Week of Remembrance: Callum Wilcox's Amiens Tracks & Trenches 1918

In this week of remembrance, here’s a unique layout by British modeller Callum Willcox that recalls  the contribution made by railway troops during that conflict.

Willcox, 24, created the 009-scale military trench railway layout in 2018 to mark the centennial of the ending of World War One.

Called Amiens 1918—Tracks & Trenches, it remembers the battle of Amiens, one of the last major battles of the war.

Willcox’s layout is set during the battle. It depicts a recaptured artillery battery that has become an Allied field headquarters and supply depot.

A narrow-gauge field railway serves the troops, using a mixture of British, U.S. and French locomotives and captured German rolling stock.

The layout is the result of his interest in railways and military history. Through it, he wanted to combine both interests.

He started construction of the 2 by 4-foot layout in the spring of 2017, with the aim of getting the layout finished for the start of 2018, ready for the commemorations.

  

Watch a video of this amazing layout here. 

See more photos on Willcox’s Facebook page. (Scroll down a ways.)

Willcox isn’t the only modeller making war-themed layouts. Find more here.

For other posts on this blog about railways and war, click here.

Information and some photos from Model Rail magazine. 

Callum with his layout. 

Jeopardy for Model Railroaders, or Name That Layout!

And tonight on Jeopardy for model railroaders, it’s name that layout!

This layout has a devoted Facebook group with over 1,600 members created not by the layout owner, but by its fans.

Its used locomotives sell for hundreds and even thousands of dollars on eBay.

A major manufacturer made rolling stock featuring its logo.

Answer: What is special about the Utah Belt?

Did you guess right?

If there ever was a Jeopardy for model railroaders, those could be some of the challenges posed by the host about Eric Brooman’s Utah Belt.

Many people are familiar with UB, as it is known. For those of you who aren’t, a bit of background.

Set in the U.S. southwest, the HO scale UB is a gorgeous freelance bridge line built by Eric.

The 165-foot long mainline runs around the walls and a centre peninsula, connecting two staging yards stacked over each other.

Now in its second iteration, it is known for a unusual feature—it is always set in the present. Eric constantly updates the line, per prototypical practice.

This means that older power is sold off, allowing him to purchase newer locomotives.

These older units end up on eBay, where they sometimes sell for over $2,500.

As for that Facebook group, called the Utah Belt Historical Society, it is “dedicated to preserving the history of Utah Belt Railroad created by Eric Brooman  . . . the group is set up to be a place to enjoy the models and history of this fantastic model railroad.”

The group features posts where people write and ask questions about the layout, show photos of the actual UB (as it is known), and photos of locomotives and rolling stock they’ve painted into that scheme.

What is sometimes surprising is the questions sound like they are about a real railway—a testament to Eric’s abilities as a modeller.

Like this question, for example.

“Before the more modern era of late-90s early-2000s did the Utah Belt ever operate any unit coal trains or were they just coal drags made up of loads from multiple mines?” (Answer: “This photo shows unit coal trains were part of the UB back in 1978.”)

Another common question has to do with making your own UB locomotives and rolling stock. (Something made possible by the availability of commercial decals.)

The answer is yes, you can do it—"as long as you don't try to pass it off as an original Belt engine or car, he [Eric] is fine with it.”

As for me, I’ve long been admirer of the UB, and Eric’s unique approach to staying current. I'm not alone, as the Facebook group attests.

But Eric's not a member. According to someone who knows him, he’s not on social media at all. And why would he need to be? He's got his own wonderful world in his basement!

Click here for a collection of photos of the UB by Mike Sosalla. Click here for a video of the layout by the good folks at Model Railroader.

Click here for a collection of photos and articles on the Georgia Transportation Facebook page.

And click here for more photos and text from the Gateway NMRA.

New England, Berkshire & Western Finds New Home

The New England, Berkshire & Western Railroad (NEB&W) has found a new home. 

Earlier I reported that the layout, built and maintained by the Rensselaer Model Railroad Society (on the campus of the Renssaelaer Polytechnical Institute), needed to move from its current location due to the need for renovations.

At that time, the club had nowhere to go. The plan was to cut up the layout and put into storage.

To avoid that scenario, the club issued a plea for “massive amounts of publicity” in an effort to “reach some wealthy benefactor, or even just convince the school the importance of not letting us wither away in storage.”

Their effort seems to have worked; according to a report by the Institute, the layout will “soon be moved to a location that will allow the public better access to its miniature re-creations of communities from Troy to the Canadian Border set in 1950.”

The new home will be a space leased by the Institute at 258 Hoosick Street in Troy.

“This move is uncovering a hidden gem and elevating it to a position of prominence in the community,” said Dalton Slegel, the president of the Model Railroad Society.

“We are honoring the historical connections between Rensselaer alumni and railroading heritage, as well as the immense contributions of club members over many decades.”

