The Fairy Queen steam locomotive is all gloss and shine. A bronze chimney spewing out thick smoke from its crown into the air, which thins to a misty vapour as the engine warms.

The Fairy Queen broad gauge steam locomotive was built in 1855 by Kitson, Thompson & Hewitson, of England for the British firm East India Railways. The petite engine worked from Howrah to Ranigunj (121 miles). After a complete overhaul in Perambur Workshop of the Southern Railway, it panted back to life in 1997.

The Fairy Queen made several trips between New Delhi and Alwar, India (89km of railway track) between 1997 and 1998. It now runs as a tourist train.

The Eltham Model Railway Circle (Melbourne, Australia) was formed in 1980 and started with a small end to end layout. The model railroad has progressed to a fully operational layout. By the Mid 1990’s the club began construction of an exhibition layout. The exhibition layout had it’s first public Showing at the Strathmore Model Railway Exhibition in August 1999.

The Eltham Model Railway Circle now has a large permanent layout as well as an exhibition layout called “Layout Murranbilla”.

Layout Murranbilla is 20ft long by 8ft 4inches wide. The layout breaks down into 8 modules, each 5ft 10 inches in length and 2ft 6inches wide. The legs are made from tublular steel that are fitted into larger square tubing screwed into each corner.

The layout is built on the open type timber frame, with decking only where necessary for a solid base for the trackwork. Hand holds have been cut into the sides to allow easy carrying.

Power to the track is by way of two commercial battery chargers modified to give a split potential power supply using the two transformers in parallel. This allows the running of one common rail and a common return wire for the whole layout. The controllers were originally purchased from the Melbourne Model Railway Society and were modified by removing the jug style of element from the circuit and replacing this with series connected diodes. This allows for a smoother operation of locos by varying the voltage rather than the resistance.

To see what The Eltham Model Railway Circle is up to – be sure to visit the club website.

The Seattle based United Northwest Model Railroad Club has an N scale (1:160) layout. (An N scale locomotive would have to be magnified 160 times to equal the real thing.)

The present 24′ x 12′ United Northwest Model Railroad Club layout breaks down into modules for easy take-down and tranport. For Club Members it has been a work in progress for almost 20 years. The club has plans to extend the layout by 12′ bringing it to 36’x 12′.

The United Northwest Model Railroad Club layout doesn’t follow a particular prototype or era, but instead incorporates the best elements of Pacific Northwest railroading.

The layout has operational DCC on the outside “low line” main. The system is North Coast Engineering.

Here are some more interesting aspects of the United Northwest Model Railroad Club layout:

Yard and Engine Facilities – One end encompasses the massive yard and engine facilities, where we build and break up trains.

Mountain Area – The other end is a mountainous territory containing bridges, tunnels, loops, and a valley.

Mainlines – There are two mainlines, one that is known as the “High Line”, and the other that is referred to as the “Low Line”.

Club members usually operate passenger trains on the twisting and grade-filled High Line, and run longer freight trains on the flatter Low Line. The model train layout also has a host of other smaller switching opportunities to keep everyone busy and entertained.

The Northwest Model Railroad Club has its own excellent website to explore.

Derailments and accidents can happen frequently with model train sets for any number of reasons. Regardless of how good the trackwork is on your model train sets – derailments still happen. Sometimes train derailments are caused by a super-light flatcar being shoved behind a heavy boxcar, or a hopper with out-of-gauge wheelsets somewhere waiting to pick a switchpoint or be forced off the track. S-curves on model train sets can also prove a hazard for passenger cars.

Sadly, train accidents on real-sized prototype train tracks are far more serious than on model train sets.

There were at least two railway accidents in 1944:

January 16, 1944
A train crashed in Torro Tunnel in Leon Province, Spain. More than 500 were killed.

March 2, 1944
A train stalled in tunnel in Salerno, Italy, suffocating passengers. 521 die.

The West Somerset Railway recaptures the era of the branch line country railway in the days of the steam train. Enjoy 20 miles of glorious Somerset scenery as the steam train gently rolls back the years on its journey beside the Quantock Hills and the Bristol Channel coast. Just sit back in your seat and watch the steam and countryside drift past the window.

The Railway has all the atmosphere of a Great Western Railway branch line. There are ten restored stations along the route, each having its own charm and character; many have signalboxes, engine sheds, museums, displays, steam engines and other rolling stock to see.

Coffs Harbour is a major center on the New South Wales (NSW) north coast of Australia. The railway line linking Sydney with Brisbane runs right through the town.

