Boulder Model Railroad Club Open House
Date: April 20, 2024 (Saturday) Starting at 12 Noon to 4:00 PM
Pete Opila
463 Melody Drive
Northglenn, CO. 80260
His layout is a fictional mix of National Parks and streamlined locomotives. He has been working on it for over twenty years and it has grown to 26′ x 19′. It is fully landscaped, a large portion of the structures are from wooden kits, some all the way back to his grade school days. The National Park parts of the layout bring back fond memories of places he has visited with his family.
Rocky Mountain Region Convention 2024 in Salt Lake City
Sherman Hill Train Show
June 29, 2024 (Saturday) 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
June 30, 2024 (Sunday) 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Event Center at Archer
Cheyenne Train Show | Sherman Hill Model Railroad (shermanhillrails.org)
Evanston, WY Operations N-Scale Weekend 2024
Registration has already opened.
DATE: July 24th through 28th, 2024
***** This is an OPERATIONS Meet for N-Scalers Only. *****
If you register before March 1st, the cost is $20 per person,
after March 1st, the cost is $50 per person.
For more information, click on the following link: N-Scale Meet
The NMRA National Convention for 2024
Dates in Long Beach, California: August 4th through August 11th
Details for the NMRA Convention – Long Beach Surfliner 2024
Rails in the Rockies
Dates: September 21-22, 2024
Times: Saturday 10 AM – 5 PM, Sunday 9 AM – 4 PM
Location: Estes Park Events Complex, 1125 Rooftop Way, Estes Park
Admission: $10/person, Children 12 and under are free, $20 max per family
Website is under construction (temporary site): Estes Park Rails in the Rockies | Family Fun & Museums (visitestespark.com)
Website: Colorado Rail Prototype Meet – Immerse yourself in the world of model railroading (corpm.org)
February FRD Layout Tour
February 3rd (Saturday) and February 4th (Sunday), 2024
The Grand Road
Paul Brennecke, MMR
990 N. Jackson St
Golden, CO
Saturday 12-4PM
Park on the street; enter through the garage (no knock is necessary) and work your way downstairs. The Grand Road is an N-Scale layout around the wall in a 9’ by 13’ room. The layout depicts about two miles of mainline track on the western slope of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Time frame of the railroad is contemporary. Seven staging tracks are under the visible part of the layout which is hard shell over cardboard strips. A major portion of the scenery is hydrocal rock castings colored with earth stains. Approximately four-thousand trees populate the mountains. Turnouts are controlled by diode matrix. Train control utilizes NCE equipment. The railroad is 100% done.
Oahu Railway
Jim Chiddix
30504 Upper Bear Creek Rd
(1.1 miles west of Evergreen Lake turnoff from CO-74, Evergreen Parkway)
Evergreen, CO
Saturday 12-4PM
Follow signs up wooden driveway on left side of Upper Bear Creek Road. Park at top as directed. Enter through back door under deck at left of house and go straight ahead into basement shop and train room. This On3 layout is based on the Oahu Railway, circa 1929, and has been constructed over the past 15 years in a 22’ x 33’ room. It features walk-in access and utilizes a mushroom architecture with dimmable and color-controllable LED lighting and photo-shopped backdrops derived from old panoramic photos. There are four scenes, including an 80-foot representation of Honolulu, including passenger depot, wharf, engine terminal, industries, and a large Dole Pineapple cannery complex with loads-in/empties-out operation. There’s also a rural country-side area that overlooks Pearl Harbor, a pineapple plantation and a large sugar plantation with mill complex, worker village, extensive cane fields and a turning wye. The mill also has a separate On30, 2 ½ foot cane-haul railroad. The mushroom incorporates a dual-track 39” minimum radius helix. The layout is 80% complete, with almost all track in place, including a hidden return track for continuous running and an Arduino-controlled turntable and moveable staging yard shelf. It’s designed for future operations, with planned semaphore automatic block signals and many more industries.
