The |
The Montana and Rio Grande (or Marie and Ricky Glass - take your pick) is nominally G scale. I say that because the motive power and rolling stock can vary from 1:32 to 1:22.5. Kalamazoo locomotives (3) and USA Trains rolling stock dominate the motive power and rolling stock.
An oval, measuring roughly 20'x12' with both forward and backward spurs along with a reversing Y, the pike offers some interesting switching problems. The benchwork is L-girder and scenery is attached with white glue and latex paint. Pictures were taken with a Kodak KDC-50 digital camera and modified using LView. |
|---|---|
Although modeling in HO scale since 1983, I feel in love with the sight and sound of the big trains which
were reminiscent of the Lionel layout my father put together every Christmas.
The M&RG is a ficticious railroad set in a indeterminate locale, in a time frame somewhere in the 1940's forward. Inspired by the work of Malcom Furlow in the October, 1986 edition of Model Railroader, it showed that large scale in a small space was possible.
My goal was to provide generic stage for which I could run a variety of trains scenarios and equipment ranging from a branch line for a Class 1 road to a backwoods, narrow gauge line.
If I had to specify a locale, it would be somewhere in the Pacific Northwest due to the predominence of Great Northern equipment along with SOO, Northern and Western Pacific. and CB&Q. Although deviating from this occansionally, the pike provides, in my opinion, a plausible stage.
Motive power consists of Kalamazoo (3), LGB (1) and USA Trains (1). The rolling stock is primarily dominated with USA Trains (30+) but contains pieces from Aristo/REA (6), LGB (4), Delton (3) and Bachmann (2).
The water tower seen in the photograph is constructed with popsicle sticks.I strive to provide the clutter and overall mood to create a believable scene with prototypical dimensions coming second.
The trackwork is LGB track and is attached directly to the plywood. The rail sides were painted with rust-colored paint and ballasted with kitty litter allowing for realistic and reliable operation. Scenery material (commercially available ground foam) attached with diluted latex paint. Two references that I still find helpful is How to Build Realistic Model Railroad Scenery by David Frary and How to Build Model Railroad Benchwork by Linn H. Wescott, both from Kalmbach Books.