In the 1970s there was a demand for a shunting locomotive to be allocated to the town. Coffs Harbour was a major loading point for bananas a little locomotive was kept busy shunting bananas.

While the banana shunter was rarely used on the jetty there was plenty of work in the yard. When the government locomotive was unavailable the Maritime Services Board shunter that did most of the work down on the jetty was used to shunt Coffs Harbour railway yard as well.

This model railroad blog will list various railroading terms five or six at a time over the next few weeks.

Bleeder
This valve bleeds (releases) air from the auxiliary air tank reservoir on a car.

Blended Braking
Uses a mix of service braking and dynamic braking.

Block
A length of track with defined limits on which train movements are governed by block signals, cab signals, or Form D’s.

Blocking Device
A lever, ring, plug, or other control method to restrict the operation of a switch or signal. The abbreviation “BDA” means Blocking Device Applied and “BDR” means Blocking Device Removed.

Blocking of Cars
The assembling of cars in proper groups.

Block Signal
This is a fixed signal which is displayed at the entrance of a block to govern use of that block.
Block System A block (or series of consecutive blocks) within ABS, ACS, CTC, or interlocking limits.

The nine original members of the La Mesa Model Railroad Club (which has 85 members now) – started getting together to share their hobby in 1961.

Then in 1982, they started building their ultimate project: a replica of the Tehachapi Pass railroad, a 70-mile steel ribbon that climbs over rugged mountains to link Central and Southern California.

The La Mesa Model Railroad Club recently celebrated the completion of a scale model of the most famous part of the 129-year-old railway, a section that includes the Tehachapi Loop. The rail loop was considered an engineering marvel when it was built in the 1870s and is listed as a California Historical Landmark and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

Members use photographs and maps of the actual locations to develop the scenery and tracks on the model train layout. The scale model railroad is 1/87th of the actual size with some extra shrinkage in a few areas to make it all fit into its space.

This model train set blog looks at a variety of topics of interest to model railroaders and train enthusiasts.

Model railroaders can get frustrated with derailments and accidents that happen with model train sets. Sadly, real train accidents are far more serious and cause tragedy and mayhem.

These are two of the more serious train accidents from the 1960’s:

May 3, 1962

160 people were killed in a three-train collision north of Tokyo.

November 9, 1963

Another train crash in Japan kills 161 people. It involved a freight train and two passenger trains in Tsurumi, outside Tokyo.

Here are another five common railroading terms (with simple definitions). You might hear some of these railroading terms mentioned from time to time, so if you’re not already familiar with them, this will be a handy reference. The railroading terms I’ve listed here are reasonably universal, but some may vary depending on where you live. Also note, that the list is by no means complete, as there are literally hundreds of different railroading terms used on railroads around the world including several slang expressions.

“B” End of A Car
It’s usually the end where the hand brake is located.

Back-Haul
To transport a shipment back over part of a route from where it has already been.

Bad Order Tag
When a car inspector locates a defective car, he or she attaches a “bad order” tag (usually on the door of the car). A “bad order”tag means that the car must be repaired before it is allowed to move from the terminal.

Ballast Tamper
A machine for compacting ballast under the ties.

Belt Line
Refers to railroad track that operates as a pickup, delivery and transfer facility for industrial plants and truck lines. These are usually located within or around a city.

The numbers may surprise you, but here is a list of the 5 subways with the most train stations:

1. New York has 468.
2. Paris, France has 368.
3. London, UK has 275.
4. Tokyo, Japan has 217.
5. Moscow, Russia has 140.

1955

Inter-modal freight: the movement of containers and highway trailers by rail is reported as a separate category of freight for the first time. In that year, railroads moved 168,000 carloads of trailers and containers.

Every day East Rail carries about 800,000 passengers. 48 domestic passenger trains travel into and out of Hung Hom station every hour during the morning peak period.

Hong Kong’s heavy rail network is primarily arranged on two axes. Since electrification in 1983 patronage of the East Rail route has soared almost six-fold. A fleet of 451 GEC-Alstom-built EMU vehicles share the same tracks as trains continuing to Shanghai and Beijing, as well as commercially vital freight, mainly container traffic.

The California Southern Model Railroad Club was formed in 1984 with the merger of the North Orange County Modular Railroaders and the Cerritos Valley Model Railroad Club.

