Rob’s been in touch with his vintage O gauge trains:
“This O gauge layout has been over 25 years in the making and, like all model railroads, can never be finished.
Some of the locomotives were Christmas presents from the early 1950s and some are less than a year old.
There are scratch built cars, structures and a “Doodlebug” along with numerous scenes along about 300 feet of track in two attic rooms.
The Pine Island Railroad runs from the city of Basura (Spanish for garbage) out passed a dirty industrial area into the countryside. There is a town along the way named Katonah (where I grew up in N.Y. State) and a flag stop at the small resort settlement of Pine Island.
Various scenes along the way, some not shown in these limited views, show life and activities in the towns, farms and forests.
We have busy crowd scenes at the Union Station; kids playing basketball in the back streets or baseball in the park; a family farm is working the land and selling produce in a roadside stand; hippies are getting busted for a growing a greenhouse full of pot; a flying saucer has landed drawing the whole neighborhood over to see, and a hapless railfan is oblivious to the cougar and alligator creeping up behind him.
Soon I will send you some more photos, I hope you enjoy them.
I live in Southwest Oregon in the Siskiyou Mountains. The nearest town is Cave Junction, about 10 miles away, and the nearest railroad is the storied “Siskiyou Line”, formerly Southern Pacific, which runs through Grants Pass and Medford, connecting the mainline at Eugene, OR and Weed, CA.
As a child, I grew up with the New York Central back east.
peace and joy,
Robert”
My word, what a layout: 25 years of fun!
A huge thank you to Robert for sharing his vintage O gauge trains. Loved it.
That’s all for today folks.
Please do keep ’em coming.
And don’t forget the The Beginner’s Guide is here if today is the day you take your first step towards your very own layout.
Best
Al
PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.
Simply fantastic…
25 years of hard work but what a result , beautiful …well done ….Dangerous Dave
Well done. Everything to scale and loads of interest. Can you send in a track plan.? A great layout.
I could relate to a lot of that layout. Thanks for sharing that. I enjoyed those pics!!
Hi I have for a long time admired all the layouts you have completed and the attention to detail is brilliant, but i have just started to build my N Gaige layout but is best to pin, screw or glue track on to my layout.my board is only 4ft x 2.5ft and have no intention of changing may track design.
I look forward to hearing from you
Kind Regards
Scotty
Rob…great scenes and details. Love the UFO. Water scene, car accident and yard detail are all great. Wow.
Robert
Fantastic! Would love to see some videos.
Ah Love the NYC layout and the beach babes.
Nice work–I’ve been trying unsuccessfully to model the SP line from Redding to Ashland with an emphasis on the town of Dunsmuir for many many years but could never come up with a track plan in HO that would fit the available space.
Terry/IDAHO
WOW, its a time capsule of American history. Well Done !!
Great to see the work of fellow “high-railers”. Also, rolling stock and locos from
the past. GREAT JOB !!!!!
Shlack in NC
That was a very nice visit.
Awesome project! Well done Rob!
Bob from Michigan
Kool Work.!!!! Mine going to look something like that.
What a wonderful layout. It is very rich in detail. It is a real work of art.
Rob Crain – Farland Howe
do love a good sense of humor in a layout! Would love to see more of your work, Bob. it is smashing!
Magnificant!!! Take it from a guy that was a pro photographer for 33 yrs, your photos are top notch !! Your attention to detail is paramount in creating so much interest in your various scenes. The angles that you photographed from make it all the more interesting! EXCELLENT !!!
Years of dedication shows in this well detailed work of art.
Peter: there is no one best way. I assume your track will be on cork road bed; the next question will the roadbed be on foam or wood. If foam, scale spikes are an easy solution to get track mounted. If on wood, then spikes can be used easily if they are the right size. Otherwise use an adhesive or wood glue. You do not need much glue if you are planning to ballast the track. If you use a gray or white ballast, I suggest you spray paint the cork the same color before you lay the track down.
Just great. Looking forward to more pics you promised.
