…
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4:09Staging Yard Security
Allen Keller has never seen such a large staging yard in a home layout like that on Tom Harris’s Lakeside Lines model railroad. The staging yard completely circumvents the layout itself. This makes it about 30 feet by 35 feet in an oval. It is large and is divided into two yards, one for eastbound…
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6:44Spline Roadbed on the Lakeside Lines
The minimum radius on Tom Harris’s Lakeside Lines model railroad is 60 inches. Allen Keller wonders if that requires some special kind of roadbed or preparation as it is such a huge radius. Tom uses a special kind of roadbed to make that kind of curve float nicely. Tom demonstrates how he builds his spline…
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5:45Plaster Gauze Hills on the Lakeside Lines
Part of the yard on Tom Harris’s Lakeside Lines model railroad is called Heinz Hill. Tom will demonstrate how he builds self supporting hillsides in this video. To start off, he establishes the top of the hill line. He will take some scrap pieces of blackboard that he didn’t use for his roadbed, and screws…
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4:57Aluminum Valance & Fascia on the Lakeside Lines
Tom Harris used aluminum sheeting for the valance and facia of his Lakeside Lines model railroad. When Tom was building this railroad about the time his house was being built and I watched work being done with that material in order to cover things on the house. The material comes in 50 foot long sheets…
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8:31Increasing Car Weights on the Lakeside Lines
Allen Keller wonders what tricks Tom Harris has learned for running such a long, big consists on his Lakeside Lines model railroad. The first time Tom had this railroad built with the main yard laid out with the track laid around Heinz Hill, he took all five locomotives and picked up every car that was…
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