by Paul Scoles 60 mins * colour * narration

Regular Price £ 18

An innovative, pace setting model railroad is no more. W. Allen McClelland's world famous Virginian & Ohio, Gauley Subdivision has come and gone. On March 16th, 2008 Allen held the railroad's last open house. Due to physical limitations Allen and his wife have moved to a retirement home. About 200 V&O fans came to the final viewing to pay tribute to this legendary modeler and his HO layout.

Since the late 1960s Allen and his model railroad have been at the forefront of most of the advancements made in the hobby. He took the hobby from spaghetti bowl style layouts into the world of a complete miniature transportation system. Allen is responsible for most of what we take for granted today...linear design, walkaround control, staging yards, command control usage, weathering, computerized CTC , and his famous "good enough" philosophy.

This final version of the V&O was started in 2002 after the original V&O was torn out, and Allen moved to a new house. The Gauley Sub was planned as an extension of the old railroad.

Although this version of the railroad was never completed, many scenes were finished to a level suitable for photography. However, the ideas illustrated by Allen are worth documenting.

Allen will show you a new way to make a fascia, how to operate a staging yard, and how to make rocks out of pine bark.

The V&O is a Great Model Railroad because Allen believed that the whole of a layout is greater than the sum of its parts, and that we should model a railroad not just railroad models.

Allen Keller Productions 60 mins * colour * narrated

The entire BCS was planned before the first track was laid in 1997. Allen has remained true to the overall plan, but changed track arrangements when a better idea came along. The 30x44 foot layout features 4 staging yards that represent the outside world- to 3 points of the compass-North, South and West.

Allen considers the Bluff City Southern to be a time machine that re-creates as realistically as possible a simpler time when small town depots were the center of town life and everything moved at a slower pace including the trains.

The layout was designed for viewing and operation. That means the scenery and structures are highly detailed. It also means the trackplan allows for challengingly realistic but not mystifying track arrangements.

Allen will show you some things he's learned after 40 years in the hobby, plus how to make a cotton field, stage urban buildings and build a swamp.

The Bluff City Southern is a Great Model Railroad because Allen has captured the look and feel of the Mid-South with scenery, structures and rolling stock.

Allen Keller Productions 60 mins * colour * narrated

Regular Price £ 27.95

The Piermont is one of the hobby's important artistic achievements. Howard does little planning, he simply creates stunning scenes and structures. If he has a plan, it's open to change as he works. Yet he is highly organized and disciplined as he works to express his artistry.

The 2850 square foot HO layout is all about fantasy and unlimited imagination. The trackplan is really a double deck style built on one deck at different levels. This makes the run 22 scale miles long so it takes a train about one hour to run the full length.

The layout features spectacular waterfalls and bridges along with mountains, mines and urban structures. Howard loves to show the layout to visitors. He says art has no value unless it is shared with others. He encourages all his visitors, who can, to build a large layout.

Howard will show you how to make a waterfall, super-elevate a curve, add coal to a tender and make a road from cardboard.

The Piermont Division is a Great Model Railroad because Howard's artistic training and skills allow him to recreate the glory days of mountain railroading.

* Chuck Hitchcock's Santa Fe Argentine Division * John Armstrong's Canandaigua Southern * David Barrow's Cat Mountain & Santa Fe * Allen McClelland's Virginia & Ohio * Tony Koester's Allegheny Midland * Gary Hoover's Missouri, Kansas & Quincy * Bill Henderson's Coal Belt * Bob Hayden's Carrabasset &Dead River

cars and use fascia lettering. The Reading is a Great Model Railroad because Jim has found a way to recreate the grit, romance and hard work of coal mine railroading in his basement.

Allen Keller Productions 60 mins * colour * narrated

The MA&G is two decks now, but when finished it will boast 3 decks. All of this in a 14 x 32 foot portable building in his backyard. Cliff uses a unique double track helix that he designed himself to reach the different levels on this railroad.

