A Model Railway Museum?

Question

Not a museum for model trains, but a model of a real railroad museum.

I got this idea a few years back from an MR article on moving the V&O forward in time, one step which involved removing the turntable and replacing it with diesel facilities.

I thought, why not keep it and make it a museum? Clean bricks, fresh paint, add a modern wing, parking, snack bar, lawns, picnic tables, etc. Out back you could have a workshop with a caboose under restoration, and a dead track with future display items in various states of decay. Taking it a step further, you could run weekend excursions on museum equipment, and even have it serviced at the modern shops.

I'm sure someone's done it, but I haven't seen it yet. Seems like almost a required element for a club layout. A good way to put vintage equipment on display without it feeling out of place.

Mac B.

Steve Caple · Accepted Answer

I thought, why model the period of motorized boxcars?

the OTHER Mike · Answer

While we don't get into THAT much detail, when we are running modern era we "park" some of the better heavyweights and streamliner cars as well as a few steam engines and early diesels at the passeneger terminal.

We leave one track open for Amtrak and one for commuter service but every other track including the REA & post office tracks are used for display.

We keep one train made up of a "mixed breed" of cars and eras as the excursion train that goes out once in awhile and does some photo run by's.

It's a great way of keeping the "home road" feeling and yet allowing members to run some of their "off road" prizes. In one town we do have a track with a fence around it that is a musem of sorts but only has one steam engine on it with kids playing on it. Which steam engine is placed there is dependinhg on which era we are operating. It's always an era older than we are operating.

polar bear · Answer

I thought, why model someone else's nostalgia, when I can model my own?Mac B.

Steve Caple · Answer

But how do they tell 'em from the double stack can carriers?

Frank Rosenbaum · Answer

Well, for starters, the double stacks don't make engine noises.They are not self propelled, nor can they pull anything else.But, I am not really trying to convince you to like Diesels anyway.

Bob May · Answer

Ah, yes, John Linnsay and his cute little motor! Sure made a diffeerence with the Civil war layouts so that the locos could pull a hundred cars!

-- Why do penguins walk so far to get to their nesting grounds?

Lt. Kizhe Catson · Answer

It's been done, insofar as someone built a portable N-scale model of the Canadian Railway Museum at  PQ, for publicity purposes.OK, that's not quite what you were suggesting ;-).-- Kizhe

newyorkcentralfan · Answer

"But how do they tell 'em from the double stack can carriers?"Youn have a functioning brain.Eric

polar bear · Answer

No, but it would be interesting to see.  Is it posted anywhere?I bet it plugs into the builders layout when it's not on display Mac B.

Lt. Kizhe Catson · Answer

Not that I know about -- I've seen it at shows where the Museum has had a booth.Could be ;-).-- Kizhe

A Model Railway Museum?

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