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copyright © Ed Loizeaux; used by permission.

This photo was taken on Ed Loizeaux' beautiful "NYC Valley Division" layout. Ed, a former NASG president, recruited a number of people to help him build the layout of his dreams, which he is now enjoying in his retirement. For this photo, one of many you can see on the layout's dedicated web site, Ed states, "At times, scenery is more impressive than trains. Although static, scenery can be truly beautiful and outstanding; a real piece of art. In this scene, the silver bridge and piers were constructed by Don Ledger using over 6,000 individual pieces of plastic. Some pieces were parts from commercial HO-scale kits while others were scratchbuilt from next to nothing. Mike Kotowski created the waterfall by pouring multiple layers of liquid Gesso at the top and letting it freely run down the hillside seeking its own nooks and crannies. Some layers were whitish, some greenish and some blueish for an interesting overall effect. Notice the green moss only alongside the edges of the waterfall where the water spray dampens the soil. Rock castings are by Keith White, pine trees by Don Ledger, and the dam in the foreground by Mike Kotowski. The dam was a most creative project designed and built to prevent lake water from spilling onto the carpet below. A fine solution to a perplexing problem." Both bridges have two tracks on them. The bottom of the dam is the front, corner edge of the layout.

copyright © Bob Frascella; used by permission.

Bob Frascella sent in a couple of photos of his layout (which you can see on this page), of which this one is particularly beautiful showing an S-scale person's viewpoint of a railroad crossing. The effective use of the backdrop photo really lends to the realism of this shot. Bob's "D&H Railroad" has its own Facebook group, YouTube channel, and web site. Bob is also the owner of the Shapeways store, Century Models, which provides components from which you can build second-generation diesel locomotives. If you take a look at his Shapeways store's page, and the header photo shown on that page, you will see Bob's painting; he is a true artist.

copyright © Joe Coen; used by permission.

The crew of freelanced Texas Southern NW-2 takes a break while sorting grain loads in Arlen Yard. The NW-2 is from S-Helper Service. The freight cars are all from American Models. Joe didn't fully repaint any of them but rather just wet-sanded off the heralds and reporting marks and applied custom decals. All the cars are equipped with Kadee couplers. The track is flex track from Tomalco and the turnouts are from Shinohara. Joe used dirt and a mix of commercial ballast from various manufacturers that he had on hand for ballast. The weeds are Heki pull-apart mats and carpet fibers and fuzz his cats scratched off their scratching post glued in place! Joe used stock photos he found on the Internet, sized them appropriately, and printed them from his computer to be applied to the backdrop. The truck in the foreground is a re-worked, weathered, and decaled Mattel Hot Wheels model. The figures are from Hobby Lobby (unknown manufacturer). Joe's photo appeared on the inside cover of the March 2023 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman in the NASG promotional ad campaign. You can see more photos and details covering Joe's layout on this page.

copyright © Art Cominio; used by permission.

Art Cominio had a chance to visit the late Joe Brooke's Sn3 "Denver, South Park & Southern" layout. He took a number of photos while there, including this one. The train has just come out of the tunnel and is now on Bridge 46C. Joe's layout, while it is no more, can still serve as a great example of how one can make a beautiful layout in S that fits inside of a typical spare bedroom. You can see more photos and details about Joe's layout on this page.

copyright © Brooks Stover; used by permission.

In Dundon, WV, where the Buffalo Creek & Gauley interchanged with the B&O, there was a small coal retail outlet known as Bower's Coal. The owner was also an employee of the railroad. A single hopper, often a BC&G hopper, would be spotted there as folk bought a pickup truck-load of coal for their home stoves and furnaces. A gentleman with whom Brooks still corresponds regularly, Cody Burdette, had a 1-1/2-ton flat bed truck and he made a few extra bucks by delivering coal to residents. That's Cody leaning against the truck and, Chum, his beloved black lab is in the truck bed. The hopper is an S-Helper Service model unmodified except for being weathered with Tamiya Panel Line Accent wash, Vallejo Flat Earth (rust) paint, and dark grey pastel chalk. The truck was bashed from several scrap box vehicles. The coal conveyor is an HO-scale item and the S-scale figures are from Arttista. You can see more photos and details about Brook's nearly complete layout on this page.

copyright © Roger Nulton; used by permission.

This scene is of Roger Nulton's recently-completed caboose shop which is part of the Monon Shops complex. While compressed to fit his available space, the model does give a sprawling feel. The tracks are fed via a transfer table (just out of view to the left). Roger has five more individual shops to build to complete for this complex. It just goes to show that even when you have a fairly complete layout, there are always things to do. You can see more photos of Roger's 29' x 62' Monon Railroad Fourth Subdivision layout in the Layouts section of this web site. This includes a photo that shows the transfer table.

copyright © Bob Stelmach; used by permission.

Pere Marquette Berkshire #1225 is returning to Detroit from Chicago with a mixed freight in 1947. Bob Stelmach photographed the action on his Red Pine and Oxville layout. The Berkshire locomotive, a Lima-built 2-8-4, is a brass River Raisin Models. The distinctive New York Central watchman shanty in the foreground is a laser-cut model (out of production) assembled for Bob by a fellow Southeastern Michigan S Gaugers club member. The yard shack is a modified Bachmann Plasticville structure. The large through-truss bridge in the background is a Plasticville model which Bob detailed with Central Valley beams and trusses. The B&O wagon-top M-15K box car was built from a Smoky Mountain Model Works kit. The New York Central mainline uses code 137 rail and all other mainline and sidings on the RP&O use code 100 rail. Bob built all the turnouts on the layout using Fast Tracks jigs. The layout is surrounded by photo backdrops from Backdrop Warehouse. A small portion of one of them is visible in the upper left corner. Bob's photo appeared on the inside cover of the February 2023 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman in the NASG promotional ad campaign. There is more information available of Bob's layout on this page, which also includes a link to a 2016 interview video with Bob.

For information on how you can have a photo of your layout appear in one of the NASG ads in RMC, see this page.

copyright © Paul Washburn; used by permission.

Paul Washburn shared this photo with us, taken while he was railfanning his layout.

copyright © Ben Trousdale; used by permission.

Ben Trousdale's layout is still very much under construction, but judging from this one photo, it looks like an impressive piece of work. We are looking forward to seeing more photos and information about his layout, so stay tuned to this web site.