In addition to trains from the MA&G, Cliff runs equipment from the Southern and the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio. His artistic talent with paint and chalks has made not only his scenes but his equipment completely believable. Cliff is a master builder with craftsman kits and kitbashing.

He says that model railroading is the most artistic of hobbies because it combines all aspects of creativity into one big project. He particularly enjoys the aesthetic and the problem solving challenges of the hobby. We all can learn from his examples.

Cliff will show you how to create plowed fields, add barbed wire to fence posts, customize your buildings and make realistic looking rusty roofs.

The MA&G is a Great Model Railroad because Cliff has convincingly recreated the South with his careful use of color, texture and first hand knowledge.

This is a prototype-based HO layout with a lot of freelanced scenic elements. Creating realistic and evocative scenes is Jerry's favorite part of the hobby because this helps him remember special times and places from his youth in the late 50s and early 60s.

Jerry enjoys sharing the layout with other modelers and using it to promote the hobby to the general public. Thousands of people have seen his Pennsylvania and marveled at his artistic ability.

Jerry will show you how to build with floral foam, use herbs and spices for ground cover, keep your track clean and use a scenery caddy.

The Pennsylvania is a Great Model Railroad because Jerry has found a way to remember, to re-create and to enjoy the glory days of the railroad in his basement.

In addition to the Santa Fe you'll see trains from the Union Pacific and some extra foreign road traffic at Dearborn station. The area around the station captures the look of Chicago in the 1950s. At San Bernardino you'll see the massive station, roundhouse and locomotive shops.

You can see Gary's craftmanship in everything from his weathering techniques to his highly detailed structures.Gary shows you how to make a custom backdrop, add a switch panel, make Joshua trees, and build resistance wheelsets.

Chuck Ellis' Great Northwestern & Pacific was inspired by a love of the mountainous Pacific Northwest. Chuck has skillfully captured the look of gaping canyons that touch the floor and towering pinnacles with his masterful use of plaster and paint. His walkaround plan takes the viewer on a journey from Duluth, Minnesota to Seattle, Washington in the 1950s. The layout occupies 1500 square feet.

This HO layout was designed by Chuck without the use of a formal trackplan. He simply built what he saw in his mind. He knew where he wanted mountains, towns and even a small narrow gauge line--all contribute to the overall scenic effect. Because the GN&P owns no equipment the line runs locomotives and cars from many different roads particularly the Great Northern.

Chuck is a master builder of highly detailed structures. He attributes this interest to his familyÕs long history in the construction business. The railroad is full of fabulous craftsman kits.

The layout has been expanded into adjacent areas since work began in 1991. Thirty years of trial and error allow Chuck the freedom to tear out what he doesn't like and then start over.

Chuck will show you how to paint drivers, make river banks, create peeling paint, and build pine trees.

The Great Northwestern & Pacific is a Great Model Railroad because Chuck has created the look and feel of a visit to the Pacific Northwest.

For weeks the team of Frank Zarges (EK-Verlag) filmed night after night to produce this outstanding journey through the Miniatur Wunderland.

Featuring:

* The journey through the Miniatur Wunderland: dreamlike pictures, highlights, a lot of details shots and interesting productions show an extensive view on the Miniatur Wunderland, that took over 350.000 working hours to create. (approx. 35 minutes)

* Report about the third construction section on USA Railroading. (approx. 20 minutes)

* The fascinating Car-System with spectacular fire brigade operations. (approx. 13 minutes)

* Thrilling interviews and background information on the construction and running of the installation. (approx. 15 minutes)

* The Grand Finale - a camera ride in the unknown world of Miniatur Wunderland. (approx. 15 minutes)

* Journey through Scandinavia. Breathtaking shots of the newest construction section of Miniatur Wunderland. (appr. 20 minutes)

* Camera ride through Scandinavia. (appr. 10 minutes)

The Conrail layout of Ken McCorry is so big it takes a train 45 minutes to run its full length. The mainline of 25 scale miles occupies its own 3300 square foot barn. The steel mill takes up 300 square feet. With 5 decks the railroad is big. The bottom two decks represent staging. The top deck is a branchline, and the middle two decks are the visible parts of the railroad.