Wonderful O gauge layout. I want to see more pictures. Can we see a track plan? Steve from Cincinnati, Ohio
a most excellent layout
all your hard work has paid off
I hope mine looks 1/2 as good
The first two photos looked like real life places….. it’s like you have little corners and ‘spots’ and the spacing is perfect. You included extra or unused space as in real life. Space and open area or hidden spots may seem to be of little consequence as they go unnoticed and seem immaterial, but it really makes your scenes look like the real world.
The tree and little wall and the ground details in the second photo look like you copied a photo. While the parking area where the bikers are parked looks so natural.
I also love the topless girls by the water. I had to look closely because I wasn’t sure. I like the variety of people you have. I didn’t know that so many figures were even available. I though all companies sold were rail road workers and people waiting to board trains. I wonder if that’s because of the scale you model in or such figures are sold for other scales as well. I love the swimmers and the guy in the inner tube…. real people doing different things.
Also nice to see a variety of locomotives. I have an old Lionel train set given to my brothers and myself. Since my older brother is no longer with us and my younger brother is into other things and doesn’t care about it, it is basically mine. I will probably just display it and maybe run it once in a while.
Frank in Orlando
Bob…
That is quite a layout!
You have a lot of impressive scenes — Especially the little vignettes with people in natural poses.
Incredible
Great job, glad to see more high railers. Hope no fires near you
Fantastic layout. I hope you are safe from the fires in that part of the country. Be safe and keep railroading.
Oldman Don
Loved the scenes in your layout. Some sense of humor you have! My fav is the UFO under the bridge.
Great Layout with a lot of imagination, true to life!
I think the trackside tavern is so fitting and I loved the kid diving in the river.
Very nice, thx for posting!
Bob- you have a great eye for detail- so many wonderful scenes! Thanks for sharing- looking forward to seeing more!
Down-right Awesome!
Hay Robert,
I loved the photos of your layout. I am just beginning on a journey of inventing a model railroad. I too have some trains I got as a child as early as 1950 and they are still running. I recently purchased several new engines and roiling stock. I have a space in my garage for a 24′ x 8′ layout. I’m just in the process of building the table. I live in a little CA. town called Shingletown. I would really love to visit you and see your layout some time.
Thanks to this blog for showing these layouts. I hope the comments are given to te guys who submit articles.
Gene
Scale or Hi-rail. It’s all in what you make it, and you have made it a high quality model railroad with intelligent planning and superior skill in model building. Great job.
Robert, from one O gauge guy to another, you have built a beautiful and delightful layout. BTW, I have driven thru the Siskiyous dozens of times in my life and have always loved looking at how the Siskiyou Line winds its’ way thru all the tunnels in the mountain ranges between Weed and Reading. I have a good customer in Brookings Oregon and have also driven thru Cave Junction many times while traveling along the Redwood Highway. You live in one of the most beautiful places on earth and with you next posting I’d love to hear how you wound up moving from New York City to God’s Country. Kirk from Tacoma WA
Wonderful layout, I live near Katonah and the train station is still there but it is now a wine and liquor store.
Rob Forgot to mention I love that Box p40 electric NYC I was raised when that locomotive was still active. My favorite loco.
My Dad Worked for New York Central 50’s to retirement.
The Critic
Great O scale Layout! Nice to see great job very well done, Robert look into OGR forum for O scalers. Think you will enjoy.
I can only hope mine comes out half as good.
That is incredible, love all the scenes ,especially the girl undressing to go swimming , you can tell it’s from 25 years ago , different grooming practices . What a fun layout
3 rail, who cares? This is maybe the best, most realistic, tasteful (a few swimmers overdoing maybe) RR in this huge scale. Ceaseless amazement as to what’s out there in most unlikely places.
Rich
Absolutely stunning! What a fantastic layout! Bravo!
WOW, WOW, WOW, just AWESOME !!!!!!!!!
I’m normally not a fan of 3-rail but I have to make an exception in this case. What a beautiful job you’ve done with the scenery and the back drops and the feel of the whole thing. Good work!
Where did you buy those magnificent people with so many unique poses?
Oh, Rob! Wonderful work…I mean…wonderful fun! Thanks for sharing. It is inspiring.
Wow! That’s quite an accomplishment! I thought the flying saucer was a fun scene!
hard work shows. very nice job.