I just got back from a field trip with my daughter, and a friend's son, who also loves trains. If anyone is around the Commerce Twp, MI area, I recommend the Chi-Town Union Station exhibit. I found this on the events listing on this site.
5,000 sf of display. The track is about 70% complete, (they guess about a mile of track) and the scenery is about 20% complete. 2-rail O gauge. It's a great opportunity to see some great benchwork, and wiring. Very friendly operators, and very informative.
Today they had 5 Penn SD-40 diesels pulling 305 yes 305 hoppers!
Sorry no pics this trip, we'll go back soon with the camera.
Kurt
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
Probably name only. Scenery is still in very early stage. I don't recognize any buildings in the scenery near the yards. They didn't model the station or underground portion of the station, and they have a mountain area on the opposite side of the display.
That is a bit if a head scratcher...Come to think of it I did see quite a few Penn trains...including F-3's with coaches...I'm not sure if they are modelling a particular area. I was more interested in the mechanics, and construction. I will have to get a better look. Good excuse for a second trip.
Everything seems to be from Atlas, 2-rail track, trains, and they are running DCC.
I made a call to the Chi-Town folks. They are building a generic layout, and not really modelling a specific area. The mural at the yard shows Union Station, Dearborn Station, and the Grand Central Station, as they looked in the 1950's around W Roosevelt. Grand Central and Dearborn are both gone now.
Also, the mountainous region opposite the yard is patterned after the LA area close to San Bernadino. A hidden center track area, with a control booth above divides the front and rear of the layout.
I hope this helps,
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