The layout follows the route of the old Pennsylvania Railroad from Harrisburg, to Buffalo, New York in 1980 and that means helpers on the 3% grade to Keating Summit.

Ken has 175 locomotives and more than 2,000 pieces of rolling stock. Operating sessions require 17 operators and 3 dispatchers to keep things moving. Operating the railroad has become Ken's main interest, but he also wants to finish all the scenery and install the remaining signals.

He will show you how to cantilever your benchwork, make scenery with plaster gauze, build structures with gator foam, and use operating signals.

The Conrail Railroad is a Great Model Railroad because Ken has created a layout on a grand scale that is easy to maintain and fun to operate.

Layout at a glance

Name of railroad: Tall Pine RR

Scale: HO (1:87)

Layout size: 20x24 feet

Style: walkaround

Layout height: 30" to 50"

Benchwork: open grid

Roadbed: cork

Track: code 70 flextrack (Shinohara)

Lenght of mainline run: 95 feet

Turnout minimum: no. 6

Curve radii: from 24" to 36"

Maximum grade: 2 percent

Scenery: styrofoam, cork,

wrapping cardboard, plaster

Backdrop: acrylic paintings on walls

Sound: PFM Sound System II

The Industrial District began as an idea ten years ago. Since he and his friends really enjoyed switching industries, he decided a layout could be built without a mainline. Chuck became a pioneer in operation.

The 54 x 26 foot HO railroad represents a Santa Fe line around Kansas City in 1963. All trains are operated within yard limits, and work without a dispatcher. This 50th volume in the series is a return to Chuck’s work that Allen first recorded 22 years earlier. Chuck has found that this new HO railroad has renewed his interest in the hobby, and made upkeep of the layout easier as he ages. He will show you how to lay track without spikes or nails, add signs to urban buildings, and create switch lists from waybills. The Argentine Industrial District Railway is a Great Model Railroad because Chuck has never been afraid to change things while seeking innovative solutions.

The DVD version contains a special bonus look back at the original Argentine Division

The Santa Fe Emporia Subdivision By Stephen & Cinthia Priest.

This HO layout runs through Kansas in 1978. Equipment is weathered to match this terrain that Stephen knows well from his days as an engineer for the Santa Fe and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe. He also became knowledgeable about the area when he was Assistant Manager of the Track Geometry Department.

The 40 x 25 foot railroad is double decked using a constant grade instead of a helix to change elevation. The staging yards are not hidden but are scenicked like the rest of the layout.

Stephen & Cinthia operate the railroad with a CTC machine and signals that control all movements by the road crews. Their operating sessions have been compared to a chess game yet the purpose of the railroad Is to enjoy the conipan of others. For them the layout is a social event. He will show you how to build benchwork for a double deck, install switch motors, build a control panel and detail your track.

Ed Lorence's Baltimore & Ohio has some of the best running trains you'll find anywhere. His trackwork is flawless, and his engines and rolling stock are adjusted until 50 car trains with semi-scale wheels run perfectly.

This HO railroad runs through West Virginia in 1954 with late steam and first generation diesels that Ed has detailed and modified. The cars on the layout are beautifully weathered even though he doesn't use an airbrush.

The 22 x 24 foot railroad sits in Ed's basement where he enjoys welcoming fellow hobbyists and operators to share the layout. This railroad was built as a railfan adventure until he decided he had to retro-fit it for prototype operation with his friends.

Ed got interested in the B&O because his father-in-law was a longtime employee with many stories to spark a railfan's interest in Class One railroading. The layout's long passing sidings help to re-create that feeling and the illusion of double track mainline.

This layout is the result of Ed's 50 years in the hobby where he learned from his own mistakes on previous layouts.

Ed will show you how to lay flextrack, make trees from weeds, close-couple freight cars and make inexpensive signals.

The B&O is a Great Model Railroad because Ed has created a layout where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

The overall look of this railroad is stunning.

