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The West
Island Model RR Club was featured on Transit Transit on
(PBS) WNYE and
on Cablevision's News 12 in December, 2006.
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CLUB LOCATION:
The
club was formally located in Farmingdale, Long Island, NY
--We relocated to the Broadway Business Center at 485 South
Broadway, in Hicksville, LI, NY on May 1, 2008. We meet
on Tuesday and Friday evenings around 7 p.m. and we are
building a new layout from the ground up. New phone number:
516-433-6600. Our email address is still active: SEND
EMAIL
Click here for directions and a map to
the club:
Directions
and Map to the new West Island
location
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Click here for
Recent photos of the Allegheny and Western RR -
photos of the last run and the demolition of the layout.
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photo by K. Katta
LAYOUT VIEW: A view of the large
Garcia Explosives bldg. and the Port
Robbins station on the Harbor Division.
The
Allegheny & Western Railroad
This is the name
of the first HO scale model R.R. that existed
in Farmingdale before we moved in May '07. The layout
measured out to about 66'x
55'- all in one room with an additional room added measuring
16'x12'. Every aisle was separated
by a ceiling-high backdrop so that basically, you can only
see one scene at a time. With a walk-around design such
as this a train travels through each scene just once as
it makes its way around the entire layout. The layout had
4 double-ended staging yards plus 1 stub-ended yard where
entire trains are stored. For the hundreds of freight cars
there was a huge freight car
classification hump yard along with a separate arrival/departure
yard, several coal mines, live coal loading and unloading,
an extensive harbor area and one of the largest steel mill
models on the East Coast. There were
several large towns along with many lineside industries
with sidings built along the right of way. There was a fully
operational carnival with animated rides along the mainline
at Camden. Many bridges were built on this railroad
as well. The double-tracked mainline was over 10 scale miles
long with a minimum radius on the mainline of 46", with
super elevation used on some curves. Over 500 turnouts (switches)
were used on the railroad. We typically operated trains 50
or more cars long and more than 15 separate trains could be
running at one time since we installed the NorthCoast
(NCE) Digital Command Control system (DCC) with decoder-equipped
engines.
Carnival scene at Camden
The time period modeled on the Allegheny
& Western R.R. lies between the years 1955 to 1965.
This allows for members to operate steam locomotives as
well as first-generation diesels during our end-of-the month
operating sessions. However, during our shows, and most
evenings when we are open, members can run equipment from
any era.
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photo
by K. Katta
Wanna
stop in for a some burgers and fries? Watch out for those
shady characters hangin' around the corner.
________________________________________________________________________________________
*CLICK
HERE FOR MORE LAYOUT PHOTOS*
*CLICK
HERE FOR EVEN MORE LAYOUT PHOTOS*
Click here to view the original layout diagram:
A&W
R.R. -LAYOUT DIAGRAM
SEE US IN MODEL RAILROADER MAGAZINE-GREAT
MODEL RAILROADS 2007
Kalmbach published
a multi-page photo spread of the A&W in the 2007 issue of
Great Model Railroads. Thanks to members Bob Smith and Vince
Lee for putting this article together.
A photo of our steel mill can be seen in MR's Oct.
2003 issue in the Trackside Photos section on page 86 (the same
photo is on our website on the Layout Photo Gallery page). Thanks
to member Vince Lee for his outstanding model photography skills.
THE NORTHCOAST ENGINEERING DCC SYSTEM IS FULLY OPERATIONAL!
The system we are using is produced by Northcoast Engineering.
This recently developed control system eliminates the need for
complicated wiring and block controls. The decoders typically
cost less than $20 dollars each and one is installed in each locomotive.
Many of the turnouts are now remotely controlled by DCC accessory
decoders activated by the train operator's handheld throttle.
Macros are also used to line up turnouts in the yard ladders-enter
the macro number into the throttle press 'Enter' and all of the
turnouts line up for the desired route.
DCC SOUND SYSTEM
Digital sound decoders are available from SOUNDTRAXX and
others which provide realistic (digital) live sound effects
both in steam engines and diesels--this includes bells,
whistles, horns and other sounds which come from a locomotive.
Sound decoders are more expensive but the effect is astounding.
