I’ve seen a number of model railroads that some folks showed real obsession over in the name of being authentic. While rolling stock and a few buildings may come from kits, they don’t just glue ’em together and plop ’em down. Everything gets modified, weathered, and made to look like it belongs on or next to an actual railroad. One club I visited had untold miles of HO track (HO is 1/87th size of the real thing. It is one half of O gauge…hence HO) where EVERY tie was glued down, and EVERY rail hand spiked to the ties. No matter the effort put into it, they are usually illuminated by fluorescent lights and have the cinder block wall of a basement in the background.  There had to be a better way.

Indeed, there is a better way. These guys decided to run trains outside. They lined up a few segments of tracks and assembled them in a back yard overlooking some river bluffs. Yeah, the ground slopes down at a steep angle, a few lawn chairs and whatnot get everything lined up. I’m assuming this was done to incorporate the beautiful scenery in the shot.

Now we have the landscape situated, so what about the trains? All properly weathered, running across a bridge with graffiti on it. And dig those scratch built auto racks loaded with Gremlins, Pacers, and Matadors. Then some GM wagons before they become demo derby fodder, and a bunch of step vans. Obsessed much? One of these cats must be  a car guy, note the Nickey Chicago tee shirt. Later we have a steam train, and a Burlington Zephyr, once the pinnacle of passenger transport.

These trains are only running a short ways on a straight track, but that hardly matters. Take a few minutes and watch a few guys who will likely get a bit testy if you ask them if they play with toy trains.