Now THIS is a model railroad.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Someone sent me this link:

[PJMcK]

1. That's an amazing set!

I still have a very large American Flyer set from when I was a kid. My dad bought it for me and we had many hundreds of hours together designing the layout and landscaping it. Fun times with a lot of creativity in learning the modeling skills.

There are two large freight trains with engines that have headlamps and can be made to have smoke come from the smokestacks. I also have a passenger train and a variety of automatic cars that do various things: the baggage car has a handler who pushes the bags onto the platform, the log carrier can dump its load, the spotlight car rotates its lamp, etc. In the set, there are three transformers, six switches with remote controls, 3 manual switches and about a thousand miles of track.

As an "S" gauge, the American Flyer was slightly smaller than the more popular Lionel trains. However, its tracks were more realistic because it only has two tracks unlike Lionel's three. Incidentally, HO gauge has two tracks.

For the past few months, I've been cleaning it up with an aim to sell it to a collector.

My set up NEVER looked liked this guy's set! Strangely, I admire his obsession.

Thanks for the post, mahatmakanejeeves!

[hlthe2b]

2. THAT is SOOO COOL!

Good on him. I hope some museum invests in it one day for the public.

[hibbing]

3. Cool

I always wanted one of the smallest scale ones. I had a little premade set up as a kid, it was always fun. I'm not sure what the heck happened to that.

Peace

[Fla Dem]

4. I hope some museum adds this to their collection, like the Smithsonian. Truly Americana.

What a fantastic labor of love.

[malthaussen]

5. Lest we forget: the most famous model RR of all.

http://gdlines.org/

The link takes you to the site set up as a tribute to the Gorre & Daphetid RR, the masterpiece of the late John Allen. While there are many incredible model RRs around (and in history), the G&D is the granddaddy of them all.

-- Mal

[JayhawkSD]

6. Thanks for that link.

I remember John Allen very well indeed. He was something else.

My father was NMRA Master Model Railroader #14, being the 14th person to receive the award. He introduced me to trains by giving me a locomotive kit to build, and we spent many many hours together in the basement building layouts. Never met the scope of the one in the OP, but we built some nice ones. More to the point, we had a lot of time being comfortable together. Good times.

I entered models in a few contests after I was an adult and took a couple firsts. Dad cautioned me against it. Said that, while he was proud of his MMR and glad he went for it, building models to suit a contest judge became more stressful than fun. He urged me to keep model railroading noncompetitive and just do it for enjoyment. I never regretted taking that advice.

I still have that first locomotive I built from a kit, sixty years ago.

[malthaussen]

8. Ah, yes.

For years I built models (mostly structures, including a few great FSM kits) for that "someday" when I would actually have space to build a model RR. We had a big O scale Lionel in the basement of our first house, but that went bye-byes when we had to move.

Never did get out of apartments, alas. And had to finally toss "Ezra Cooper's Garage" when I had to move six months ago.

I wonder how the hobby is faring these days? My subscription to Model Railroader ended around 1990, so I'm well out of touch, now.

-- Mal

[JayhawkSD]

7. We had a cat who loved our trains.

He was a big cat, but he would stroll all over our layout and never disturb a single thing. He never knocked over a person or a telephone pole. No idea how he did it, but he was incredibly delicate.

He would sit, transfixed, staring at a tunnel entrance and waiting for a train to come out of it. When it did he would jump half out of his skin. Every time. Cracked us up. He would be all excited and watch the train go by him with his eyes like dinner plates.

Once in a while he would just lose control of himself and as the train was pulling away from him he would reach out one paw and swat the caboose off of the track. Then he would look at us like, "I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it."

[BigmanPigman]

9. San Diego has a good model railroad museum

but I think this example surpasses it in a few areas. Thanks for sharing!
https://www.yelp.com/biz/san-diego-model-railroad-museum-san-diego

[Yonnie3]

10. Nearly porn!

I've got a box of O-gauge Lionel out in the country stored in a lovely custom case my father made. I'm not sure if the transformer survived all us kids. Next time I'm out there I'll have a look.

[LuckyCharms]

11. Just incredible.

Thank you for posting this.

[ThoughtCriminal]

12. Unfortunately, the hobby has been shrinking in recent years

I have been involved in the hobby for 50 years. It won't die out, but the generations that made the hobby one of the most popular decades ago, are not being replaced by as many newcomers.

[ResIpsa]

13. Sad but true.

WW2 Scale Modeler here. Over 115 planes hanging from my ceiling upstairs. Plastic and Balsa. Tried to get nephews into it...kids just seem to like different things nowadays.