These sounds may be activated at will by the locomotive
operator. Broadway Limited Imports, and Precision Craft
produce top-notch, state-of-the-art locomotives which have
complete sound systems already installed featuring the realistic
sounding Quantum Sound system which faithfully reproduces
diesel and steam locomotive sounds. Many of our members
own several BLI engines. Many members have also installed
both steam and diesel sound decoders from Soundtraxx and
others in their locos and the effects are just as amazing!
You can just imagine the glorious sound of doubleheaded
steamers working their way up the grade out of Gent yard
all the way up to the coal mines located at the Summit.
We found it necessary to install quite a few boosters along
with the control units. Many of the mainline turnouts were
also controlled by DCC accessory decoders which allows an
operator to throw a turnout using his handheld throttle.
THE WEST ISLAND CLUB IS SEEKING MODEL TRAIN COLLECTIONS:
If you have a collection of model train equipment (any scale)
that you are seeking to dispose of due to a change of hobby
or possibly from the passing of a relative or for whatever
reason, our club may be interested in acquiring it. We accept
donations of equipment and also may offer payment for other
collections. Call us directly at 516-293-0994 or email us
at westislandclub@yahoo.com--please
ask for Kevin or Rich.
MEMBERSHIPS ARE AVAILABLE!
Come on down on any Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday evening
and we will be glad to show you around and explain the membership
policy to you if you are interested in joining our club.
Junior memberships are also available for those 14 to 18
years old.
The club has organized several same-day bus tours in the
past for it's members and friends. We have visited such
places as Northlandz and the Black River & Western RR in
NJ as well as Steamtown in Scranton, PA. and Strasburg,
PA. Also, many of our members frequently get together in
carpools to go railfanning or to other model RR clubs and
home layouts around the region to operate there or to attend
some of the larger train shows in the Northeast. Many of
us attend the huge Amherst Railway Society meet in West
Springfield, Mass. each year. Click here for their site and more info:
Amherst
Railway Society-W. Springfield Mass. Show
Several members also travel together
down to the huge show in Timonium MD once in a while. These
are some of the advantages to joining the West Island Club.
One more point, where else can you operate a train made
up of more than 100 cars? Well, on the Allegheny & Western
R.R. you can, using helper engines on the end of the train.
Former members are encouraged to visit or e-mail us if you have
moved away. We would like to welcome the new members who were
added to our roster during the past year. We still have room for
a few more so come on down and join us! See what it is like to
operate a train over 75 cars long (with pusher engines!) and work
an actual hump yard to classify freight
cars.
If you have any questions about our club, our open houses, or
if you would like to request membership info--please e-mail us
at: westislandclub@yahoo.com
or call us (the old fashioned way) at: 516-293-0994.
Click here for directions to the club:
Directions to Club
NORTHCOAST DCC SYSTEM:
We have implemented an engine/decoder numbering system where
the engine's cab number have to match the decoder's address--not
an easy task; some engine owners needed to change the engine
numbers on the sides of the locomotive. This allows any
operator to operate any train just by entering the digital
address (loco #) into the handheld throttle. We are now
able to throw the turnouts remotely using the handheld throttles
along with accessory decoders connected to the switch machines
by the use of macros or by inputing the accessory address
into the throttles. In addition, the turntables are also
operated from the handheld throttles.
OUR FALL 2006 OPEN HOUSE:
At our 2006 open house the last one at the Farmingdale location,
we featured the newly rebuilt and expanded Gent
freight classification yard-actually an operating hump yard
which can efficiently classify more freight cars in a given
amount of time than a traditional flat yard. Visitors also
saw the completed and fully operational amusement park at
Camden as well as the additional mines built along the newly
rebuilt and expanded mine branch. A complete sawmill complex
(BTS Models) was installed at the head of the aisle where
Gent Yard is located. Over in the metropolis called
Lexington Park, visitors got the chance to see all of the
new skyscraper buildings that have been constructed in the
city.
Over 2100 visitors came through the door to see one of the
largest HO scale model railroads in the NY City/ Long Island
region. Most who attended gave us wonderful comments and
were amazed by the progress and changes that has been made
on the layout. A number of new members have joined recently
and we welcome those modelers to the club and are looking
forward to their participation in the club. |
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