Dec 23 to Jan 23, 2006 Lex Parker's Narrow Gauge Model Railroad: The Denver & Rio Grande Western. Lex sez: "I model the The Denver & Rio Grande Western in On3 (1/48th scale) on October 17, 1937 at 4:00 p.m. with a focus on the yards at Chama, New Mexico! I selected the The Denver & Rio Grande Western to model since I enjoyed the variety of the topography it provided and the narrow gauge because it could be modelled in On3 in the space I had. I decided to model the 1937 era that had not yet introduced the Flying Herald and was a period still suffering from the depression years. This allowed the weathering of my models. I chose October 17, because the fall in Colorado is spectacular and 4:00 pm... well, why not? The car shops was a kit-bashed Yorke kit with full interior detailing that includes lighting, sound and CHB and Western machines that are driven by pulleys and belts through a line shaft system. A scratch built addition on the side houses the boiler and 100hp stationary steam engine." You may have noticed that two of these photos were used as Lead In photos. As good as they are, the website is better. So, let's visit Lex Parker's Narrow Gauge Model Railroad: The Denver & Rio Grande Western. Jan 23 to Feb 23, 2006 Eastern Missouri Railway The Eastern Missouri Railway (E. Mo. Ry. or EMR) is a fictitious branch line that was born in the basement of our St. Louis home in 1995. As the story goes, the first tracks of what would become the EMR were laid about the same time that construction of the Eads Bridge across the Mississippi River began in 1868. The eastern terminus of the EMR is Union Station in St. Louis. In its heyday Union Station hosted more than 200 trains each day, serving 27 railroad companies, more than any other station in the world. Chris Comport scratchbuilt this beautiful structure. The E. Mo. Ry. was built by Dick Taylor and his fine team at Raildreams. For a number of good photos of a professionaly built layout, let's visit Gary Lenhoff's Eastern Missouri Railway Feb 23 to Mar 23, 2006 About Grosser 's Nostalgia Trip!, Ray sez: "We have built our Nostalgia Trip on an 18 x 34 foot HO scale sectional and modular model railroad layout. We have built sections of the town and Great Northern car shops at Waite Park Minnesota where Renee grew up, and a section of the Soo Line yard at Glenwood Minnesota where Ray grew up. We set our layout in a date in 1954 and it is the great transition era of American railroading, from steam powered trains to the new diesel electric locomotives. We used to haul this whole layout around the country to train shows and NMRA conventions, but when it became too much to handle, we retired it. We were going to piece it out and sell the equipment and start a new hobby, but several fellows I work with told us we needed to do a barn raising and put the layout in a new permanent home… " And indeed they did. Renee does structures. Boy, does she do structures! So I invite one and all to ride along on Grosser 's Nostalgia Trip! To visit past Webmaster's Choice sites, Click Here. Mar 23 to April 28, 2006 Tunnel13.com - Railroading in Southern Oregon Richard Wrede wrote: "Tunnel 13 is a collection of Prototype (real trains) and Model Railroading for the whole family. Featuring: the Southern Pacific's historic Siskiyou Line, Union Pacific in Dunsmuir Calif, Central Oregon and Pacific RR. Also featuring Medford Railroad Park with: So. Oregon Live Steamers club, National Rail Historical Society and model railroading, featuring: Rogue Valley Model RR club and my own SP's Newberg Branch in N scale and much more! These are the pages of my "SP's Newberg Branch in N scale". Here, you'll find: pictures of my layout including, Portland Yard, McMinnville and surrounding countryside, layout at a glance (below) and more." Unfortunately, he also said: "UPDATE:11/10/02, as of 09/02, the "SP's Newberg Branch" has left the property. Needless to say, it was difficult to tear it apart, but a growing family demanded it. I hope to have a smaller shelf layout someday. Please enjoy my layout pictures." Richard has much more than just the photos of his layout, but the trip would be worth it just for that alone. So, let's go to Tunnel13.com - Railroading in Southern Oregon April 28 to May 27, 2006 I took a look at Old Goldern Black Industries and managed to get a good look. This is not a standard website, so I hope that this will be alright. Chris G sez... "I managed to get down to Old Goldern Black Industries last week, to take some photos of the Doughnut (the name of the local freight). Included in the train today are a covered hopper, one boxcar and a Soo line Bulkhead flat. The conductor moves the switch from the warehouse road..." As this ends the preliminary, so lets go to... Old Goldern Black Industries May 27 to June 26, 2006 Cliff Powers' Mississippi Alabama & Gulf. The MA&G is a HO-scale triple deck layout connected by a double-track helix. The lowest level, which is 30 inches from the floor, is strictly for staging and has 30 tracks with a wye. The second level, which is 40 inches high, represents the mainline run through rural southern Mississippi to the Pearl River and features two fictional towns (Wharton and Edna), a sawmill complex, three major bridges and a farm. The run between Edna and New Orleans is located "in the helix". I decided to take advantage of the dead time spent in the helix to represent these miles of unmodeled mainline. The upper level, which will be 57 inches from the floor, will entirely represent New Orleans. The MA&G resides in a 14 X 32 foot building which was custom made for the layout and delivered in April 2001. In five years I have been able to finish the interior of the building itself and complete both the staging and second levels. Construction of the third level will begin soon. The biggest improvement has been the change to DCC. I now have a Digitrax Radio Super Chief with three extra boosters (two more will be added with the upper level). I spent about three months installing new bus wires and putting decoders in over 60 locomotives (more than 20 of these are Soundtraxx). There are also close to 20 Broadway Limited and P2K factory sound equipped locomotives. Let's take a trip on Cliff Powers' Mississippi Alabama & Gulf.