AM Tours

Crew Heimer’s Sand Patch Lines

Under construction - no significant scenery yet. Steam to Diesel transition. Passenger trains (primarily diesel) add steam helpers at Cumberland station stop; freight trains add helpers at Hyndman. Sidings for 25 car freight trains. Two levels of folded dogbones. Ten track staging yard. Come see the behind the scenes look at a railroad before it is covered in scenery. Six foot roll out section with multiple main lines for access to furnace and hot water heater. Multiple hidden lines attached to wall brackets. Bowl-shaped grades in yard to aid in cars rolling after being cut-off during switching. Main line turnouts #8 for crossovers, #6/7 other mainline double ended tracks, #4,#2.5 for industry spur stub tracks.

This layout is freelance, based on the assumption that Union Pacific constructed a spur starting at Green River and terminating just south of Yellowstone National Park, through the western mountain ranges of Wyoming. The main purpose of the branch line is to transport passengers from all over the country to Yellowstone prior to the completion of interstates and travel by car. In addition, there are a number of small towns serviced by various local freight trains to a variety of different industries. The layout includes a large passenger terminal and yard at Yellowstone. The layout was specifically designed for operation with two decks and a large helix, and with wider aisles and plenty of opportunities for operations. The track work is 100% complete and the scenery is now 75-80% complete. Approximately 80% of the structures are now on the layout. The backdrop is now finished and are multiple photographs taken on site in Wyoming and made into stunning backdrops by a local sign company.

The Waterloo to Wessex line, part of the Southern Region of British Railways, is an HO/OO single level "point to point" with hidden areas to provide continuous operation. You will have an opportunity to see an OO layout set in the English countryside with British steam engines with express Pullman passenger cars, slower commuter passenger trains, and various "goods trains" (freight trains) operating between Waterloo in London and the southwest of England. The layout, with very detailed scenery, is fully complete with a variety 0f English villages and country scenes, including stations, churches, gardens, allotments, farms, village streets, canals, and pubs. This layout was included in the May 2018 edition of the Model Railroader magazine.

Begun in 2003, this large, multi-deck layout celebrated mainline completion with a gold spike in 2009. All track work and electrical is complete, including three large yards (one intermodal). DCC train detection for computer dispatching is fully functional, and the layout can host operating sessions for up to 12 persons. Most scenery is still in the early stages, but is (slowly!) progressing. And be sure to see the famous "trains through the bathroom!"

This layout is a loose representation of the most mountainous portion of the Seaboard Air Line from Atlanta to Birmingham in the late summer of 1954. It is designed for lots of industry switching and has a number of seriously modified kits and scratch-built structures. The track is a combination of flex track and handlaid industrial sidings. Locomotive power is provided by first generation diesels – with some ‘retired’ SAL steam on the industrial switching area in Rockmart. The layout is a new one (replacing a similar layout at a different location, last on tour in 2018), but it is fully functional. Fascia and backdrops have been installed, and scenery work is in progress. The physical plant is controlled via a C/MRI system, with propulsion via EasyDCC. Since this current rendition of the layout is less than 3 years old, the signal system is in the process of being installed.

When designing this layout, the objective was to explore different geographies, different areas and a blend of industrial settings that reflected my interests. From a beautifully detailed steel mill to the waterfront River Street, in Savannah, each viniet tells a story of the time. Some of the top model builders and scale artists in the U.S. participated in the layouts construction, seeing its first full operational run in December of 2013. Surrounding the layout is a hand-painted mural depicting the four seasons and situated to literally extend the eye beyond each of the layouts scenic vistas. This year, we've added a new dimension to the layout, sound and lighting effects over the full layout. From the city to the country, to the mountains, sounds of activity will be felt, including a thunder and lightning storm over the mountains. In addition, hang gliders, blimps and balloons all add to the skylines activity.

The Feather River Route is a modern Union Pacific Class 1 railroad running from the San Francisco Bay Area across California’s fertile Central Valley then up the Feather River Canyon, cutting through the west slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains to the crew change point at Portola, CA. BNSF trains use trackage rights from Stockton to the famous Keddie Wye bridge where it diverts north across the former Western Pacific Inside Gateway line. The modeled portion covers over 300 prototype miles in 400′ of actual mainline, connecting two visible staging yards. The lower level includes much of the industrial switching plus the classification/division point yard at Stockton, while the upper level enjoys more railfanning of long trains through mountain scenery. Operating sessions run approximately 25 revenue trains including through unit trains, 2-4 locals, mixed merchandise with car block pick ups and set outs, plus the occasional historical excursion trains such as the famous F-unit-led California Zephyr. Operating sessions are run by a dispatcher in a separate room, using JMRI software running on a Raspberry Pi and interfaced to Digitrax Signal and Detection hardware. Smartphone WiFi throttles are used exclusively, with Tam Valley stationary decoders and fascia controls for non-dispatcher running.

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.