From what I understand, the Virginian is still at their office, same with the Beer Line, the San Juan Central is owned by NMRA president Charlie Getz and is intended to go to the California Railroad Museum for the model exhibit. But what ever happened to layouts like the Jerome & Southwestern, Eagle Mountain and the Red Oak? The J&S was a huge inspiration to me and I always wondered, was it sold off to a private collector and never heard from again? Was it stored deep away at the MR HQ? Or did John Olson keep it?
When I was there in 2013 many were still on display as I recall but don’t ask me which ones besides The Beer Line Virginian and the MR&T which is hugh BTW.
There is a secret attic with over 400 layouts in it. Apparate to Witchconson and you will have no trouble finging them.
ROAR
The Red Oak N scale layout and the Eagle Mountain layout are here at Kalmbach, as are most of the other layouts the staff has built in the last decade, including the Beer Line, the Virginian, and the N scale Salt Lake Route. The Rice Harbor, Rock Ridge, Carolina Central, Black River, and Turtle Creek layouts are gone.
The layouts from the 1990s and older are not here. Many of those layouts were built by non-staff members and were not built here in Wisconsin. In most cases, those layouts – after the stories were published in MR – remained the possession of the builders to do with as they pleased.
Neil B., editor
Yeah, it was a shame not to see the Rice Harbor when I visited a few years back I was told the story behind it but not sure if they want it mentioned so won’t tell that unless Neil brings that up.