Cedar River & Iowa Central Railway (CRANDIC Route)
Pat Lana, MMR
13797 W. Amherst Way
Lakewood, CO
Saturday 12-4PM
Park on street (Amherst Way or Coors Dr.); Please do not park in front of driveways, mailboxes, or fire hydrant. Follow signs to enter home and to go downstairs to basement. This is an island/walk-in style N scale model railroad in a 44’ X 22’ L-shaped basement room. This prototype-based freelanced road runs from Kansas City north to central Iowa. Features of this operation-oriented layout include many scratch-built and kit-bashed structures; unique rural agricultural scenery of corn, soybeans and other cropland; and many mini-scenes, some humorous and some showing everyday life on this 1968-era freight and passenger railroad.
Franklin Southern Murphy Subdivision
Mark Shifter
1385 S. Benton St.
Lakewood, CO
Saturday 12-4PM
Park along Arkansas Ave.; enter side door and go downstairs to basement. The Franklin Southern is a multi-level walk-around layout in HO scale in a 12’x32’ basement room. This proto-freelanced road takes place on the old Southern Railway’s Murphy Branch, which ran from Asheville, NC, to Murphy, NC. It is a modern day, fictionalized version of this area, creating a bridge line from Asheville to Atlanta, GA, as well as local freight operations and a scenic excursion train. The layout represents a portion of this 114-mile line from Sylva, NC, to Murphy, NC, with a branch line from Sylva to Franklin, NC. This is an operations-oriented layout that depicts actual scenes in the Smoky Mountain region of North Carolina. There are many scratch-built and kit-bashed structures that represent present-day buildings and industries in this area.
Maine Central – Portland Division
Rich Gibson
16431 W. Ellsworth Ave.
Golden, CO
Saturday 12-4PM, Sunday 2-4PM
Park on street; go through gate on right of driveway, downside steps, and enter through back door. This prototype-based HO layout focuses on two branches of the Maine Central RR (MEC) that joined the E-W mainline at Brunswick, Maine, and has recently been expanded to include a portion of the partly double-track mainline west toward Portland. The layout occupies a ~2000 sq. ft. basement and is built for operation. The Lewiston Lower branch heads NW from Brunswick, serving textile and other mills situated along the Androscoggin River. The Rockland branch heads east across rivers and tidal inlets to its terminus at Rockland on the Atlantic Ocean. Customers include a major cement plant, coal dock, large shipyard, canneries, and a variety of other small-town businesses. The time period is October 1951 when the railroad was using a mix of small to medium steam and first-generation diesels.
Omaha Belt & Terminal
Phil Abaray
3411 W. 98th Dr., Unit D
Westminster, CO
Sunday 12-4PM
Park along W. 99th Ave. (GPS will take you to the wrong side of the building); enter door at left end of building; cross living room and go downstairs. The OBT is a proto-freelanced, S scale representation of the Union Pacific RR in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area during the first-generation diesel era. It is built around the walls and on a peninsula in a 25 x 35’ basement. The operations-focused layout features freight transfer between the UP and other roads and passenger switching around Omaha Union Station.
Colorado & Northwestern Ry.
Jim Eaman
1355 Nissen Court,
Broomfield, CO
Sunday 12-4PM
Park on street and cul-de-sac; enter through front door and head up steps. This layout is an Sn3 re-creation of the entire Colorado & Northwestern as it existed in 1908, with the intention of being able to operate as prototypically as possible. Starting in 1897, the C&N was built west out of Boulder to the mining towns of Ward and Eldora to serve the mines, mills and people of western Boulder County. A major portion of the layout will highlight the town of Boulder with both narrow gauge and standard gauge (C&S and UP) operations. Eventually, it will include traction and interurban operations as well (Denver & Interurban and the Boulder streetcar line). The layout is housed in a finished, purpose-built 25’ x 42’ room above the garage and is still under construction. On the upper deck, all track installed, and many (scratch-built) buildings are in place; much of the track laid on the lower deck.
DBnAG (Germany)
Gary Ratay
18 White Pine Dr.
Littleton. CO
Sunday 12-4PM
Park on street; head to basement. The DBnAG is an N-Scale Layout based on modern era urban European rail operations in southern Germany. Like rail operations in Germany there is a lot of track in a small area (18ft x 13ft) plus an extensive staging area. Operational highlights include an 11 track head-end station based on München Hbf (Munich Main Station) complete with underground S-Bahn station, a turntable and locomotive yard with a turntable/transfer table. Non-operational Catenary. City Buildings and more. The layout is approximately 80-90% complete. With over 300 Locomotives, many with sound, freight cars and full rakes of high speed trains the DBnAG can show a variety of operations from special steam trains to the latest ICE (InterCityExpress). The layout uses Lenz DCC with some computer control using JMRI software.
