Prince William Model Railroad Club
May 5, 2007

      The Prince William County Model Railroad Club is located in the old train depot in Quantico, Va. surrounded by the Marine base. You have to pass a guarded gate to get into the town itself.   This is easily done and from the gate it is a short ride thru the woods to the water's edge where the town is located. The depot itself is easy to locate right next to the tracks with ample parking on the weekend in the commuter lot.
      Their railroad occupies about one-third of the building in a large open room right off the platform, the old REA baggage area of the depot. The interesting comparison of the difference in sizes between HO and 12":1' scale is not lost when a freight train goes roaring by outside the window.
      The layout itself is around the walls with peninsulas sticking out into the center. This allows for ample space to follow a train as it loops the layout and still have plenty of room for spectators.
      The railroad depicts local area scenes with quite a bit of authenticity. The scene of the bridge at Powell's Creek which is blended in with the cliffs along the right of way near Quantico is extremely well done.
      From the perspective of someone who has spent the last 35 years as an ironworker I was intrigued by the viaduct on the platform side of the layout. The viaduct is about 5' long and is extremely realistic. Yet, on close examination I realized that it was a scratch-built structure made from easily obtainable materials which I felt made it even more amazing.
      I found ample opportunities to take pictures and with that I noticed a road tunnel through the mountains where they used a photo to give the impression the road was all the way through. See the picture below.
      The layout has only been in existence from since April of 2005 and is a work in progress although from what I could see the entire track is in and it is fully operational. I would say that it is well on its way to being fully scenic and at the pace that the club has shown will be rapidly nearing completion. Some of the members were saying that operations were now being discussed hopefully for the near future. Take a peek at the club's web site http://www.pwmrc.org/.
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