On line industries favor limestone mills and quarries along with team tracks and one major yard. Lance and his friends enjoy full operating sessions that last for up to 3 hours.

The beautiful scenery on the Monon features a perfect setting of hills, realistic creeks and winter grass and trees. The painted backdrop makes the scenes seem even bigger. Weathering is skillfully used to enhance and create detail.

As a custom layout builder, Lance will encourage you to get started building a layout. Don't wait to learn everything or you'll never get started.

Lance will show you how to model a creek, paint a backdrop, make convincing grass and undergrowth and cast shale rip rap.

The Monon is a Great Model Railroad because Lance believes in modeling the ordinary not the unusual, and because he uses weathering to bring out the details on his models.

Even though the HO layout is only 20x20 feet, it has a full blown operating plan using timetable and train orders with a dispatcher, operator and road crews. Paul enjoys seeing his HO railroad operate as much like the prototype as possible rather than just watching the trains roll through a scene.

The Boston & Maine is a freelanced railroad based on the prototype in 1952. This lets Paul change the traffic patterns, the structures and the track arrangements to suit his space. Yet he tries to keep the overall flavour of the B&M.

As one of the hobby's best known model photographers,

Paul carefully arranges his own layout scenes for interesting photos.

He will show you how to take model photos, use staging yards, build winter trees, and get more operation in a small space.

The B&M New Hampshire Division is a Great Model Railroad because Paul can see the essence of a scene, and because he knows how to get the maximum amount of operation in a small space.

He was fond of the Southern as a youngster and later wound up working as a car designer for the road. He also re-built and operated the Southern Iron and Equipment Company's car shops where he designed many of the SEICO freight cars. So he could be the ultimate nitpicker, but he's not. Bob thinks the overall feel of the railroad is much more important than precise accuracy, and he looks for details that add to the mood of a scene.

Bob says we should share and learn from each other to advance the hobby, and that friendships make the hobby more enjoyable.

The Southern Railway is full of eye-catching scenes based on years of observation, notes and photos. Most of the structures are scratchbuilt. Bob will show you how to build dioramas to fit the layout, weather cars with oil paints, and build scenery with cloth, Styrofoam and ground foam.

This is Part 2 of Howard Zane's Piermont Division. This HO layout showcases Fifties era Appalachian railroading using equipment from the Clinchfield, Western Maryland, Chesapeake & Ohio and Norfolk & Western. Since we did part 1 in 1992 Howard has increased the layout area by a factor of 4 to 2850 square feet. In this dvd we concentrate on all the new areas.

Howard considers the Piermont to be a painting created with plaster, paper, foam, rocks and dirt where he can bring to life the fabled coal hauling roads of the east. The railroad features spectacular bridges, deep scenes and breathtaking vistas. Howard's whole life revolves around model railroading and he plans to add 2,000 more square feet to the basement.

All his efforts on this railroad are aimed at capturing the feeling of life in the Fifties when railroads and steam were kings. Howard will show you how to build a structure, color a steam locomotive boiler, build scenery without plaster and add a diorama to a layout.

The Piermont Division is a Great Model Railroad because of Howard's artistic talents and because he is always happy to share his love of the hobby with others.

John Pryke's New York, New Haven & Hartford crams a lot of HO scale mileage into a 30 x 20 foot space. The line runs from New York to Boston by looping over itself several times as it works to duplicate the great days of passenger rail travel in the Northeast in 1948. Brass steam engines, many scratchbuilt by John, power the trains.

Besides the locomotives, the track is handmade using custom cut ties and code 83 and 70 rail. Tracks are super-elevated to improve the appearance of trains as they enter and leave curves. John is a big believer in weathering engines, rolling stock and buildings. Everything on the layout looks as though it belongs.

The much publicized urban module, the Union Freight Railroad, provides many fun switching locations.

John has made a special effort to research the New Haven railroad of 1948 and to learn what life was like after World War II. This historical analysis is part of the fun for John. He tries to re-create the feel of a Class 1 operation with heavy running and lots of motive power--27 steam engines, 13 diesels and 9 electrics.