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Larry Romaine’s Tupelo & Logan Railroad

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The Tupelo & Logan Railroad is my freelanced N scale model railroad. The Tupelo & Logan Railroad is a regional railroad serving the industrial great lakes region to the southeast with connections to western railroads in Memphis. My layout which occupies about 600 sq ft, depicts a subdivision in the Appalachian mountains. Maximum speed in this area in 35 mph for freights and 55 for Amtrak. The layout is DCC with an automatic block signal system utilizing Azatrax products. There are over 15 industries on the layout and I am in the process of setting up operations.

If you're in Blairstown, take a drive to Mineral Bluff to visit the Tri-State Model Railroaders and check out their impressive HO scale L&N layout. They will be open on Saturday, November 15, from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Their address is 150 Railroad Avenue, Mineral Bluff, GA.

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John Travis’ Johnstown & Gerryville The Johnstown & Gerryville Railroad (J&G) is an HO scale bridge route between the PRR and B&O operating in western Pennsylvania. Using the mid-fifties as a back-drop, this fully sceniced basement-size layout runs both steam and diesel. This large basement layout featuring 2 levels with valance lighting and LEDs for buildings & street lighting. Aisles are wide and the fascia is curved to be operator and visitor friendly. We recently updated our lighting system with strings of LEDs to replace the compact florescent lights. The LEDs give us the capability to modify the lighting based on the time of day so we go from full daylight to night time in a controlled sequence. To top things off, we even added a lightning storm with great sound. Features include: beautiful scenery providing a realistic setting for operations; the CTC Signal system is Dispatcher controlled to keep traffic moving; two visible staging yards; realistic animation and six towns provide lots of operating interest; Digitrax DCC controls the trains using wireless throttles; antique telephones are used for communications and several contest winning structures make this a great layout. Search for ‘Johnstown & Gerryville’ on Youtube to view our current videos. Search for ‘Johnstown & Gerryville’ on Youtube to view our current videos.

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The layout focuses on coal operations, time freights, and passenger trains of the Norfolk and Western Railway through the coalfields of West Virginia during 1958. The N&W rostered steam locomotives until May 1960, so you can witness the final years of their use in regular service alongside the new diesels that eventually replaced them. 1958 is also the year that Management leased first-generation diesels from neighboring railroads (including the PRR, ACL, and RF&P) to help expedite dieselization, offering the railfan a chance to witness some interesting patch jobs and diesel consists among the N&W's own new diesels. The layout is designed for prototype operations to keep 12 people busy for 3.5 hours. A fast clock is used so that time freight and passenger trains are scheduled to depart based on the actual 1958 Time Table.

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The Delaware and Hudson Penn Division layout is based on the line from Wilkes Barre, PA (South Staging) to Oneonta, NY (North Staging). The line was a steep climb to Ararat Summit needing helpers in both directions. Operations ceased in 1984 when the D&H purchased the ex-DL&W line out of Scranton directly to Binghamton, NY. I aimed to recreate the memories of my childhood along the Penn Division in Carbondale, PA with colorful mixes of patched out motive power including many Alco powered road freights. The layout is an around the walls style with a lower staging level connected with 2 long ramp tracks.

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The layout is set in Appalachian Virginia and West Virginia in 1953. It has a single track mainline loosely based on things I liked about the B&O, N&W, WM, and the Clinchfield. The layout is loop to loop with large staging yards at either end. It is designed for prototype operation and is fully signaled. It is designed to keep about 16 operators busy. It can be run under either CTC, ABS or TT&TO operating rules. Signals and dispatching use a computer with Railroad & Company software. The layout uses Digitrax DCC for train and layout control. We use any kind of Digitrax Throttle (Wired, Simplex Radio, or Duplex Radio). We also use WIFI throttles using JMRI. All locomotives are equipped with TCS WOWSound decoders and set up to sound and operate prototypically. All visible track and turnouts are hand laid using code 70 rail. Motive power is a 50/50 mix of steam and 1st generation diesel. The railroad runs a mix of freight and passenger trains but leans heavily toward coal traffic. Communication with the dispatcher uses a homemade telephone system.

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Lower Level 28.5" off the floor, Main level 44.5" off the floor, Lever Three 60.5" off the floor Lever 3 and 1/2 is 78" high. L-girder on 1/2" plywood, Homasote over plywood on the lower level, Homabed on plywood on the Main level, Cork roadbed on plywood on level three and level three and 1/2. Atlas Code 83 flex track, Walthers turnouts #8 and #6 on mainline, #5 and #6 in yards. 32", 30" and 28" on mainline. 26" in some sidings. 2% in Helix and on some of the third levels. DCC Digitrax Radio Control, boosters, power managements, block detection.