Vintage O gauge trains

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”

vintage O gauge trains

vintage O gauge trains

vintage O gauge trains

vintage O gauge trains

vintage O gauge trains



vintage O gauge trains

vintage O gauge trains

vintage O gauge trains

O gauge

O gauge

O gauge

O gauge

O gauge

O gauge

O gauge

O gauge

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.





49 Responses to Vintage O gauge trains

  1. Ken of Lakewood Shores says:

    Simply fantastic…

  2. 25 years of hard work but what a result , beautiful …well done ….Dangerous Dave

  3. Colin Edinburgh says:

    Well done. Everything to scale and loads of interest. Can you send in a track plan.? A great layout.

  4. I could relate to a lot of that layout. Thanks for sharing that. I enjoyed those pics!!

  5. Peter Scott says:

    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

  6. Gary M from Long Island says:

    Rob…great scenes and details. Love the UFO. Water scene, car accident and yard detail are all great. Wow.

  7. George Zaky says:

    Robert
    Fantastic! Would love to see some videos.

  8. Robert Brady says:

    Ah Love the NYC layout and the beach babes.

  9. Terry Miller says:

    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

  10. Bill Holt says:

    WOW, its a time capsule of American history. Well Done !!

  11. jack masarie says:

    Great to see the work of fellow “high-railers”. Also, rolling stock and locos from
    the past. GREAT JOB !!!!!
    Shlack in NC

  12. Steve Joyce says:

    That was a very nice visit.

  13. Bob Muhme says:

    Awesome project! Well done Rob!
    Bob from Michigan

  14. Erick says:

    Kool Work.!!!! Mine going to look something like that.

  15. Rob McCrain says:

    What a wonderful layout. It is very rich in detail. It is a real work of art.
    Rob Crain – Farland Howe

  16. June says:

    do love a good sense of humor in a layout! Would love to see more of your work, Bob. it is smashing!

  17. Bob From Towson says:

    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 !!!

  18. Robert D. Bouskill says:

    Years of dedication shows in this well detailed work of art.

  19. Norman Rosen says:

    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.

  20. Ruben Simon says:

    Just great. Looking forward to more pics you promised.

  21. Steve Sininger says:

    Wonderful O gauge layout. I want to see more pictures. Can we see a track plan? Steve from Cincinnati, Ohio

  22. kevin says:

    a most excellent layout
    all your hard work has paid off
    I hope mine looks 1/2 as good

  23. Frank says:

    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

  24. Bob…
    That is quite a layout!
    You have a lot of impressive scenes — Especially the little vignettes with people in natural poses.

  25. Chris Kilgus says:

    Incredible

  26. Bruce in Michigan says:

    Great job, glad to see more high railers. Hope no fires near you

  27. Don Renner says:

    Fantastic layout. I hope you are safe from the fires in that part of the country. Be safe and keep railroading.
    Oldman Don

  28. DJfromNJ says:

    Loved the scenes in your layout. Some sense of humor you have! My fav is the UFO under the bridge.

  29. Ivan says:

    Great Layout with a lot of imagination, true to life!

  30. Tom Provo says:

    I think the trackside tavern is so fitting and I loved the kid diving in the river.

  31. Ak JIm says:

    Very nice, thx for posting!

  32. Tony, Kitty Hawk NC says:

    Bob- you have a great eye for detail- so many wonderful scenes! Thanks for sharing- looking forward to seeing more!

  33. sharrison says:

    Down-right Awesome!

  34. Eugene Shaffer says:

    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

  35. Dave Karper says:

    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.

  36. kirk knutson says:

    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

  37. Bernard says:

    Wonderful layout, I live near Katonah and the train station is still there but it is now a wine and liquor store.

  38. Robert Brady says:

    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

  39. Mark T. Pianka says:

    Great O scale Layout! Nice to see great job very well done, Robert look into OGR forum for O scalers. Think you will enjoy.

  40. I can only hope mine comes out half as good.

  41. Stephen Hill says:

    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

  42. Rich B. says:

    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

  43. Frank P says:

    Absolutely stunning! What a fantastic layout! Bravo!

  44. Steve Ruple says:

    WOW, WOW, WOW, just AWESOME !!!!!!!!!

  45. Rob says:

    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!

  46. TJK says:

    Where did you buy those magnificent people with so many unique poses?

  47. Nancy from Gig Harbor, WA says:

    Oh, Rob! Wonderful work…I mean…wonderful fun! Thanks for sharing. It is inspiring.

  48. Jerry Treich says:

    Wow! That’s quite an accomplishment! I thought the flying saucer was a fun scene!

  49. robert dale tiemann says:

    hard work shows. very nice job.

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