Fun in 4′×6′ A small layout pays big dividends/Eric Miller


PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR I


’ve seen lots of model railroads in my time, some huge, some small, some in person, and some only in books or videos. One of the most fun, though, has been the model railroad


that lives in my house, a layout built for and with my young son. This is the story of how one small model railroad has provided hours of fun–and learn- ing–for me and my son, Tristan.


Background Like many model railroaders, my


first layout was on a 4′×8′ sheet of plywood. Using “The Trunk Line” trackplan from Atlas’ Blueprints for At- las Snap-Track HO Layouts, my dad built my first model railroad for me in 1978. After a long period of feverish ac- tivity, wherein many structures were built (but no scenery), I had mostly lost interest in model trains by the time I turned eight. Around this same time, my mother inherited a dining room set, so the “train room” was needed for oth- er uses. The structures were removed and placed in storage boxes, and the layout (which had never been elevated from the floor) was leaned up against a wall in another part of the house. Lat- er, the layout was moved to my grand- mother’s basement, where it would languish for several years. Fast forward to the holiday season of


1986. Visiting relatives in Richmond, Virginia, we saw a Christmas display in the lobby of a bank, the highlight of which was an enormous model rail- road. In practically the proverbial blink of an eye, my dormant interest in


72 FEBRUARY 2014


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100