Jun 24 to Jul 24, 2003 Mike Ziegler sez… The Conowingo Central is a freelanced, HO scale, single-track railroad running from the shores of the Chesapeake Bay to the coal fields in southern Pennsylvania in 1958. It was inspired by the Maryland and Pennsylvania, but grew to be much larger in order to support a higher level of activity for operation. In effect, it represents the often planned, but never built, southern route to the coal fields to compete with the Pennsylvania Railroad. Operation is the reason the CCR exists and local switching is the key to that operation. You may have already noticed that the sample photos look like panoramic views. That's because they are. This site makes heavy use of panoramic photos to show the railroad in it's best light. Pull up your chair and pay a visit to Mike Ziegler's Conowingo Central Railroad Jul 24, 2003 to Aug 25, 2003 In both Flash format or html, Angelo Battistella's Tall Pine Railroad is an outstanding effort in modeling a loggin railroad. This HO scale layout is even more remarkable when you realize that it is in Trieste, Italy. Size of layout: 24x14 feet - Style: walkaround Layout height: from 30" to 50" Benchwork: open grid - Roadbed: cork Track: code 70 flextrack (Shinohara) Lenght of mainline run: 95 feet Turnout minimum: #6 - Curve radii: 24" to 36" Maximum grade: 2 percent Scenery construction: Styrofoam, cork, wrapping cardboard, plaster Background: scenery painted on the wall - Sound: PFM Sound System II With Mountains, trees, logging and sound, Flash, movies and even an Electronic Rail Pass (e-Pass), you are sure to find something of interest on the Tall Pine Railroad. Enjoy!       Aug 25, 2003 to Sep 27, 2003 Jason Furtak sez... "I'm the web master for the Palm Beach Model Railroaders. I would like to request a consideration for the Web Masters choice. Our site features the following: - All new "FULLY AUTOMATED" e-rail-pass system: (A system allowing real time downloading of the e-rail-pass and an upload page to return your railroad e-rail-pass.) - Nice photo section with tree view navigation. - A good representation of how to layout a club website. - Clean lines and easy navigation. The Palm Beach Model Railroaders hosted layout tours and SIG operation sessions for the 2002 NMRA national convention (photos included in the photo section)." So, I took a look and found that the Palm Beach Model Railroad Club HO scale layout models the area from Virginia south along the coast of Florida in the 50's to the mid 70's. It's named the Southern Consolidated System (SCX) combining the South Coast, Florida Belt and Columbia Bay & Western railroads offering trackage rights to the Florida East Coast railroad and sharing motive power with the CSX system. I hope that you will find the Palm Beach Model Railroaders as interesting as I did. Enjoy! Sep 27, 2003 to Oct 24, 2003 Bob Hazard's Crabitt and Pitchahissie Railroad serving the Crabbitt Tie and Lumber Co. attempts to capture the feeling of a B&O mainline interchanging with a medium size logging outfit operating as a common carrier and serving a second growth forest ripe for harvest. The scenes had to be plausible and look like West Virginia in 1930 with some of the grades on the switchback going up the mountain approaching 12%. Rail leaving the sawmill and base camp passes through Gauley Mills and connects with the B&O. From here it back tracks through Braxton and onto Clover Lick to pick up freight from the industries it serves there. Both the industrial and logging product are taken to Dry Fork where it connects with the B&O. But let's not give away all of the detail. You can visit this HO layout yourself and enjoy the tour of the Crabitt and Pitchahissie Railroad   Oct 24, 2003 to Nov 23, 2003 The Central Missouri & Southern RR is a standard gauge, HO scale road set in the beautiful Missouri Ozarks during the early 1900s. While it hauls commodities of all sorts to the small towns nestled in the rugged hills and valleys of southern Missouri, its main sources of revenue come from serving nearby logging and milling operations. The Osage Valley Tie & Lumber Company, a wholly owned subsidiary, is also an important source of income for the CMS. The Central Missouri & Southern Railroad Company was formed in the summer of 1999 after its owner abandoned more than 20 years worth of halfhearted and generally ill conceived attempts to replicate - at various times and in no particular order - portions of the Santa Fe, Katy, Frisco, and Missouri Pacific railroads. When completed (if the owner lives long enough to see completion!), the CMS and OVT&L together will occupy a 14 X 23 space in the basement. So, with a welcome from the owner, let's take a look at the Central Missouri & Southern Railroad and the Osage Valley Tie & Lumber Co.   Nov 23, 2003 to Dec 23, 2003 This site was originally featured for July 2002, but was a Tripod site with a limit on bandwidth not allowing it to be seen for more than 24 hours before it was shut down. Donald has moved his site and we will try again. Donald Irace's Providence & Worcester is a 42 x 25 HO Scale double decker. It is a fictitious track plan using the shore line as its main trackage form Worcester Ma. to Selkirk NY. where it interchanges with the CSX. The layout models the Providence & Worcester Railroad as a Class 1 freight carrier hauling coal, stone, plastic resins, produce, lumber, Intermodal, grain, general merchandise, chemicals and scrap metals.   Besides CSX, the P&W Interchanges with Seaview Transportation, MV&W, a friends layout, the WTRR, another friends layout and soon with the ECRR yet another friends layout, doing real interchange of rolling stock! The Railroad is dispatcher controlled by means of ABS & CTC signaling and two way radios are used to communicate with the dispatcher for train movements, Form Ds and speed restrictions. Donald also exchanges e-Passes (electronic Rail Pass) so be sure to check that out while you are there. For now, let's visit Donald Irace's Providence & Worcester Railroad.