I am interested in building the Housatonic valley layout as per the MRR downloadable trackplan. I was wondering if anyone has a link to some more information on the guy that built this original track that they can share please? After photos of the layout, construction photos etc - anything would be great.
Yes, I have ordered the August 2008 MRR magazine that the original story was in, but need more photos etc. I have googled the track name, but can’t find anything. There is another housatonic valley layout that comes up, but it is not this one.
I doubt if this layout has ever been built. The article was one of those “what can I make from a single 4X8 sheet?” exercises.
The design itself is extremely compromised by the gimmick of limiting it to only the benchwork one could cut from a single sheet of plywood. The overly tight turnback curves are the worst part, but there are other problems with the plan, such as the strange arrangement for the station at Eastport. Many of the industry spurs are too short to be very useable, etc.
Bottom ine, there are better options in this much space – most importantly, don’t limit yourself to one piece of plywood!
Thanks Byron… I did not realise that it had not been built… that is a bit sad! I actually have a larger space to deal with - still a U shape (walk in) - but 10’ * 3’ down the RHS - 16’ * 3’ across the middle and a long 1’ (up to 40’) down the LHS. I was going to use this plan as a starter.
I have been messing around trying to find a layout to suit my size board - I had one, but it was like - how much track can you fit in one area game… leaving nothing for scenery - so I started taking the track out - and ended up removing everything to start again… Sure is frustrating !
I don’t think that the Housatonic plan has much to recommend it.
A much more engaing and realistic layout will fit into that much space or less. For example, this N scale layout fits into less than 9’X11’ and focuses on modern large industries rather than many unrealistic tiny industries (some of which are smaller than a single freight car). It also uses a more-reasonable minimum radius of 13".
You can read more about this modern era N scale layout here. This particular layout has below-deck staging, but since you have so much space down the one wall, you could certainly use staging that was more accessible. This layout is based on a specific prototype, so we wound a couple of back-and-forth branches into the space You wouldn’t have to design things so compactly.
So it’s probably not the perfect fit for you as-is, but hopefully it gives you an idea of how to better use the space than the layout you were considering.
If you want to design something yourself, it helps to have some fundamental planning background. Although far too few invest the time, studying John Armstrong’s Track Planning for Realistic Operation would help you avoid common mistakes and get more from your layout.
Thank you Bryon for the reply. This is a nice layout you have shown me - however, given I really on have the 1’ width down the LHS, it really would not fit - but I see what you are trying to show me.
I am (obviously) quite new to this, so I understand that a ‘staging’ area is pretty much where you make up your trains and get them ready to ‘appear’ on the main layout - instead of simply having to place them on th track all time - correct?
If that is the case, then my longer area would be great for that. I was also however, thinking that I could extend up through that area and around the other side of the room some day too.
May I ask what are the green areas on your layout plan - hills? and to the dotted line represent ‘underground’ areas? Also, all my track is kato unitrack - so would they work? I have a tonne to it !
Correct. But many layouts with two turnback curves can be rearranged into your space.
Which is why I suggested some study. No one can do this without some background – although many try, as demonstrated by the postings on this forum.
That’s somewhat the idea. What you are talking about is often called a “fiddle” yard, where trains are actively made up off-stage. A staging yard is often used to hold trains before and after their runs on the visible layout. It may be “active”, like a fiddle yard, or “passive”, which means the trains are made up before the session and stored for later use.
Sure, that’s a possibility. The key is defining what you want to accomplish.
Green shapes are hills. Dotted lines are tracks through tunnels.
Unitrack would work fine, although it wouldn’t fit in that exact arrangment due to differences in cur
I stumbled on here looking into the history of my grandfather, Harry Alfred Gaiser (1904-1971), who built railroad models.
This is from my grandmother’s records:
“He was a Model Railroad Enthusiast and belonged to one of the first Model Railroad Clubs in Stratford, The Housatonic Valley Lines which has been written up in Model Railroad magazines later and referred to as the first one.”
I would highly recommend listening to what Bryon provided. He is one of the best layout designers alive. I would take a two pronged approach. Figure out what footprints work in your space, and at the same time work in basic track plans. When track planning use templates for turnouts and curves…this way you account for their real size. D-
debaker02m Do you know you are responding to posts that where made in 2010, by hepkat63. I don’t know if those parts of this thread are still relevant!
I believe that she wrote the bio in the late 70’s. I’ll have to ask my father if he knows anything about it. I remember seeing tons of photos of his set ups that he had in his basement. I’ll ask my father and siblings if they have any. I am the Guardian of the family history and photos and I can’t seem to find one.
Hi, My father is 76 and doesn’t recall things when asked. But the subject of trains just happened to come up and he blurted out that his father’s layout was in the very first issue of whatever magazine it had been in. He had the issue at one point and said that he had tossed it. Of course being a genealogist I immediately chastised him for this. Just wanted to update the only further clue: Harry Gaiser’s Housatonic Valley Lines layout was in the very first issue (according to his son) of a model railroad magazine and referred to as the first one (according to his wife’s records).
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be Model Railroader magazine. The name “Gaiser” does not come up in a full text search of our 80-year history. Nor does it show up in a headline search of all railroad magazines. Sorry.
Not sure how much help it may be. But perhaps people are getting confused by the name of the railroad? A long running club in southern Connecticut is the The Housatonic Model Railway Club. It was (still is, in fact) a club in Fairfield, Conn. Perhaps Mr. Gaiser was a member? If so, he would have been a member of the club when it was in the basement of a church on the green in Fairfield. The layout was featured in the newspaper - including NYC papers - pretty frequently at that the time.
Around the late 1970s/early 1980s the club lost the space in the church and spent several years looking for a new location before ending up in the basement of the Fairfield, Conn. town library.
THAT layout was ultimately featured in the June 2007 MR - Lou Sassi took the photos and wrote the article. In that article there is a reference to the “first” Housatonic club layout.
Though the layout shown in MR was torn down (a few days after Lou photographed it) when the town needed the library basement the club is still active - they are building a new layout based on the Danbury Yard (http://www.housatonicmr.org).
Perhaps someone looking for details can contact the club secretary and see if they have a record of his being a member? I only mention it since I vaguely recall the name but don’t remember any particulars. (I was a junior member of the club until I left for college).
