Eight miles of track

[REGP]

This is what happens if you get carried away with your hobby

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2354421/Worlds-largest-model-railroad-draws-thousands-NJ.html

Ray

[Sprintex]

Not bad, he hasn't done the ballasting yet though

Also that train yard . . . he's obviously never heard of Tracksettas then?


Seriously though, very impressive, thanks for posting


Paul

[scotsoft]

I wonder how they keep the track clean 

Some very impressive scenery 

cheers John.

[Chetcombe]

This isn't too far from where I live and I have been a couple of times over the years but, if truth be told, it is a bit of a weird and tired place.

On the plus side, the layout and the scenery is impressive and on a very grand scale and the viewing walkway meanders wonderfully giving you a great perspective of the layout.

But it is not well thought out because it takes an age to get in to the exhibit. All the visitors congregate in the first few yards of walkway and cause a bottleneck with a resulting queue to get in, although there may only be a handful of folks actually there! Also, on close inspection the layout is now very old and tired. You would also expect very long American style trains trundling through the countryside, but on my last visit, there was both a lack of moving trains and those that were running literally had a couple of cars attached at most. Finally, there is an exhibit of musical organs half way round which just doesn't fit!

It is situated about an hour from New York or Philadelphia, but I wouldn't venture off the beaten track to Northlandz unless you are in the area.

Oh, to answer the question about track cleaning, I don't think they do much which accounts for the lack of trains! They employ a few bored looking high school and college kids and the whole setup needs some TLC. Hopefully it has had a refresh in the last couple of years since I was last there.

[lionwing]

I bet it has it's own post (zip) code!

[PostModN66]

There is also the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry model Railroad which, though not quite as big is still fairly impressive.   I have seen it on a couple of business trips to Chicago.


Chicago Museum of Science and Industry Model Railroad

It left me strangely unmoved - there must be more than size to making an engaging model railway.    The German submarine in the basement was much more thrilling! 

Cheers

Jon   

[Agrippa]

I see what you mean, the transition from open country to big city looks a bit strange
and the walkways round the layout are a bit awkward, also the open countryside at the start
of the video looks a bit amateurish. Layout not in its own hall , but mixed with
other exhibits which detract.

However still quite impressive.

[Bealman]

Yeah... there is (or was) a similar tired sort of exhibit just outside of Hobart. It was in O scale and really looked like it was past it's time. When I visited it at the end of 2011 the guy who built it was selling it and his house which it was next door to it. So it may not be operating anymore.

Sorta sad when you see stuff run down.