Wichita & Northwestern Ry.
William (Bill) Shepard
8060 N. Green Ct.
Westminster, CO
Sunday 12-4PM
Park on the street in front of house or vacant lot to north. Enter detached garage at end of driveway. This freelanced, 12 x 26’ HO layout in a detached garage consists of a series of vignettes from the 1940-50s era. Some of the scenes reflect childhood memories from growing up in Kansas and many of the structures are named after family members.
Pictures from the December 2023 FRD Christmas Party
November 2023 Events
The Boulder Model Railroad Club has invited the Front Range Division to their November layout tours. Two layouts are open for the tour on November 18th from 1:00 to 4:00 pm. The Boulder Club members are Jim Gray and Jim Eaman. You should note that these layouts are on different scales than we normally see, and it will be a treat to visit.
November 2023 Boulder Model Railroad Club Layout Tours
- Jim Eaman’s Sn3 Boulder & Northwestern
- 1355 Nissen Court, Broomfield
- 303-807-4058
- Jim Gray’s HOn3 Denver & Rio Grande
- 10900 West 120th Avenue, Broomfield (in a hanger at the airport)
- 303-949-9531
Please wear your club’s badge if you have one. Many thanks to the Boulder Model Railroad Club for the invitation to visit.
Jim Eaman’s Sn3 Colorado & Northwestern is located in Broomfield and depicts the Boulder County located railway in western Boulder County. The rails extended from Boulder to Ward and Eldora. The track elevations vary from 18” to a maximum of 76”. The two main levels are connected by a four turn helix. The landforms are planned to be completed on a base of Styrofoam, drywall shims, and rosin paper. The layout is to include the Barker Dam at Nederland under rail assisted construction.
Jim Gray’s HOn3 Denver & Rio Grande is located in a hobby hanger at the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (Jeffco Airport). The hanger is occupied by two aircraft and a partially assembled third. The upper level, assessable by an outdoor stair, is filled by the partially completed Denver and Rio Grande railroad. The railway space was formerly offices with a restroom. The restroom remains, and the model railroad continues through the area. This gives new meaning to the question, “Where’s my train?”. It is in the restroom. The area has two more completed scenes with interconnecting trackwork. The interconnecting track is guarded by pink foam bumpers on each side to save the trains from dropping to the floor.
Many thanks to the Boulder Model Railroad Club for the invitation to visit.
October 2023 Events
October 2023 Boulder Model Railroad Club Layout Tours
The Boulder Model Railroad Club hosted layout tours on October 21st. Three layouts were open for visitation: Doug Geiger’s Granite Mountain Railway, John Parker’s BNSF Fall River Division, and Mike Carr’s HO layout. Luckily, Kevin Ruble was able to make the tour and supplied the following photos.
Many thanks to the Boulder Model Railroad Club for the invitation and the open house opportunities.
Tour for NMRA President, Gordy Robinson, MMR
The NMRA President, Gordy Robinson, MMR, was in town on October 30th. This visit coincided in part with the final 2023 operating session of the Crandic Route. Patrick Lana was able to capture the usual suspects as well as the special guests to the layout. Gordy was accompanied by David Insley, NMRA NE Region Director, Cheryl Insley, David’s wife, and Michelle Kempema, Colorado Model Railroad Museum Executive Director, and the coordinator of this Crandic visit.
Thanks to Pat Lana for the photo and attendees names.
Thanks to Michelle for the photos of the Crandic and the visit.
The visitors continued their tour with a visit to Rich Gibson’s Rockland Branch. This railroad is situated in coastal Maine with a number of bridges and waterfront scenery.
Meeting in the layout area as Rich describes the vision and operating scheme for the railroad. Thanks to Michelle for these photos of the Rockland Branch.
Michelle and the visitors proceeded to Rocky Mountain Train Supply. Later, they visited John Parker’s BNSF Fall River Division and Doug Geiger’s Granite Mountain Railway. We hope they all enjoyed their time here and wish them safe travels.