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FULL SCREENFollow along with the Model Railroader staff as they visit six model railroads, including Steve Otte’s HO scale Cincinnati, Lebanon & Northern model railroad.
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Our group met at Maxim’s train depot restaurant in Oconomowoc, Wisc., for breakfast. The town’s name is pronounced Oh-con-o-mo-woc. The train depot is on the route of the Milwaukee Road’s famed Hiawatha trains. A pair of Canadian Pacific trains passed by as we ate breakfast. In the green shirt is Brian Schmidt, assistant editor of Trains magazine, and next to him is retired MR executive editor Andy Sperandeo.
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This is the small serving of cranberry and walnut pancakes that MR editor Neil Besougloff ordered.
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On the right from front to rear are Gordy Spiering, a close friend of the Model Railroader staff; Jim Kelly, MR’s N scale columnist and retired managing editor; and Chuck Sable, who works in Kalmbach’s distribution department.
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Our first tour stop once again was to the home of Kalmbach employee Chuck Sable, who is building an HO scale Chicago & North Western model train layout. Chuck has made further progress with his scenery and with structures since we visited last year.
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Andy Sperandeo looks over Chuck’s kitbashed version of Walther’s Milwaukee depot, which Chuck used to model a C&NW station.
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Athearn Trains released HO locomotives painted for MR’s HO scale club model train layout the Milwaukee, Racine, and Troy. One is on Chuck’s engine service track.
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Matt Van Hattem, senior editor at Trains magazine, looks over a rural area of Chuck’s HO model railroad
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Model Railroader staff members Jim Hediger and Dana Kawala take in the details at one end of Chuck’s C&NW station scene.
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Our second stop was to visit the Canadian Pacific O gauge layout of Kent Johnson. Kent splits his time at Kalmbach between the Model Railroader staff and the Classic Toy Trains magazine staff. Kent uses modern Lionel, MTH, and other brand trains to model Vancouver, British Colombia, and a section of the CP line that crosses the Canadian Rockies. Kent is an advocate of small, detailed scenes, so study his photos closely. The scene with the wind turbines is great.
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David Popp, producer of Model Railroader Video Plus (and MR’s former managing editor), examines a highway overpass, one of two on Kent’s layout.
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Here’s Kent, who along with his son (not pictured) ran trains using Lionel’s TrainMaster Command Control system. Matt Van Hattem from Trains is in the green jacket.
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Vancouver yard is lined with a row of buildings, most of which are kitbashed or scratchbuilt.
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Portions of Kent’s layout are still under construction. Note how he as stacked the pink foam sheets vertically.
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Our third stop was to visit Senior Editor Jim Hediger’s layout. Jim’s HO scale Ohio & Southern has been operational for what seems like decades. The newest addition to Jim’s train room is actually above the layout – a new ceiling and new lighting. Jim’s new furnace mandated changes in his heating and ventilation system, so if you see us looking upward in the photos taken at Jim’s house you know why.
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The only visible casualty from the new ceiling was this bent section of track, which Jim noted with a bad order card.
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Portions of Jim’s layout have finished rockwork and green scenery, but final details are yet to come.
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Here’s Jim, who only found his box of locomotives – packed away for the ceiling work – a few days before the Progress tour.
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Jim Kelly and Jim Hediger await a train traversing the upper deck on Jim’s two-level layout.
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Jim was a pioneer in the use of a helix to connect upper and lower levels of a layout. Here’s what the helix looks like normally …
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Our fourth stop took us from the suburbs into the city of Milwaukee to see associate editor Steve Otte’s HO scale Cincinnati, Lebanon & Northern model railroad. Steve is modeling greater Cincinnati in the early 1900s. Steve has made a lot of progress in the past year, and he has made progress on the town on the far end of his layout as well as installing the scratchbuilt coal dock that was featured in Model Railroader in the December 2012 issue.
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This scene shows the coal trestle that Steve built from scratch. It was in the in the December 2012 Model Railroader.
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Model Railroader senior editor Dana Kawala looks over a section of Steve’s layout. Steve’s design features shelves and a peninsula.
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Chuck Sable walks along the newest section of Steve’s layout, a peninsula with a tall backdrop.
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Vintage rolling stock on Steve’s turn-of-the-20th-century layout includes these passenger cars.
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On the far wall of Steve’s train room are these buildings, some of which will be used on his layout.
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From Steve’s house it was a short drive to N scale columnist and retired Model Railroader managing editor Jim Kelly’s house to see his N scale Tehachapi Loop layout. Jim continues to make progress with track, scenery, and structures. He models the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific railroad in the Tehachapi Loop in the 1980s.
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There are several short tunnels on Jim’s layout. This scene is only about a foot deep; the green hills are on the backdrop.
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A few weeks before the Progress tour Jim had to cut an opening in his fascia to reach hidden track that had kinked as the lack of humidity in his basement (our furnaces work overtime in Wisconsin) affected his wood benchwork.
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Neil Besougloff looks at a partially completed scene. Jim’s backdrop follows the numerous curves of his layout.
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Despite having a monster breakfast (see photos), we next stopped for lunch once again at the famed Saz’s barbecue restaurant in Milwaukee near the Miller Brewery where our group chowed down on burgers and barbecue sandwiches. David Popp hams it up for the camera.
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After lunch we were back in our cars for the drive south to David Popp’s N scale Naugatuck layout, which models the New Haven in the Waterbury, Conn., area in the late 1950s. David’s layout, which started less than 4 by 8 feet in size, has been expanded four or five times now and it fills about a fourth of his basement. His layout is nearly complete except for the structures on the newest peninsula. David’s progress has been chronicled in many, many Model Railroader stories in the past 10 years and also in a Kalmbach model railroading book.
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Kent Johnson pokes his head through a gap in the backdrop just beyond the yard in Waterbury.
These point-and-shoot photos were taking during the tour. Our 20-minute stops at each model railroad don’t leave time for light stands and the other professional equipment we take with us when shooting photos for publication in the pages of Model Railroader.
We didn’t get to visit all of our favorite layouts this year. Andy Sperandeo was with us on the tour but we did not visit his Santa Fe layout, nor did we stop by Neil Besougloff’s home to see his unfinished tinplate layout.
But, as always, we look forward to making other stops next year. – story and photos by Neil Besougloff
