Our Railroads:

Welcome to our layout page, please keep in mind some of these model railroads are still in their infancy stages and some have been somewhat completed and others are in their completed state. As modelers all know a model railroad goes through many stages and things are always changing, so in reality I don't think the railroad is ever completed, but that's ok, we wouldn't have it any other way. As Webmaster and fellow modeler/operator I guess I'll take this little section to highlight some of the things about the group. First I would like to personally thank all the fellow modelers and operators, you have made the hobby in my life much more rewarding and I'm proud to call you all my friends. The hobby is so much more to all of us, in a way it’s a form of therapy, it takes us away from the hustle and bustle of our busy lives of working, paying the bills, fixing the house, watching the kids grow and can take us back in time to a quitter place. Collectively amongst operators and modelers we all share a common love for railroading and have all contributed to the group. We have included a small bit of personal bio on the Modelers page with links to their actual railroad pages. Please feel free to browse all through all our hard work, it only gets better from here and the story continues….

Ward Ruland

     wwrr@optonline.net

Howard Dwyer's  " Island Central Railroad"

ICRR has an urban setting during the steam to diesel transition era. Most switching is performed by diesel road switchers. OPS sessions include main line, coal hauling, yard operations, and limited branch line runs. The ICRR is freelanced and 100% scenicked. The layout is NCE DCC equipped. The ICRR was featured in the May 2012 edition of Model Railroader. A track plan of the layout is included in the article.

To see pictures of Howard's "Island Central Railroad" Click Here

Ward Ruland's Railroad

Ward's  interest with model trains started as child as he  he received his first train set,  a Lionel switcher that he found under the Christmas  tree back in the early 70s. His first layout was built when he was 20 years old, it was a modest  18' x 12' U- shape, utilizing block control and built on flat plywood, with some bridge elevations and cookie cutter design for lakes and streams. As the layout grew Ward's fascination with extreme scenery became evident, spending many days collecting saw dust from  the local lumber yard and dying it with Rit clothing dye to produce many hues and shades of scenery material that was not available at that time. His current layout has been in progress for 4 years and his construction is  based on open grid  and L- Girder bench work. Ward considers himself a scenery modeler, as he focuses his talents more on scenery based techniques , although he has the combined skills of an  experienced modeler in many areas of model railroading, wards love of the hobby is constructing the "perfect scene" by utilizing scenery skills, techniques and color. Wards railroad is primary set in the 1960-1970 era encompassing the Long Island NY area, railroads seen on his layout are the Long Island Railroad,  Pennsylvania, New Haven and  all surrounding railroads. Ward shares his experience that he has picked up throughout the years and is also happy to learn new skills from his fellow modelers.

To see pictures of  Ward's "Railroad" Click Here 

Ron Engel's - "Great Northern Railroad"

My layout is a freelanced design loosely based on the Great Northern RR in Minnesota late 50s really 60s. The main yard is St. Cloud with towns of Hinkley and Elk River. I use the standard car cards and 4 position waybills along with a train order card. My operating session is laid back and consists of one east bound turn from Minneapolis (staging) to St. Cloud and one west bound turn from Duluth (staging) to St. Cloud. Operations consist of local and yard switching. I also have a mine branch run and swap, along with passenger and reefer runs. I dispatch vocally. Jobs would be - yard master (local pickups and delay, sort arrival and departures and turn locos on Turntable). Road turn - (local pickups and drops at two towns). Third job includes - mine run (empties and loads) , reefers, passenger. To see pictures of Ron's "Great Northern Railroad"  Click Here

Mike Ryan's "Jerome Central Railroad"

Mike started in model railroading back in his preteen years when his father set up a 4X8 piece of plywood with an oval and a spur. He still has 4 of his original cars. One, a coal hopper still runs on the present layout. As a teen he got into G.I.Joes, H.O. road racing and left trains behind. Then after his brother set up an oval at his house he went home and dug out his old trains and hasn’t stop since. In 1983 he built a 5 X 16 operational layout in his garage, based on a Model Railroader project by John Olson called building an HO model railroad with personality. The railroad was The Jerome & Southwestern published in 1983. It just happens that Mike’s middle name is Jerome and his dad lived in Arizona not far from the real town of Jerome Arizona. In that garage Mike was joined by his brother in law, road racing and motorcycle partner Jeff Brody, who still runs trains with him every Thursday evening. Also present on operating nights in the garage was his freind and teacher of all things operational, Danny Mulhearn, who along with John R.Taibi wrote F-UNITS published in 1982 by Quadrant Press, Inc.. The boys spent many a cold and many a hot night in that garage. Mike moved four times over the past 32 years and most of his railroad moved with him. It has underwent many changes over the years but the theme has remained, copper ore mining in the mountains and desert near Jerome Arizona. The present form of the layout occupies roughly a 10 by 63 area located in two adjacent rooms. Before joining the Central Suffolk Operations Group Mike’s layout was basically buildings on painted plywood with mountains covered in ground foam. In the past few years with the guidance and help of his fellow operators it has been transformed into a none-flat, mostly scenic layout. Mike hopes to be done with basic scenery in 2015 and then on to super detailing scenes. 

To see pictures of  Mike's "Jerome Central Railroad"  Click Here

John Feraca's " Stone Canyon Railroad"

John’s model railroading experience started around age 10 when he built a 4’ x 8’ HO scale layout in the middle of his den. His parents put up with it for about a year and made him take it down. After that came a 2’ x 4’ N scale layout in his bedroom. These early experiences never left him even though he did not get back into model railroading until 30 years later. In 2001 he decided to build a small L shaped HO scale layout with his three boys. He was amazed at what was available to the modeler and quickly fell back into the hobby. After 2 years John dismantled the layout and began building his dream layout, currently about 90% complete. The Stone Canyon Railroad is 25’ x 39’, 1950’s era set in the western US. Predominate roads are UP and the ATSF. John’s love of big steam and mountainous terrain are evident throughout the layout. The railroad includes a full service locomotive facility, large freight yard, and coal mine, several towns with multiple industries, a large staging area and a fully lighted city scene.  John’s main reason for building the layout was to satisfy his artistic side so he focused on realistic scenery.

To see pictures of John's Stone Canyon Railroad Click Here

John Jaklitsch's "New York Connecting Railroad"

John started modeling the LIRR in 1981, using plywood and table parts dating back to his old Lionel train sets! His concept was to model the railroad in its prime, when the high ways and roads of the island had yet to be fully developed. The railroad was kept busy with freight trains, often with leased Pennsylvania locomotives, delivering goods for nearby New York City, while carting produce from the heavily farmed areas of Long Island in the '50s. While John's North Shore Division is purely fictional, the genuine feel of his modeling derives from the fact that his two major destinations, Hunters point in Queens, and Oyster Bay in Nassau County, really do exist.

To See pictures of John's "New York Connecting Railroad" Click Here