INDUSTRY NEWS

Greenville, South Carolina: Plans are underway to develop what is being touted as the largest and most technically advanced HO scale model railroad in North America. The Miniature World of Trains is the brain child of Frank Ruby, owner of Blue Ridge Hobbies in Greenville, who says he is promoting the gigantic layout and adjoining railroad museum to educate and entertain the general public in state-of-the-art miniaturization. The fully computerized and digitally controlled layout is to be housed in a 40,000 square foot air conditioned facility featuring hundreds of operating trains and moving vehicles all modeled to the highest quality and standards.

Ruby said the plan is to start the project by recreating historical railroad scenes from the Carolinas, than expand the miniature world north to New York and New England, than turn to the west coast, building familiar railroad districts and facilities along the way. A few of the items on the long range construction schedule include recreations of PRR’s Horseshoe Curve, the Northeast Corridor, New York’s Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal, upstate New York, a Pittsburg steel mill, the Chicago “L”, North Platte yard, Denver Union Station, the Rockies including Moffat Tunnel, the huge Long Beach Container Terminal and the coast line. Narrow gauge segments will include recreating both Cumbras & Toltec and the Durango and Silverton.

A board of directors has been formed with work proceeding on signing qualified volunteers to help construct the massive layout and to obtain sponsors and adequate funding. Ruby expects to employ 100 to 150 full-time staff when MWOT is in full operations. For more information contact Frank Ruby at 864-255-4671 or visit www.miniatureworldoftrains.com.

St. Louis, Missouri: In recognition of their contribution to the betterment of narrow gauge modeling, Ellis Atwood, John Parker (San Juan Car Company), Steve Dominguez (Blackstone), Nancy Workman (Blackstone) and the late Brian Ellerby (Evergreen Scale Models) were inducted into the Narrow Gauge Hall of Fame during the groups national convention held here last month.

BRIEFLY NOTED AT PRESS TIME

Details West is developing a diesel locomotive super-detail kit for an HO scale Norfolk Southern Dash-9…

ExactRail is offering it’s HO scale PS-2CD 4427 covered hopper as an undecorated kit…

Kadee’s HO scale smooth and rib-back 33-inch and 36-inch wheelsets are now available with code 88 treads.

Rich Yoder Model will release O scale type 2D-F12 and PD-F8 PRR freight trucks sometime this winter.

Richard Bale is our News and Events editor and columnist. Richard writes our news column under the byline of The Old Yardmaster. He has been writing about the model railroad trade for various hobby publications since the 1960s.

Richard is currently introducing 3 of his grandsons to the hobby by involving them in the construction of his fifth layout. He enjoys building models, particularly structures, some of which appeared in the June 2006 issue of Model Railroader magazine.