The buildings, engines, passenger and freight cars are all accurate recreations of the originals, based on actual plans and photographs.

The size of the trains is the large 1:32 scale, which allows recreation of the smallest details. This scale is rarely found in  an indoor controlled environment, particularly one as large as this 2000 square feet layout. the experience is enhanced by a fully professional lighting and sound program depicting a 24 hour day. An example of how all this could be employed in film, television or print appears below:

CASE EXAMPLE - LACKAWANNA RAILROAD, 1952.

The year 1952 was a major turning point in the railroad industry. The transition from steam to diesel was proceeding at a rapid pace, and those beautiful steam engines, with their poetic whistles and dramatic smoke plumes, were soon to disappear. They were being replaced by the far more efficient but less artistic diesel engines produced by General Motors and others.

This year was also the year of Dwight Eisenhower's election as president, and he immediately sponsored the creation of the new federal interstate highway program, which would soon crisscross the United States. It provided the trucking industry with the ability to deliver door to door service nationally on an expedited basis, which would impact the railroad's freight traffic. It also greatly shortened the time for long distance automobile trips, severely affecting the railroad's passenger business.

For the Northeastern railroads this was exacerbated by the accelerated decline of the anthracite or hard coal business, the mainstay for seven "Anthracite" railroads. Natural gas enjoyed a rapid increase in market share, as the new heating fuel for the millions of new homes being built to accommodate the post World War II Baby Boom.

However, in the summer of 1952 business was still quite good, particularly for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western (DL&W), and our layout reflects that prosperity. Nationally 50,000 travelers still occupied first class Pullman beds every weeknight, and the Lackawanna attracted its fair share with its brand new luxury equipment. The anthracite mines on the railroad were beginning their busy season, shipping product to Eastern markets for the coming winter. And the idyllic middle class resort in Northern New Jersey called Cranberry Lake, featured on our layout, still had bustling Lackawanna passenger service, with three local commuter trains each way to and from the New York City area.

Let us take you back to an earlier time with our intensely realistic, highly detailed and authentic recreation of that prosperous summer, one of the few left for the DL&W.