Hello there WebTraveller!
If you have stumbled acrossed this post then you might be a fan of trains and model railroads. Well I have been to a place that has been called as “Orlando’s best kept secret” when it comes to that. It certainly has lived up to it since it has existed a little shorter than the time I have lived near it!
The secret is that of the Central Florida Railroad Modelers Club. Ever since I was a youngster and my dad had put together a train set in the basement, well it was always fun to go play with them. Trying not to run the engines to fast and flying around the corner and winding up on the floor. However as I got older and start reading some I was introduced to “Model Railroader Magazine” It was then I really had an appreciation for model trains and layouts, they looked so realistic!
Over the years I have stumbled across a model railroad here and there but
never had a camera with me to capture what I saw. This time I did, this layout is absolutely stunning. It resides in a warehouse in an unmarked building. When the door is opened to expose the contents of the room it is stored in I can understand why. The building is approximately 2000 sq ft. The Layout is modeled around he area of West Virginia. I have always admired how these pieces of art were put together, but this was a sight as you can see in the gallery:
I am an old school kinda guy and not to up to
date on how things run. I am used to a “train set” that being an analog or DC type system. The one you open the box, set it up on the floor and it goes in a small circle. This particular layout is that under the control of DCC (Digital Command Control (or Digitrax). It uses hand-held remotes that the trains can be controlled from the palm of your hand. What also fascinated me about this layout was the fact that there were working lights for traffic control of the trains. With the use of the hand-held remote a person could “play engineer” and blow the whistle of the engine coming to a crossing, use the bell when rolling through the yard heading out to the mainline. I think one thing that really had me wowed was the fact the engines could be “heard” powering up rolling p the railroad (as in engine acceleration). The attention to detail for sure is on this layout.
When I first arrived at the location of the layout I was with some fellow train club members from an out-of-town club and layout (this is how I found about this) there were a bunch of the club members running their trains around the layout. They broke for dinner and one of the club members stayed behind to allow myself and the friends I was with to play on the layout. Now I was really excited!
Here is a playlist of some videos of the layout and some of my operations the day I visited on my YouTube channel:
I had the opportunity to talk to a few of the club members and I did find out that it is a place that can be checked out by anyone who has an interests in running their trains on the layout. They also to have run run sessions where the entire layout is run as an operation with a yard master and everyone has instructions as to what the trains are to do on the layout. When I had visited it was pretty much free for all, some people were using the yards playing around with switching, some had to wait on a siding on the main line for the passenger train to pass.
It is just an overall cool experience to know that this place exists. I would like to become a member myself, I mean who doesn’t like to play with trains! Something to think about for sure.
Central Florida Railroad Modelers can be reached at:
Website: Central Florida Railroad Modelers
I would also like to give a special shout out to my friends at:
Website: Coastal Rail Buffs in Savannah, Ga for making this visit possible! you guys know who you are, gonna have to plan a visit up to see them for sure.