The Pacemaker
Northeastern Region 2016 NMRA Convention
Albany New York September 15-18, 2016
Layout Visits
Layout visits will be scheduled during the course of The Pacemaker Convention. There will be approximately 30 layout hosts participating in N, HO, S, O, G, F and large scale. In addition, The Pacemaker will feature club layouts and modules on display at the Convention hotel in N and HO scale for both viewing and operations. The Layout Visit page will be updated as more detailed information about the particpating layouts is confirmed.
Bob Chase
Doug Davis
Mike Hatchey
Paul Hoffman
Joe Kavanaugh
Bill Kohler
Bob Mohowski
Marcel Zucchino
Adirondack & Lake Champlain RR
Albany N-Trak
Andy Clermont's Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain on the Rutland (O&LC)
Vic Roman's NYC , Hudson Division. the layout is New York Central in the late 1940s, it is based on the main line that runs between Albany and Tivoli N.Y . it features Albany Union Station , Central Warehouse and the Rensselaer engine facility and finally the Tivoli track pans. Both steam and diesel power are present with a roster that has all of the wheel arraignments . Operations consist of both passenger and freight with through and local movements. trains operate from east and west staging yards running trough the city of Albany over the Hudson River via the Maiden lane bridge through the Rensselaer yard and engine facility. Further east you travel past the unfinished city of Hudson and finally
over the track pans at Tivoli.The control system is NCC digital command control. all turnouts are controlled via tortoise or ground throws. Trains are dispatched via verbal means and are consisted using the car card system. Vic's layout was featured in the March 2012 issue of Model Railroader.
Ken Nelson's Poco Valley Railroad The Era is late 1950’s - mid 1960’s. The railroad depicts the northeastern part of our country, running from Boston, MA. through New York State to the fictional town of Jefferson Jct., PA., with a branch line running from Hillside Jct. to Hillside. The Poco Valley interchanges with the Boston & Maine in Boston, the Delaware & Hudson in Klingertown, the Erie Lackawanna in Hillside Jct., and the New York Central in Jefferson Jct. In addition, a wholly owned subsidiary, the Hillside Street Railway, interchanges with the PV in Hillside ands erves several industries in Hillside and Coopersburg. Passenger service is highlighted by the Crescendo, an overnight train running between Boston/Montreal and Chicago, which runs on NYC trackage rights west of Jefferson Jct.
In addition, the railroad operates several other coach, mail, express, and commuter trains. Freight service is provided by both local and through trains, as well as D&H trains running on trackage rights between Klingertown and Nelson City. Although cement, paper, and coal make up the principle traffic, lumber, food, and farm productsare also revenue producers. The layout covers a space approximately 25’ x 22’ including aisles.The railroad is operated by a crew of 5 using NCE DCC, and has been in operation for 30 years. Ken's Poco Valley has been featured in Model Railroader, Railroad Model Craftsmen, Scale Rails, and the NMRA Magazine.
Kip Grant's D&H branch line “ The Sonnyvale Branch “ ( HO ) DCC, NCE wireless. Era, 1962. A fictitious 7 mile branch of the D&H set in the fall of 1962 operated with QSI sound equipped locos. Featured in 2011 Great Model Railroads magazine and April 2013 Railroad Model Craftsman magazine.
Kevin Surman's New York and Long Branch is loosely based on the prototype which connected the industrial north to the Jersey Shore. The railroad is operated by both the Central Railroad of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It is set around 1957 and has an interchange with the Lehigh Valley in Perth Amboy and the Raritan River at South Amboy. The layout is 21’ x 34’ with a new second level and additional 8’ x 12’ staging area. Motive power includes steam, diesel and some electric under catenary. I use the MRC Prodigy Advance DCC system for control and use 8 throttles for our monthly operating sessions.
Bob Hamm's
John McBride's F scale Crown Point Iron Co. Railroad is a model of Crown Point off Lake Champlain. Crown Point, New York was where the iron furnaces were located. There is a working hump yard also in that area. Mines are located in Hammondville. The layout features a two track mainline on the north side and a one track mainline on the south side. The C.P.I.Co RR was a short line which carried iron ore to the furnaces at Crown Point from Hammondville during the Civil War. After the iron was processed it was shipped to Watervliet Arsenal near Albany NY. The railroad also features two yards with a working turntable in each yard.
Doug Dederick's - The N scale Great Northern Railroad Kalispell Division represents a double track main from Whitefish, Montana to Great Falls, Montana via Shelby, Montana. Passing through Columbia Falls and along the border of Glacier National Park, including Belton, Essex and Summit before reaching Shelby. There is also a branch line from Columbia Falls to the town of Kalispell. The railroad features named freight and passenger trains along with local freights. There are 3 yards. A large yard located at Whitefish with engine facilities, a small yard at Kalispell and a staging yard at Shelby. The layout is controlled by an NCE DCC wireless system and switch list. The layout is set in the late 1950’s
Irwin Nathanson's - Diamond Point Railways is actually three separate but interconnected railways: United States (HO), Germany (HO) and England (00). The layouts are walk in, overall room size 18 X 25 feet with 2 X 16 foot staging yard underneath Germany reached by helices at each end. Roughly transition era. Steam, early Diesel and Electric locos, most with sound decoders. NCE Radio DCC command & control. Mainline runs: USA 45', Germany 60', England 30', around the room 75' Minimum radius 18" Maximum grade 2.5% Code 100 track with manual and Tortoise throws.