The new clubs first layout was a single track line with passing sidings in HO scale. There was a yard at each end of the run, with a connecting track to form a continuous loop. There were numerous problems with the design, mainly focusing on accessibility. Some areas were in excess of 4 feet from the nearest aisle, making it difficult, if not impossible to do routine maintenance.
It was decided by the club membership in early 1996 that the old model railroad layout should be replaced with new one.

Construction on a new “mushroom” design HO scale layout began in 1997. There will be eventually be two levels, stacked one on top of the other, with the upper level directly over the lower level, but with the aisleways reversed. This design maximizes the utilization of the space available making a longer linear run.

The Central California Traction Company (incorporated on August 7, 1905) was originally setup as a second streetcar line as an alternative to the Stockton Electric Railroad.

The electric passenger train service between Stockton and Lodi began in 1907, in direct competition with Southern Pacific Railroad. By August 1910, the railway line had reached Sacramento to cater for passengers and freight. The freight service carried livestock and produce (mainly grapes, strawberries and sugar beets). At its Peak, The Central California Traction Company was operating 36 passenger trains a day, as well as freight trains.

The Central California Traction Company used overhead wires in the cities of Stockton, Lodi and Sacramento, but power between the cities was fed by a covered third rail that was energized at 1200 volts DC. The Central California Traction Company was one of the first railroads to use the high tension DC power in the United States.

In 1933, the last interurban passenger train made its final run but the freight operations continued. Demands on power created service problems and in 1946 The Central California Traction Company made the switch from electricity to diesel with the arrival of a pair of GE 44-tonners.

The Great Scale Model Train Show and The All-American Hi-Rail & Collectors Train Show is scheduled for Feb. 4-5 2006 at the Maryland State Fairgrounds, Timonium MD.

The operating model train layouts on display will include:

• Baltimore Area NTrak 50′ x 50′
• Baltimore Area American Flyer 38′ x 24′
• Custom Model Railroads (HO) 4′ x 8′
• DC Area Independent HiRailers (O) 24′ x 60′
• Four County Soc. of Model Engineers (HO) 60′ x 90′(featured in Great Model Railroads 2005)
• High LiNn3 Route (N Narrow Gauge!) 8′ x 24′
• Jeff Jacobs N scale construction demos
• Japan Rail Modelers of DC (HO) 4′ x 20′
• Keystone Chapter European Train Enthusiasts (HO) 32′ x 46′
• Lionel TMCC Demo (O) 9′ x 18′
• Mason-Dixon Large Scale RR (G) 30′ x 40′
• Meade Area RR Society (HO) 40′ x 60′
• WamaLTC Lego Train Club 18′ x 50′
• Warrior Run Loco Works (1:20.3 scale) 25′ x 50′

This Model Train Show happens for Feb. 4-5 2006 at the Maryland State Fairgrounds.

The Granville Island Museum in Vancouver, Canada houses many collectable model trains, photographs and dioramas including: The Royal Hudson, Lionel Trains, “O” Gauge, “G” Gauge, Standard Gauge, Steam Locomotives and Tender, Transcontinental Trains, Brass Locomotives and many more model trains, toy trains and photographs.

The shear size of the model train collection, the detail and hours required to build the 5 line working diorama will take the steam right out of your engines.

The model train museum has an 80-foot-long diorama of Kettle-Valley-like terrain with almost 1000 feet of train track. There are beechwood cabinets lining the walls, filled with sets that run the gamut from turn-of-the-century tin wind-up trains to contemporary collectors’ scale models. The Granville Island model train museum hosts a collection snowblower cars, dining cars and hand made engines that run on small pieces of coal. There is even a rare pink Lionel train set, circa 1958.

Design and building team for the “O” gauge track layout was a team of talented long-term friends. The Granville Island Model Ships, and Model Trains Museum is located on Granville Island in the heart of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

It’s the first time a Canadian company has won a World Travel Award in the train category of the World Travel Awards. Rocky Mountaineer Vacations, has won top honour at the 2005 awards as the “World’s Leading Travel Experience By Train”. Other nominees in the category were: The Blue Train (South Africa), Rovos Rail (South Africa), Great Southern Railway (Australia), Orient Express Ltd (United Kingdom), Orient Express (Peru) and Palace on Wheels (India).

Over 2,000 people attended the gala ceremony at London’s Royal Opera House where the 12th Annual World Travel Awards event was held.

Since receiving the award, Rocky Mountaineer Vacations has announced the suspension of the North Coast Explorer train for the 2006 season. The tourist train, servicing the cruise ship industry, ran along the Skeena River and back form the Port of Prince Rupert.