Large HO Basement Model Railroad Layout

Norman Stenzel's HO layout is located in Atlanta GA. The layout fills a 2000 square foot basement and is based on a fictional railroad, the Brandywine & Benedictine.

More info on layout can be found here:
http://www.piedmont-div.org/pilgrimage/layouts/layout_nstenzel.html

Brief Overview:
The Brandywine & Benedictine Railroad is a Class 1 Appalachian coal hauler modeled in 1953. It runs north and south from Winston Salem, NC to Pittsburgh, PA. Motive power is a 50/50 mix of steam and first generation diesel power.
The railroad is designed with prototype operations in mind with jobs to keep 12 to 16 people busy. The B&B is controlled using Digitrax DCC and a computer running RR&CO software. Layout owner is Norman Stenzel. This layout is located in Atlanta GA.

My visit:
I and 5 members of the Orlando N-trak club (from Orlando FL) were invited to run on this layout during the Dixie Rail 2010 ops session held October 1 - 3. We visited this layout on Saturday Oct 2nd.

Extra Note: At 03:13 The crossing gates sounds are actually coming from the model. The passing train steam audio and freight car audio was dubbed from recordings I made at Cass WV and from a NS freight in Atlanta GA.
Extra Note 2: The crossing gates on the layout can be activiated or deactivated by the push button or by sensing the approaching train.
All footage recorded by Jared Davis (C) of Whistlepost Productions.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• HO
• Layout
• 2000
• Square
• Feet
• Brandywine
• and
• Benedictine
• Model
• Railroad
• home
• Norman
• Stenzel
• Steam
• engine
• locomotive
• whistle
• animation
• CTC
• time
• table
• train
• orders

[billandkaren100]

The audio of the passing cars from the crossing. What was used to actually reproduce the saound from the cars? And is this something that I can build or purchase to replicte that? It was the most realistic crossing run-by I have seen. I love it.

[WhistlepostWP]

@billandkaren100 I actually dubbed that audio in from some real train recordings I made. The steam whistle and chug was from Cass Scenic Railway number 6 and the freight car audio came from a random CSX freight...

[Southerntreatment]

that is such a fantastic and beautiful layout! love the dash 9 gag! LOL nice steam power and i love the yard! great shots dude!

[WhistlepostWP]

@Southerntreatment thanks glad you liked the vid

[Trainmaster189]

At 4:19 , why did they put a Dash 9 on display?

[WhistlepostWP]

@Trainmaster189 I should have taken a picture of what the memorial said. On Norm's fictional railroad, they tried modern GE power but they had problems with them. So bad that they retired all their wide cabs and went back to steam LOL.

[WorldOfNothin]

would love to see more of this layout, main want to see it with more trains running!!!

[MMODoubter]

@WhistlepostWP LOL

They should put up a bilboard: "The World of Tomorrow."

[prorobo]

That is a heck of a lot of hand laid track! Wicked amazing layout. I can only hope to have a layout a fraction of the impressiveness that is displayed here!

[xrrtracks]

beatiful layout, loved it.

[retrainrun]

That is one beatiful layout!

[ModelTrainElectronix]

Hand layed track< wow

[ELMSLines]

nice whistle sound at the beginning, i recognized it immediately as Cass WV

[AppalachiaRRlover]

Impressive, i would love to see this layout in person