Canal Winchester - suburb on the south-east side of Columbus
Columbus Area N-Scalers (C.A.N.S) » Hocking Valley RR
Scale: N
Prototype Inspiration: Hocking Valley Rail Road
Layout size: Approximately 16’ x 24’
Power System: Conventional DC
What better a place for a model railroad layout than in a restored 100+ year old depot!! This layout is patterned after the portion of the Hocking Valley Railroad that ran from Columbus to Carroll, Ohio at the turn on the century (that’s 1900). The portion running on to Lancaster and Athens, Ohio is still under construction. There are two 1:1 scale cabooses adjacent to depot that visitors can check out along with a restored grain elevator.
Mike Yoakam » Muskingum Valley RR. / Hamm River Lumber Co.
Scale: On30
Prototype Inspiration:
Layout size: 9’ x 12’
Power System: Digitrax DCC
The Muskingum Valley RR & Hamm River Lumber Co. is an On30 work in progress. It is freelanced but based on the Ohio River and Western. It occupies a room that is 9’ x 15” in a U shape. Most of the structures and all of the bridges are scratch built. The layout is On30 and is operated with a Digitrax DCC system and most of the engines have sound. Mike has scratch-built some absolutely gorgeous structures. He has super detailed his steam locomotives and all of them are equipped with sound. Mike is also a budding manufacturer putting out some really nice detailed castings for O Scale Narrow Gauge modeling. This may not be a big layout at 9’ x 12’ under the control of DigiTrak DCC, but is nice to look at and admire.
Columbus - The near south-east side of Columbus
Columbus Club » Scioto Valley Lines
Scale: HO
Layout size: Approximately 40’ x 40’
Power System: Digit - DCC
Scioto Valley Lines, is fine example of the old saying “model railroading is fun”. The Columbus Club was founded in 1934 and is celebrating it’s Diamond Jubilee this year. They have been featured in past issues of Railroad Model Craftsman and Model Railroading. Originally a standard DC layout with automatic cab routing, they converted to DigiTrak in early 2006. All movement over the layout is control by a Central Dispatcher, and features a fully operational signal system and train detection. Scenery is typical mid-eastern/mid-western United States with tree covered hillsides and plenty of bridges.
Running between Portsmouth and Sandusky, Ohio, the Scioto Valley Lines is a single track point to point railroad with a mainline of about 650 feet. Two sections of double track and six passing sidings permit trains running in opposite direction to meet. Engineers run their trains by signal indications controlled by Centralized Traffic Control (CTC). Two large double ended yards are kept busy switching trains at the end of their runs, Typical freight trains lengths are 25 to 35 cars, passenger trains lengths are 6 to 10 cars. The layout has a complete solid state track detection and signal system. The Club uses a Digit DCC control system.
