Full Version: This one is for Gary and Charlie
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I took a (long) bicycle ride today, and wound up at Scottsdale Arizona's train-themed park. They are building a new model railroad building. I thought you would like two photos of the new building, and one of the old building to compare to your endeavors.
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Train-themed park? Model railroad building? Why am I not living there??
Ditto! Plus next-to-no-humidity to play havoc with my breathing!

If it didn't cost so much to move ...
The park also has other railroad exhibits, including a live-steam 15" gauge train and a 7.5" gauge train. It is home to Arizona's MERCI train car, a gift from france after WWI.

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And Magma Arizona Railroad's 2-6-0 #6. It is probably the best kept static steam display I know of. Hardly a spot of rust or faded paint on the whole thing.

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And a couple of old SP-cabooses guard the entrance. The park also uses another old SP caboose as a concession stand, and a few old boxcars and passenger cars for storage.

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And speaking of the dry air - that was my primary motivation to get out today. The summer humidity is done for the year.
Oh ... you have humidity, too?
Never mind!
Woah!

So are you going to be in on the layout? How big is the building going to be?
I don't know how many square feet - but they do say it will be the home to all the major scales - including 7.5" live steamers!
live steamers???? :o
Thanks for thinking of us Nachoman. It looks like they have a nice place, and the people must get along well to get so much done, and to keep everything looking so great.
Charlie
Gary - the building replaces the old storage barn for the 7.5" gauge live steamers. I assume the new building will incorporate a storage area, and hopefully it will be a little more accessible for public viewing. The old building houses N, HO, and 3-rail O gauge trains. Those clubs will all relocate to the new building. The N-scale club is modular - and if they remain a modular club that means their layout may quickly move into the larger space. I am sure the HO and O scale clubs would much prefer to build something new rather than try to move what they have (probably impossible anyway). So, it may be a year or two before they relocate. The new building is supposed to be open in a month - I will try to get more photos then.
Here are a few photos of the completed building. O, N, and HO layouts are under construction.
A few more of the layout construction photos. I find it interesting that the three layouts are using different construction techniques. The HO layout is using plywood benchwork with poplar spline roadbed. The N scale layout has foam subroadbed, and the O-scale layout is using some kind of plastic spline roadbed. Oh, and check out the "lift bridge" for the O scale!
The park had a few of its exhibits open this weekend, and admission was free.