Dec 20, 2002 to Jan 23, 2003 The Four County Society of Model Engineers is a not-for-profit HO scale modular railroad club dedicated to advancing their skills and enjoyment of the hobby located in Central Maryland. FCSME meets in round-robin style, at member's homes and at other centralized locations with the main focus on their modular layout. In 1975 the club was formed and met above a hobby shop, but all good things must end. Some members saw the writing on the wall, and the club developed their Interchange Rail System, a hybrid modular railroad standard that was downwardly adaptable to any NMRA spec module. This allowed them to continue on in each member' home, and also to come together as a flexible, yet dependable model railroad exhibit. Their site features a large number of good photos as well as a growing number of 'how to' clinics. It is well worth the visit to the Four County Society of Model Engineers. Enjoy   Jan 23, 2003 to Feb 25, 2003 If you are a fan of Pennsylvania Railroad based model railroading then the Pennsylvania & Western is a site for you. There is information on the PRR, model railroading, and all you ever wanted to know about the Pennsylvania & Western (model) Railroad. The builder is striving for realism, and you can see a photo of the Horseshoe Curve Park area of the layout to see an example. This site was last updated in July and August, 2002 with new construction update photos, some new scenic vista photos, a mainline tour of the railroad and detailed info on scratch building a coal tipple in the Photos section. There is also much information in the Layout Design, Layout Construction, and Operations sections. The Pennsylvania & Western is a huge three-rail scale layout designed for operation, and command controlled and is well worth the visit. I hope that you enjoy your trip on the Pennsylvania & Western   Feb 25 to Mar 21, 2003 John Cubbin sez... "While I'm not involved in Z scale to impress anyone, I do think that if the model rail community were more aware of the capabilities and possibilities of Z scale, the Z user base would increase. Increasing this user base could lead to a wider selection of locomotives, rolling stock, track, etc." That makes sense to me so I took a good look at John ztrains web site. He has a number of 'How To' tips that are good in any scale and some decent shots of Z Scale modules (How do you photograph something that small?) and a series of links to other Z Scale sites. All in all, Z offers opportunities for a lot of railroad in a small place (they said the same thing about N Scale) and you can model realistically in it as John and others demonstrate. So, let's move into that small, small world of Z with a visit to http://www.ztrains.com Mar 21 to Apr 23, 2003 John Shankland sez... Moving to Florida necessitated buying a free standing building for the new layout as basements are rare. The layout plan is a full walk around "sincere" with "hidden" staging on each end. The upper level staging is 75" high permitting a walk under for most people. The plan is a double track main line and mileage is added with the peninsula and spiral back peninsula. Including the staging area the dimensions are approximately 40x60 Oh, but there is more, much more. While you can see John's Florida layout under construction, you can also follow the link to his Chicago layout, which contain some fantastic photos of his completed Hirail layout with links to the HiRailers site. From construction to finished product, it is well worth the visit to Shankland's HiRail layouts.   Apr 23 to May 23, 2003 Dan Goins sez... "My version of the Santa Fe railroad is set in an imaginary place near Colorado and New Mexico. The time period is late 50's and early 60's. Years ago I planned to model a place along the Santa Fe as exactly as I could. As I got older I realized that this was not as important as I thought. The majority of those looking at the railroad simply would not know the difference. By picking an imaginary place I can make it "look right" without going overboard. This also allows me more time to work on other areas of the railroad." Ah, and work on the railroad is exactly what he has done. Dan continues... "The portion of the Santa Fe represented is double track main line. There is a branch line that was once the Santa Fe mainline and a connection with the Rio Grande to Denver. The branch line is still a source of revenue with a working chromite mine and a major year-around resort, reached only by rail." Sit back, relax and pay a visit to Dan Goins Santa Fe.     May 23 to June 24, 2003 Ekensholmsbanan THE STOCKHOLM MODEL RAILWAY CLUB Founded 23rd of February, 1938 "The Stockholm Model Railway Club (SMJ) is not only the oldest club in Scandinavia, but also owns one of the largest model railway layouts in Sweden. The layout is built in HO-gauge with two-rail traction." "It is a fictitious but yet possible model of a railway in the iron ore mining part of central Sweden during the 1950's. The period is chosen to enable steam, as well as diesel and electric locomotives. Traffic at this time was extensive and stable. The chosen region creates an interesting operational idea comprising of iron ore transportation, forest products as well as limited passenger services." "The layout is jointly owned by the club members whilst the rolling-stock is privately owned by each member respectively. After a completed session each member retrieves the rolling-stock to take home again." For those of us who think of a 1980 layout as old, this is a very pleasant reminder that it really isn't. Let's pay a visit to Europe and the The Stockholm Model Railway Club