NSC 2010 Convention Home Layout Tours Descriptions

As always, tour itineraries are subject to change.

Trans-Texas Special - Tuesday, June 22

Gordon Bliss - N scale
Santa Fe - All the Way is a double-deck N-scale layout in a 20-ft. by 30ft. room with an 8-ft. by 13-ft. side room for staging and dispatching, two double track helixes and a 450-ft. + main line. Gordon’s railroad, set in 1953, depicts the Santa Fe’s run from Chicago to Los Angeles. A typical operating session sees 30 trains running on the railroad.

Harry Daniel - N scale
The N scale Pecos River Railroad has a 500-ft mainline on three levels. The layout is set in West Texas and New Mexico, with a high scenery-to-track ratio. Designed as point to point for operations, continuous running for shows, this is western railroading at its best.

Rick Townsend - N scale
Rick Townsend’s Santa Fe Railway depicts the railroad in the 1950s. The 18-ft by 11-ft. layout is fully landscaped with a wealth of structures and details, including a roundhouse and yard scene, industries and a mountain town. Access to this third floor layout is by stairs only.

Tomball Express - Wednesday, June 23

Jason Smith - N scale
The Union Pacific Overland Route represents the double track main line from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Ogden, Utah. The era modeled is the late 1940s to the late 1960s. With Union Pacific and Southern Pacific operating steam, GE turbines and period diesel locomotives, all should be pleased. Control is provided through the use of Digitrax DCC including a baker’s dozen of FEFs. An added treat is an extensive narrow gauge garden railroad.

Barry and Blake Bogs - G and Gn3 scales
The Colorado & Western is an indoor, dual gauge G/Gn3 layout with over 1,000 sq. ft. of Colorado style, Denver and Rio Grande Western railroading. The track work is 100% complete. The scenery includes a 12 stall Durango roundhouse, 15 ft. long Lobato bridge, massive rock work and multiple photo wall murals. The railroad is built for operations and uses scratch built D&RGW engines and rolling stock, "RailOp" software for switch lists, Easy DCC for train control, and all Digitrax decoders and Phoenix DCC on-board sound units.

Al Hague - N scale
The Kansas and Pacific Railroad is a 20-ft.  by 20-ft. N-scale garage layout covering three levels. The bottom level has two 130-ft. loops with several tunnels. The second level has two has two 160 ft loops, while the third level features a 17 track yard and engine maintenance area. All 3 levels are interconnected. The layout incorporates approximately 1,800 trees, a town, a power plant, a coalmine, two trailer-truck operation areas with over 200 trucks, a chemical plant, two passenger stations and more

Gulf Coast Flyer - Thursday, June 24

Gil and Virginia Freitag - HO scale and garden railroad
The Stony Creek & Western features Colorado type scenery, hand laid track, mostly scratch built structures, smooth operation utilizing Dynatrol system and computer generated switch lists and prototypical CTC Panel dispatching. A D&RGW branch line complements the heavy mainline running. Also running (weather permitting) will be Virginia’s G Scale Rocky River Railroad in the garden. The 3/4-scale replica of a Santa Fe station in the backyard was built to house the G scale equipment in the passenger side, and lawn equipment in the freight side. This is family model railroading at its best!

Don Bozman - HO scale (and a little N)
This beautifully done HO layout is an inspiration to modelers in all scales. The Scenic Cascade Mountain Division of The GREAT Great Northern Railway is a big layout started in 1981 and built for operation from the beginning. Don, a founding member of the N’Crowd Model Railroad Society, has recreated the Pacific Northwest with Cascade Tunnel, Glacier Canyon, magnificent bridges and more. Look for Don’s award-winning N-Trak module incorporated into the Dispatcher’s Desk!

Craig Raymond - Sn3 Scale
Rio Grande Southern - a Colorado narrow gauge prototype/freelance layout. This layout was the feature layout in the Finescale Railroader 2006 Narrow Gauge Annual, and the article was designated the National "S" Gauge Article of The Year. The layout depicts the Northern Division of the RGS between Ridgway and Rico around 1940. Structures and rolling stock are kit and scratch built. The railroad is divided into seven (7) independent power districts with four automatic reversing sections using Digitrax DCC. A four level 72" diameter hidden helix leads to a huge hidden staging yard.