I dont see why people get all gah-gah over this thing, its just big for the sake of being big. Doesnt represent a railroad in any sense of formality, the trackwork is ugly, the scenerys crude, the engines are old Mantua peices of crap. The track goes everywhere in ugly as sin loops. Not to mention its a giant dust trap. It’s a slap in the face of everyone who wants to have a realistic layout. The only thing good about it is the bridges, and even those look all the same.
There, call me a rivet-counter all you want, but I dont fall for the illusion that is Northlandz.
I’d really love to go see Northlandz, even though it isn’t prototypical. It’s a large model railroad display built for continuous running. It cost about $9 million dollars to make, and the fact that over 90% of it was built by one person is astonishing to me. I’d love to go there and take the mile long tour.
Trains are trains are trains, so what if it is not prototypical? They are always fun to watch. And I think the large environment makes it even more impressive.
I had acutally heard that from other sources. Always good to get confirmation. Loop after loop stacked beside and on top of each other. I presume you just visited it in person?
Well lets look at it this way. Do real trains continually do loops and go nowhere and nowhere? When you go down to the tracks to railfan your not watching trains do loops. Your watching a part of the national transportation system, stuff going here and there. Thats what makes it intresting, thats what makes railfanning so fun. It adds to the mystery of it all, wheres this boxcar going? Where is that block of Centerflows headed?
It’s not so much the fact that its a giant loop, its the fact that the scenery is so redicious. Its over the top and far fetched. You cant relate it to the real world.
You want big and impressive and realistc? Take a look at the MR story or Allen Keller video on Ken Mccorrys PC/Conrail layout. Or the MSI layout, the MSI is a giant roundie round but it represents scenes from the real world and thats what holds MSI over Northlandz. Even John Allen, who modeled a world that teetered on surreal and real, sometimes blending that line so much you couldn’t tell, realisticaly operated and represented the real world and pulled off an effect that tricked you into believing it was real. Northlandz couldn’t even trick you to believe that.
Northlandz is everything that everyone above has mentioned. We went there knowing what it really is/is not. With that frame of mind, it was an interesting and quite odd curiosity. In the middle room of this huge layout building is an immense restored pipe organ! Also a doll collection! And the circuituous walk around Northlandz if not a mile, is darn close to it! Northlandz is a really eccentric oddity.
I thought that while over the top, it was very impressive. The huge mountains, incredible bridges, and lots of track. It’s a tourist attraction, there to please the general public. But aren’t they the ones with all the cars that move, interact and such?
are we spoiled with the fine detail and when we see older products they just look unrealistic I to have seen garden trains and was shocked at how fake they look just dont get the nice life like look of some brass ho or katos
we need better larger (if I was railroad baron)
It’s not a piece of crap. I saw it years ago, not knowing that it is a whimsical, Dr Seus like attraction. Yes, I was disapointed, expecting something more on the lines of a true model RR. Even my young children 8-10 yrs, at the time, said that the scenery looked like it was thrown on and spread with a shovel. Something of this huge scale probably was done with a large mixer and shoveled on anyway. About 8-10 years ago, MR did an article on Northlandz. I feel that they should have mentioned that it is quite a comical- non prototype tourist attraction. This way I would have known what to expect. It is still worth seeing, and I may go again in the future.
Bob K.
Okay, maybe I’m dangerously out of the loop, but WHAT and WHERE is this Northlandtz that everyone’s talking about?
This inquiring mind wants to know.
Tom [?]
Wicked photos on the website…
I would almost imagine the “California Raisins” to come out and do a dance with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and a whole bunce of Claymation classics.
Or, in post-modern terms, I think Northlandz inspired some scenes from Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings … Star Wars at least.
It sounds an awful lot like you were describing a classic Lionel layout that could have been found in many department store windows for many years. This a toy train layout. I do not beleive it has ever been represented as a “realistic layout” only the largest. The only one here that is under an “illusion” was you if you thought you were going to see a “realistic layout”… There is very strong evidence that you are in fact a rivit counter if you were not able to enjoy Northlandz for what it is. When you are able to do better then you will be in a position to criticize this one mans life work. AS they say in Missiouri " SHOW ME" and I am sure the world will beat a path to your door and we can count your rivets to see if you got it right to our satisfaction??? [?] [2c]
I guess this falls into the catagory of “bigger is not necessarily better”. I haven’t visited, and really have no plans to. My only exposure has been through the MR article a few years back. I did come away with that “cheesey” impression.
For those who want to see quality work in HO, the “new” layout at the Museum of Science and Industry should be more to your taste. Again, I’ve only seen it in the pages of MR, however it IS on my “to do” list. The old O scale layout was pretty impressive in it’s day also.
As much as I am into realistic railroad modeling, there is nothing wrong with roundy round displays, if they are done well. A couple of great examples are The Choo Choo Barn, and Roadside America, both in Pennsylvania, and both featuring Lionel Trains.
The truth is, it is very challenging to try to make a lot of trains run continually for a public display. So, in that regard, there is something to be said for Northlandz accomplishment. I know, because my layout was once featured in MR. See my profile for more information.
northlanz is this big ho scale model railroad in New Jersey that’s like a mile long and three stories high…it’s a very strange layout with lots of tongue in cheek scenery and grandious mountain ranges with massive train bridges that practically stack on top of each other…a lot of purists (including myself) don’t and can’t appreciate places like this…there’s no meaning to the madness…no industries or switching…the trains just run in loops with no final destinations…it’s not what you would call a prototypical railroad…just a mass of contineous running trains…I believe they run up to 300 trains at one time…personally I don’t like layouts like northlanz because I like railroads that have a since of meaning where trains run on a fast clock, have way bills and a sense of order, but it is an oddity, probably because of the massive size of the layout …chuck
I suspect rrandb is the only one to understand what Northlandz actually is. It has never claimed, nor been portrayed to be, a realistic model railroad. No where I’ve seen does it say that Northlandz is meant to in any way rival the Franklin & South Manchester. It is a model train display open to, and intended for, the general public. As rrandb also indicates, it is rather along the lines of the old Lionel, Christmastime, major store window displays of the 1940’s and 50’s that held shopping crowds and kids spellbound. Huge by any standards and to the general public seeming truly awesome, in that sense it has fully realized its goal.