Fred Gemmill - the railroad is the Pembina & Missouri Valley Southern (P&MVS). The P&MVS is an N-scale layout set along the old NP main of the BN between Fargo and Bismarck, ND. It is a fictitious regional railroad headquartered in Jamestown, ND. It does local switching along the BN mainline and has a branch line with a connection to CN. The layout is about 30’x23’ with a 4.25 scale mile main line and a 1.5 scale mile branch line and has a 10 track double ended staging yard a scale mile long. Train control is with Digitrax DCC Duplex radio. The layout is handicap friendly with ground level access. There is a 50” high duck under.
Henry Propst - The NYC RR Mohawk Division is a 55’ long by (from) 10’ to 30’ wide HO model of the New York Central’s Mohawk Division in upstate New York. The layout features a two track mainline running
from the Division point at Utica (in the West) to the Division point at Selkirk and Albany Union Station (in the East.) The freight main continues east to the West Side Yards in Manhattan. Freight schedules, cars and locomotives, follow the published schedules that were in effect in the early 1950’s. Control is Dynatrol, with some Rail Lynx infer red control overlay; the total mainline run is about 300’. There is a 36” minimum radius
on the mains. The overall schedule includes over two dozen freight and one dozen passenger trains.
Jack Cutler -
Bill McChesney - The Lehigh Valley Railroad features the mainline symbol freights of the Lehigh Valley, the Jersey Central, Lehigh and Hudson River Railway, and the Delaware & Hudson connection from Binghamton to Sayre, Pa. There are four yards, two industrial areas, a brewery and a float operation. A total of 26 trains are run between two separate two and one half to three hour operating sessions. The layout was featured in the March 1998 issue of Railroad Model Crafstman, and numerous photos have appeared in the Walthers' catalogs..
Tom Rhodes
Rich Smith
Frank Czubryt
Mike Evans - THE RUTLAND BRANCH OF THE DELAWARE & HUDSON RR - The layout represents the Rutland Branch of the D&H which ran from Whitehall, NY to Rutland VT. This double deck layout fills a 22’x28’ basement. The layout is modeled in the spring of 1952 and is mostly prototype based with some “little known history” for added interest. Parts of Whitehall NY, Fair Haven, Hydeville, Castleton, West Rutland, Center Rutland and Rutland VT are modeled, with a helix connecting the 2 levels. The Clarendon & Pittsford RR has tracks in Proctor VT and interchanges with the D&H and Rutland RR in Center Rutland.
The Rutland RR has a local originating in Rutland VT (visible staging) and works some industries in Rutland and Center Rutland. The railroad is controlled by a NCE DCC radio system. Operations are controlled by homemade waybills.
Tony Steele - The D&H Rutland Branch - the layout era may range fom the 70's along the main routes to resemble the early 50's in the hillside quarry branches, covering all routes into Rutland, VT. Thus, Delaware & Hudson, Rutland, Vermont Rail and Clarendon & Pittsford (the Vermont Marble Company;s terminal switching line) are represented, with possible editions of visiting equipment - perhaps even Steamtown displays. There is expectation of an extension to the Port of Albany. The layout dominates a 29' x 29' area of the
basement, but utilizes 4 levels and 4 sublevels to pack in (eventually) 700 feet of main and branch routes. Three helices (with multiple connections) and a 9-track train elevator (with 6 connections) supplement a generally downward winding "main". Currently 13 other staging tracks exist, with allowances for 29 more, as the layout yard and industry trackage progresses. Large industries, representative of the area are under way: marble quarries, transloading points,and finishing plants: cement, lime and talc mills; boiler and scale manufacturers - as well as the lesser coal, oil and grain operations. Locomotive control is possible by DC, Dynatrol, Rail-Lynx, and perhaps DCC. There is a "holdover" (from a previous layout) system of magnetic car cards to supplement an eventual sequential (or timetable ?) method of train operations.
Mike Romanowski - Union Pacific and Burlington Northern at Denver and the foothills of the Rockies. The layout is present day with UP and BN traffic from Denver and the foothills of the Rockies. There is a planned fictitious Western Steam town as part of the layout. It is a 12 X 20 ft. shelf type layout standing 56 inches high. There is a staging yard on a bookshelf in the main room. The layout is done with Kato Unitrack and is controlled by a Digitrax DCC system.
Modular and Club Layouts
The Catskill, Albany & Berkshire is Albany's HO scale modular railroad club. They will have the modular layout set up at the Desmond Covention Center in the Ballroom.
New England, Berkshire & Western
Adirondack Live Steamers
- The Adirondack Southern Railroad (the railroad of the Adirondack Live Steamers) is a 1 and 1/4 mile long railroad through a wooded location in Wilton, NY. Included are three yards (the third under construction), many passing sidings, some of which become towns for operation, engine facilities, a Car Barn, a large Clubhouse, and several other structures. The Operation Session scheduled for Sunday will be run by a Dispatcher using a radio, and communicating with each of the train crews. Visitors are invited to take part as Brakemen and perhaps Conductors, by signing up ahead of time. Other visitors may become passengers on the passenger trains run during the operation.
We plan to have several freight trains, one or two passenger trains, and at least one yard job. We ask those serving as brakemen and/or conductors to commit to the hours of 9AM to 2 PM. Other visitors may come at any time during the day.
Visit the European Train Enthusiasts at:
European Train Enthusiasts
Upsate New York Chapter is planning on having a layout on display