Bruce
Greenberg’s Bessley Railroad
By Gary
Mason
Confession:
I’d become accustomed to the modest sound of an HO scale train running
on track atop cork roadbed. So when I visited Bruce Greenberg’s Bessley
Railroad during the Potomac Division’s May 5 layout tour, I was not
prepared for the decidedly louder, unmistakable sound of its standard
gauge equipment running on steel rails and clickety-clacking over the
rail joints. The Bessley’s distinctive sound immediately brought to
mind the O-27 Lionel train my father would set up around the base of
our Christmas tree in the early 1960s. But the reminiscences
didn’t stop there. The pale green of the massive arched span
of Lionel’s pre-World War II tinplate Hellgate bridge, as well as on
the roof, windows and cornice of the otherwise cream colored passenger
station vividly brought back many iconic memories from my youth which,
together with growing up in a small railroad town in northern
California (on the Northwestern Pacific RR), put me on the path to
becoming a model railroader.
Bruce’s
Bessley Railroad has done what any good train layout of similar age
should: it has continued to evolve and improve.
Originally constructed in the 1980s as an 8’ by 16’ 1:30 scale
(standard gauge) exhibition layout for Bruce and his wife Linda’s
Maryland-based Greenberg’s Great Train and Toy Show (which continue to
this day), after many miles, shows, and exposing thousands of mostly
North Easterners to model trains now comfortably resides with the
Greenbergs in Alexandria, VA. Retired from the road, by 2010
the layout had already come to include three additional operating
tracks (including street running traction). It also began
increasing in detail -- with additional structures, vehicles and other
elements benefitting its more sedentary habit. Along the way
it also became host to a previously marketed motorized O scale truck
that traverses its own “street.”
Beginning
in 2013, in addition to being formally bestowed its’ road name, the
Bessley left the realm of an “at grade” layout with the additions of
first one, and then a second even-higher, elevated monorail. An
elevated 0-27 scale trolley line was even erected as the layout
evolved. Today’s Bessley has grown to boast a complement of ten
operating lines. No simple feat within its’ comparatively
modest footprint
Based
on its inception as a marketing tool today, the Bessley Railroad might
more correctly be considered a form of commercial art, which is
something we don’t necessarily think about while visiting a
layout. Such singular objects, if that can be correctly
applied to Bruce’s layout, are aspects of commercial art history and,
aside from a few manufacturer’s collections of their own products,
generally go unappreciated at the public level. Private
collectors are, in a sense, doing their own part in preserving
individual specimens of model train items produced over the past
century and some of these collections can be visited. This is
where Bruce and Linda occupy a distinct role whether they fully realize
it or not: that of documentarians of model railroading history.
In
addition to their Greenberg’s Great Train and Toy Show, the couple
operated Greenberg Publishing from 1975 until being bought out in the
mid-1990s by Kalmbach Publishing (now Kalmbach Media), publisher of
Model Railroader. During their tenure Greenberg Publishing
was a prolific publishing house issuing more than 440 titles from a
range of authors, including Bruce himself, documenting prototype as
well as toy and model trains in various scales, and a smattering of
other subjects. The historical value of information afforded
through these publications, like Barger’s (1992) Union Pacific Business Cars
1870-1991 and Mallerich’s (1987) Greenberg’s Guide to Athearn
Trains is inestimable for current as well as
future model railroaders. To appreciate the breadth of model
train information made available through this publisher
see http://www.sykesvillehistory.us/Brinkmann/Page/greenbergPubs.html
Even
as the Bessley was about to become a fixture in Alexandria in the early
2000s and would soon enter its skyward expansion phase, Bruce, long
recognized as a premier expert on Lionel trains, together with his wife
Linda continued to be active engaged in the publishing business with
their current firm, Brinkman Publishing. In 2001, Brinkman
released Athey’s Harry
C. Grant: Co-founder and Inventor Lionel Manufacturing Company,
together with Bruce’s own Greenberg’s
Guide to Lionel Standard and 2-7/8” Gauges, 1901-1940 6th Edition
in 2015 and, most recently, his 2018 Greenberg's Guide to Lionel
Trains, O Gauge, Vol. 1: 1915-1928.
All
the forgoing does not do justice though to the opportunity to talk
directly with Bruce about the history, evolution and potential future
of the model train industry. We are indeed fortunate he has
committed so much information from his own research into the more than
five dozen model train publications bearing his name. His personal
fascination and excitement with our hobby is palpable and work on the
Bessley continues. His current challenge is to discover how
to adjust the auto-reverse on a two-gondola aerial tramway whose
original ropeway length has been extended so it will run the full
length between the lower and upper stations. As we all know
work on one’s layout is never really done.
For
more information on Bruce Greenberg’s Bessley Railroad, including a
photo of the layout before addition of the monorails and other elevated
tracks, check out Bruce’s own history of it at: http://potomac-nmra.org/LayoutTours/_ScheduledLayoutTours_/Bessley_Railroad_2016-01.pdf