PM Tours

1pm - 5pm

Dr. Joe Nichols, Sr.’s Delta Southern Railroad

The layout was begun over 60 years ago with continuous improvement. Central desk dispatcher controls the mainline operation of the layout with 28 blocks of automatic trackside signals. Thirty-five locomotives are active on the layout. The larger of the three switching yards hold 180 cars. Multiple additional switching locations are featured. Two passengers yards contain a total of 12 full passenger trains. All track is handlaid with 152 scratchbuilt code 70 turnouts, All crossties were individually cut and stained. Spikes were made from paper staples for smaller profile. Many award winning scratchbuilt cars and structures from a Master Model Railroader (MMR#48). Each of the three yards has a steam and diesel switcher. Dispatchers oversees up to 10 locomotives running at one time.

City: Atlanta
Scale/Gauge: HO
Joseph Nichols

Tom Robinson’s S Gauge H-Rail Tennessee Central Railway

The layout is S Gauge 1/64 scale representing the Tennessee Central Railway's eastern Division from Nashville to Harriman Tn. The layout uses American S Gauge code 172 flex track, American S Gauge 27" and American Flyer 720A 20" radius turnouts. The roadbed is Vinylbed or Flexbed. Nashville, Crossville, Rockwood, Emory Gap and Harriman are represented. Only three stations are scratch built copies of actual buildings. Also represented is Southern Junction yard, roundhouse and turntable. There are over 100 S scale and kit bashed HO structures on the layout. There are over 1500 S and HO figures on the layout. There are three mainline tracks on the lower tier and one on the upper tier with a transition track between the tiers. Nearly all of the Tennessee Central steam and diesel locomotives of the transition era are represented. There are HO areas in 2 background sections at a blast furnace at Rockwood and past & above the Harriman end of the layout. All TCRY engines, rolling stock, & passenger cars are custom painted & numbered. In addition, there are several engines & consists of the Clinchfield RR which exchange coal traffic from eastern Kentucky with the TCRY at Emory Gap and Harriman.

City: Dahlonega
Scale/Gauge: other
Tom Robinson

Robert Young’s Pennsylvania Railroad

The layout depicts the PRR Middle Division with horseshoe curve, Altoona yard, and station. It is set up for freight and passenger operations. The era is the fall of 1945 to 1959.

City: Atlanta
Scale/Gauge: HO
Robert Young

Paul Schenk’s Boston & Maine

The layout has slowly expanded into four areas in its 4th home. I run a double track mainline that has a lower and upper level, plus a short middle section, for a total length of some 300 feet. A full lower and upper loop run takes about 7 minutes. The main room is 12.5 x 28. From there it goes through a wall on one end of the room to an area about 5'x5' at the bottom of the stairs, perfect for a harbor scene. Going through the wall on the other side of the harbor brings you to one of two helixes. The north 6'x6' helix hosts a ski slope. At the other end of the main room the layout also goes through the wall to access a staging yard, a coal mine, and a second helix (8'x4') which hosts a limestone quarry that I just began building this summer.

City: Dunwoody
Scale/Gauge: HO
Paul Schenk

Mark Reed’s Little River Railroad and Lumber Company

This proto-freelanced layout captures a small segment of the Little River Railroad, depicting a 26-mile stretch of branchline and logging operations located in what is known today as the Great Smoky Mountains. The railroad is served by the Southern Railway, Knoxville and Augusta Division. Current operations will extend the railroad into the early 1940s. The LRR&LC is inspired by the raffle layout of the same name won at the 2004 Piedmont Division's Train Show; the raffled section has been incorporated as the peninsula on the middle level. As a multi-level design, the lower and middle levels are joined using a double deck peninsula (with reversing loops on each level) at one end with walk around shelves to a helix at the other end. Continuous running of trains is possible between the lower and middle levels. On the upper section of the peninsula, a series of switchbacks connect the middle level of the peninsula to an around-the-wall shelf on the upper level. Three towns will be modeled in detail. On the lower level, the main industry in the town of Walland will include the Schlosser Tannery and the sawmill complex will dominate Townsend. Specifically, the Townsend Sawmill Complex will feature a fully detailed sawmill, power plant, planing shed, transfer shed with a tramway leading to the drying yard, sawdust burner, coaling station, water tower, and machine shop. Logging operations and the town of Elkmont will be modeled on the upper level. Finally, there will be seven bridges traversing the Little River that run throughout the landscape on all three levels. In addition to the logging operations, the Little River Railroad Company will transport loggers and their families to and from work sites and local towns. Finally, excursion trains will operate between Walland and Elkmont, bringing summer vacationers from Maryville and Knoxville to the cabins and cottages (known as Millionnaires Row) just north of Elkmont.

City: Peachtree Corners
Scale/Gauge: HO
Mark Reed

While visiting this home layout tour in the Peachtree Corners area, consider stopping in to see the model train layout (and much, much more!) on display at the Southeastern Railway Museum, 3595 Buford Highway in Duluth, GA. They will be open Saturday 10:00am-5:00pm. (Admission fee required!) For more information, visit their website at the link below

Southeastern Railway Museum

All Day Tours

10am - 5pm

Eric Siegel’s Appalachian & Western Railroad

My layout depicts modern day diesel freight operations, although I also will run steam trains from time to time as well. The heart of the layout is a fully functional freight yard, complete with a 17 stall turntable, classification yard, diesel service facility and fuel depot. The layout is spread between 4 rooms, which allows for great scenery transitions. 3 of the 4 rooms are set in the mountains of the southeastern U.S. The 4th room is set in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Construction of the layout began in 2007 and the approximate completion date is 2020. While all major construction on the layout has been completed, there is still much scenery and structure work in progress, so this is a great opportunity to see a layout which is still growing and developing. There are 2 levels of track and one layout can run 5 independent trains at once, including a narrow gauge On30 line in the Colorado Room.

City: Woodstock
Scale/Gauge: O
Eric Siegel