While partaking in a leisurely second cup of morning coffee today, I watched one of Kalmbach’s original video presentations, their “Layout Tour #1”, produced back in the mid to late 1980’s. Amongst the layouts presented was the Cumberland Valley System of the Reid brothers. At the time, the layout was only partially scenicked. I do recall coverage of it eventually being completed and that, for a time, it was a really big deal in the hobby, since it was a top notch N gauge pike quite comparable to the best that similar HO layouts had to offer at the time in the way of trackplanning, scenery, and operations.
Now I appreciate that N gauge has its own magazine(s) that as an HO modeler I don’t follow and that Model Railroader magazine doesn’t often include layouts in scales other than HO in its pages. However, having been around almost forever myself, I’m always interested in what the current status of various well known hobbyists is. I haven’t heard the name of the Reid brothers, or that of their layout, spoken in a seemingly long time (since around the mid 1990’s?) and was curious about their current situation and that of their impressive layout. Not a whole lot seems available on the Net that’s current, either. Would someone care to provide an update?
I can´t give you a update on the Reid brothers, but it´s fun to be reminded about the Layout tour #1. It was that old VHS that got me started in US prototype RR:ing over 25 years ago!
I still have it, but as it is on VHS, I can´t watch it anymore…
Now I appreciate that N gauge has its own magazine(s) that as an HO modeler I don’t follow and that Model Railroader magazine doesn’t often include layouts in scales other than HO in its pages. However, having been around almost forever myself, I’m always interested in what the current status of various well known hobbyists is. I haven’t heard the name of the Reid brothers, or that of their layout, spoken in a seemingly long time (since around the mid 1990’s?) and was curious about their current situation and that of their impressive layout. Not a whole lot seems available on the Net that’s current, either. Would someone care to provide an update?
There was an article in MR on the Cumberland Valley only a couple of years ago ( Jan., 2008).
They just had an awesome photo spread in the Jan/Feb 2009 N Scale Railroading magazine. The layout looks as great as ever and it appears the scenery has been reworked in spots so it appears fresh.
The only think I know of the Reid brothers is their appearance in Allen Keller video series Great model Railroads volume 1. If you want to see the completed layout it makes a pretty impressive showing I have to say.
Here is a link to a youtube video featuring their railroad. Apparently the old site that had a lot of their stuff on it closed down about a 1-1/2 yrs ago.
Thanks guys. I’m glad to hear that the Reid brothers are still going strong with their Cumberland Valley System. They’ve shown what a real model railroad is supposed to look and operate like, regardless of the scale. My hat’s off to them.