Membership List

Membership List

Mark A. Cowles
Port Authority Terminal RR
(A wholly owned subsidy of the Great Lakes Central Railroad System and affiliated with the Detroit & Charleviox Railroad & Steam Navigation Company)

The railroad is a 4' x 8' layout with a very small peninsula jutting off one corner. The layout has a backdrop scene divider, effectively making it into two 2' x 4' segments.

The railroad is envisioned as being a terminal line serving a large urban area with a car float / carferry connection. It is a synthesis of the warehouse canyons along the Cuyahoga River valley in Cleveland, Ohio, a.k.a. the "Flats", along with the operations of the car floats and the pocket railroads and yards that served the New York City area combined with the river ferries of Detroit, and the railroads of Toledo, Ohio.

I grew up next to the Nickel Plate Road, and now live in a town served by the Ann Arbor and the Pere Marquette/C&O, which accounts for most of the motive power. I also lived in Connecticut and met the New Haven twice daily, as my dad commuted into the city on it. I rode the Burlington, the CB&Q, for four years while attending college, with a dorm room adjacent to the Rock Island's Golden State route. This accounts for much of the rest of the motive power, although it is usually restricted to the club layout. I'm working towards an era of about 1963, but not fanatically so.

If you need a quasi-prototype situation, lets say that the Maumee River Bridge in Toledo was knocked down by a storm, and to avoid any further interference with navigation, car ferries replaced it. Hey, it's my world!

The layout is operated as a switching layout, with approximately 54 specific siding locations. Currently it is a solo operation, but could be set up for two or three operators, if I ever got the wiring done. I operate it as if I were the local crew, throwing most of the switches myself, and determining the switching order.

Because cars are often removed for use on the LaNtrak layout, I needed a system that took that into account. I use a simplified card system, with all cars coming off of the float, and returning to it. As cars come off the float, they are assigned, by drawing a card, to a particular siding, based on the type of car. As crew, I really don't care where the car has come from, or where it is going after return delivery to the boat, nor for the most part what is in it. The rate clerks can worry about that. Uncoupling is done by the crew, and with sharp curves, some coupling also has to be manually assisted. Normally, about eight cars come off the float, and a full operating sessions takes about 90 (real) minutes, if I don't screw it up. If I just switch the yard, it takes about 30 minutes.

Remember, Model Railroading is Fun!

Len VanderJagt
Weary Erie - Lackawampum RR

Len VanderJagt runs three 4' modules with Lantrak, which make up the first section of his slowly developing home layout, which will eventually be comprised of six 4' x 3' modules, two 30" x 6' end modules, to form a 'doughnut', and a branch line of five or six oNetrak modules. Most of this is just on paper at present, with four actual modules and 10 'virtual' modules.

Having worked in Horribly Oversized scale 40 years ago, Len caught the Ntrak bug in 1995 and returned to model railroading. His Weary Erie - Lackawampum RR is modeled after elements of his former employer, the Erie Lackawanna. He has Fine Scale aspirations, and is working with code 55 & 40 rail. Era is 1953 to 1973, which dictates a lot of run-down stuff and heavy weathering, good for hiding mistakes! The WE-L utilizes Erie, DL&W, and EL power, with run-throughs of D&H, and also BN predecessors.

His partner, Carol Sue, specializes in building structures and weathering, and is an indispensable part of the operation. She has recently been promoted to CEO of the WE&L, and rules the Chief Operating Officer with a firm but kind hand.

Carol VanderJagt (story according to Len)

Carol bought a Bachmann 4-4-0 trainset in 1989, and pined away, looking for an enlightened male N-scaler, who finally appeared as Len, in 1997. Imagine her (and his) shock on their first date to discover that they had n-scale in common. Not surprisingly, merger talks soon began, with the union occurring in 2000. Carol most enjoys building, reconstructing, and weathering structures and details. She also experiments heavily in Horticulturus Falsifus, and her tree-building is advancing nicely.

Bill Carney
Keweenaw Central RR

Bill's first layout is a loose interpretation of the Quincy and Torch Lake RR which ran from the Quincy Mine in Hancock, Michigan to the stamp mills at nearby Torch Lake, a distance of 6.5 miles in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula. The railroad was in operation from 1888 to 1905 when the Quincy Mine purchased the railroad. Operations continued until 1945 when the falling price of copper forced a suspension in operations. Some of the Q&TL's structures and rolling stock still exist, with Engine No.3 being used at Crossroads Village near Flint, Michigan.

Bill's model assumes that the railroad, as well as the copper mining industry, is still in operation today, which allows him to not only run the original steam but current engines as well, primarily those from the Soo Line, but others have track rights on occasion. The first spike was laid in November 1999, and his layout consists of a 3'x4' module.

As this is Bill's first model, he is using it a learning experience, trying out different techniques to get a better understanding of the hobby.