Abrams
Railroad Empire Marshall Abrams May 24, 2009 |
On Memorial Day Weekend, dozens of visitors came to see the Abrams Railroad Empire and imperial it was! Marshall Abrams and his crew demonstrated and dispatched trains, varnish and freight, before fascinated youngsters, delighted parents and Potomac Division modelers. Thirty-three persons registered, but many brought entire families, pushing the total well beyond.
The layout is operation-intensive and electrically sophisticated. Scratchbuilt dwarf signals indicate the way switches are thrown; command control permits realistic operation and repeater signals facilitate operation. Push buttons, LED indicators, power boosters and wireless throttles are everywhere, making operation straightforward and understandable.
Marshall's background skyline frames a portion of the layout, photographically correct, just as described in his convention clinics. And there's always something new, a carefully crafted chain link fence (boasting ivy and kudzu) or a space reserved for a construction site-one that will begin construction below the surface, prototypically correct.
Bill Demas, one of Marshall's crew, said that he had seldom seen so many junior engineers at an open house, evidence of Marshall's policy of inviting the neighborhood as well as veteran modelers. Judging by this event, the future of model railroading is secure. One pint size engineer left as contented as the Chessie kitten. "I ran an engine," he beamed, and, of course, that's what it's all about.
-- Bill Day
Panorama | Babel caboose tracks |
Babel Yard | North & East Babel |
South Babel & Bergen | |
New Rochelle & West Babel | West Babel Yard |
Carnegie & Carol Gardens | Carnegie commercial buildings | Carnegie sidings 2 | |
Carnegie sidings 3 |
Tunnel under Carnegie |
Operating Marshal Yard |
Dike Straw loading platform |
Ken's Storage, Marshal | |
Marshal commuter platform & yard | Dock & warehouses |
Marshal Yard throat |
Marv's Software Engineering |
Mike Zass parking lot | |
Oedipus Wrecks & Carnegie | Oedipus Wrecks 2 | Oedipus wrecks detail |
Oedipus Wrecks |
Tom's & Carnegie | |
Tom's & Oedipus close up |
Tom's Iron & Steel panorama | Tom's Iron & Steel |
Details at Tom's Iron & Steel |
Tom's, Carnegie, Carol Gardens 2 | |
Vienna 2 |
Vienna close up | Dewey, Cheatum & Howe | Vienna detail | Vienna | |
Bill Day presenting certificate | Click here to
see the ARE open house from 2003 Click here to visit the ARE home page |