Although I have had toy trains since I was born, I have been getting more sophisticated in their operation. My first layouts were a loop around the Christmas tree that my dad assembled each year. As I grew older and was able to participate, the layout grew and lasted past the time the tree was taken down. Eventually it moved to the basement on a 4" X 8" sheet of plywood. It became a full time hobby growing each year to 12' square while I was in highschool.
After high school came college and the layout parts spent several years boxed up in the attic. Got a job, married, living in an appartment and then children. Out came the trains again! Not much space so we were back to a loop under the tree. From then to now, things have grown to todays 12' by 30' permenant layout in our finished basement. Since I am retired, our kids have moved out and had kids of their own, I have more time to play with the latest layout.
Today's layout has mountains, tunnels, operating accessories, 5 digitally controlled engines and scenery that will most likely never be finished. We call it No Such Rail Road (NSRR) since it has everything from dinosaurs to modern day accessories. Not exactly a prototype design!
A few of our grandchildren are close enough for us to enjoy them on occasion and I love to watch them playing with the trains as I did over 60 years ago! Of course their starting point is a little different than mine and who knows what they will have for their grandchildren 60 years from now!
Here are a few photos of past platforms.
This layout would have been around the mid 1940's. That Santa Fe is still running on my current platform although it has been converted to digital control!
The following four photos were dated 12/50. That's my dad at the controls. He was always active in the hobby with me.
And four more from the early 60's.
And one more dated Dec 1976.
We lived in PA from 1983 to 1993 and didn’t have space for a permanent platform so we just put down a small loop at Christmas.
In 1993, we moved to MD where we had a large room downstairs. We sat up a permanent layout there.
And the Maryland platform before we moved to CO in 2010.
This design worked fairly well but had some limitations and didn’t lend itself well to move to CO. We removed all the track and buildings and built the NSRR with a new design. So far the new design has worked well. I doubt we will do another design but if we do, I’m sure it will again change! Design and buildout is half the fun!
Select the Photo Album tab to browse some of the features on the NSRR!