This summer the club’s current home, Davison Hall will undergo renovations, including removal of asbestos insulation and the removal and replacement of aging water and heating pipes located directly above and around the NEB&W layout.

In addition to being more publicly accessible, the new space will provide the club with additional space to expand the layout.

Adirondack Studios and Clarke Dunham of Dunham Studios, which specializes in model railroads, has been contracted “to develop and execute a plan to safely remove the railroad from the basement of Davison Hall, provide secure temporary storage, and reassemble it at the new location.”

The relocation should be completed by fall.

Photo above from TrainMasters TV.

End of the Line for the New England, Berkshire & Western?

Is the end of the line for another iconic model railroad layout?

That could be the case for the New England, Berkshire & Western at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

According to a report on the White River Division website, the layout, which is owned by the student-owned Rensselaer Model Railroad Society, has been told by the Institute to vacate its home of 47 years.

According to John Nehrich, the club’s program administrator, “the NEB&W have just gotten word that shortly, perhaps a few weeks, a professional mover is going to come in and crate up sections of the layout, along with everything else, and move them out of Davison Hall.”

The reason for the move is the need to renovate the Hall, Nehrich says; it will be easier to do  without the layout in it.

The layout “will either be stored in a warehouse or, if we are lucky, moved to a new permanent home,” he says.

Right now, the club has nothing definite in terms of a new location; one option is to locate in downtown Albany is some vacant commercial space.

One important consideration, he says, “would be to ensure this is a permanent home.”

Another option the club is discussing is “a simple (and thus cheap) steel shell building on a concrete pad floor somewhere on RPI property.”

What they do want is to “spread the word to EVERYONE you can think of.,” he says.

“Massive amounts of publicity are needed, and soon, both word-of-mouth and professional media.  In this way, we may reach some wealthy benefactor, or even just convince the school the importance of not letting us wither away in storage.”

They may launch a go-fund-me campaign.

Once the club has a definite moving date, Nehrich says they will hold one last operating session. 

I wish I lived closer so I could see it in person. As Nehrich says: “If you know of individuals who need to see the layout, I can set up an individual tour – it may be now or never.”

The Rensselaer Model Railroad Society traces its start back to 1938. The first HO layout was built in 1947. This is the third time it has been required to move.

The current layout is a historical time piece, showing about 40 scenes from Troy to the Canadian border, set in 1950.

Caveat: There is nothing about this on the club’s website, but other model railroad forums have reprinted the message from Nehrich, so I assume it to be true. 

Click here to visit the club’s website. 

Imitation is the Highest Compliment: Brad Burtnick's N-Scale Door-Size Layout

Every now and then, I check out the local (Winnipeg) Kijiji website to see what might be available.

Not that I need anything, but you never know: Something special or rare just might show up and call my name.

Earlier this month, while scanning through Kijiji, I came across an N scale layout on a door—a layout similar to the one I had made a few years ago based on the Thompson River Canyon.

I sent the seller a note. I wanted to know: What inspired him to make it?

The answer surprised me: My own Thompson River Canyon layout.

My Thompson River Canyon layout.

In a note sent back by Brad Burtnick, builder and owner of the layout I saw on Kijiji, I learned he saw my door-sized layout on display at the Winnipeg Mega-Train show and decided to make something like it himself.

“I liked it so much that I modeled this layout from your design with a few changes,” he told me. “I liked the compact design, and how a simple oval didn't look like an oval at all.” 

“So  you actually motivated me to build this layout.”

Brad's layout is different than mine—it’s only scenicked on one side, for starters, it's built on a piece of half-inch plywood, for another, and the cliff face and vegetation are not the same. (More like along Lake Superior than B.C.'s Thompson Canyon.)

But otherwise, the concept is similar: An oval with scenery to disguise the fact that it is, in fact, an oval.

I asked him more about the layout.

“I like large rock faces, so I incorporated that into my layout, and I also only modeled one side so the layout can be placed on a shelf or against a wall on a cabinet,” he said.

He explained that the scenery is built on a box-like structure of two-inch thick Styrofoam. To make it less square, and make it look more like a mountain, “I then used crumpled-up newspaper to round out the mountain on the top and the sides above the tunnels.”

Once the newspaper was in a shape that he liked, Brad used Woodland Scenics plaster cloth on top of the newspaper to seal the paper and make it hard. He then painted the plaster cloth a green color.

The rock was made from hydrocal plaster. Brad used two different castings to make the rocks. He then sprayed thinned paint on them to provide the colour. 

The deciduous trees are from Woodland Scenics, and the pine trees are from Heki.

As for me, I was flattered by what Brad had done, and why he did it; imitation is the highest compliment.

And since I was reading about Brad's layout on Kijiji, that means it was up for sale. Brad tells me it hasn’t been sold yet; if you are interested, check it out on Kijiji.