LavouT OF THE “SOUTHERN” MoorL Rauway SysTen ‘Tar Monet, Raxtxoansse The SOUTHERN Model Railway By Aine F. WAVMEVER wot dlcarded tay train found inthe attic one winter was Dauled out and set up to eile around the Christmas tre forthe entertainment of my nephews daring the holiday This asthe start ofa model rliowd careers 1 knew le would be grat fin and pastime to construct e railroad in miniature Ot course it had to look real so tin tack would not do. Stel rails were bough! and sped to wood ties lald ona roofing paper bailar. This was the boginning of the © gauge “Southern Rall. veay System, which now occupies a space 8x42" in the alc ony bone Tocomotives were bull, one a C. & O, Mikado and tho other a Tocomtives were bull, one aC. & 0. Mikado and the ether a Pacific. At present a N.¥.C. Hudson is under construction inthe company shops and two Pullmans have also been lad down ‘There are approximately 130 feet of main Line and bout 60 toot of sidings. Outside tind rall is used. The rolling stock at present conte of 3 Pullmans,4 coaches 8 box cars, 2 cabooses, 2 flat ears 3 hopper cars 2 gondolas, and one tank car The system in divided into four blocks and protected by an automatic block signal system, ast winter about 400 persons came to see this out after a writeup received ina local newspaper. felt many times repeld for the labor invelved and this fall expect to enlarge the layout and make quite» few improvements A replica in We scale af the new Cincinnati union terminal will be placed atthe loop ia the Industral section and more sidings, switches and other tackwork willbe added. a Meme Cre [Dela of se of the contraction ofthe Southern Mose! Raley wil Spout ide Saher ne Biter nt diagram: 1, pastenger sation; 2, freight station; 3 cling gasoline relinery:& coal yard: 6 iret Tfor Serrenen, 1984 Page Three Published Monthly by A. C. Kalmbach & Con 545 8. stth St, Wauwatosa, Wis. OUiwaulee, Wis, P.O) ‘Subscription, $1.00 yesrly or $280 for three years. Foren postage tinel Readers a ke fete Fern tr at ewer tna, |W eats. Jove fo contrite on any hate of hodlyaiionding Bue the inh fer God etn prt of phoiontnta or | Sitetnge bec, faa co disse Sher detuings il be edo published. if postage Ehsecvor fo return material in fon conden, Bubtiation will be solely at Oe esereton of juding Canadian) 25 yearly’ extn ‘no arises ate i ig enclosed weil SInterchanging Model Railroad Lettering cos sons. This sounds something like taking the square root of a square root and about as sensible. But it's a fast growing and very practical way of adding to the fun of model railroading. Instead of having on your line freight cars lettered for those of the full seale ‘railroads why not have just as varied a stock, but of cars bearing the name and insignia of other model roads? We have just been Informed that one of our Gulch Route automobile cars is running on Williams Rau’s Buffalo, Alleghany, & Pittsburch in Pittsburgh. The B. A. & P. general manager sent us a photo of it, and it certainly looks like fours, ft has the herald and all. And we're letter~ ing one of our new gondolas B. A. & P. LR, That adds a lot more personal touch and real com- radeship to model railroading, Another Milwaukee model railrosder has ears of five different roads, every one a model road, in his freight trains. The coal trains of George Brink in Belleville, N. J., are made up of 1 dozen or so different gondolas, none lettered for real roads, Would the Now York Central be at all concerned about an N.Y. C. gondola on the Brink Lines? But the Diminutive and Obstinate corthe Lake Shore Short Line. . thet'ssome- thing different. The managements ean get to~ gether, by mail, on interchange reports, argue about per diem charges that will be cancelled by Imaginary trackage rentals, and send each other bad order reports and repair bills. ‘The newly formed Western Model Railroad ‘Association has our hearty endorsement as 2 contribution to this interchange method of getting model railroaders aequainted and adding to the fun and realism of our hobby. Linn West cott, Carleton College, Northfield, Minn., will be glad (o give information on this association if you send a stamped envelope for reply. The use fof imagination in this and other ways makes ‘a model railroad a live organization as well as a scale reproduction of a railroad. It puts the ‘railroading into model railroading. 1 Each in His Own Way ‘How far can and should realism be extended in model railroad work? That depends largely ‘on the individual, not so much because of in- dividual differences in skill and ability as be- cause of differences of opinion as to what constitute the essentials of scale railroading realism, For some, operating practice is the essential matter, and for others the detail and workman- ship of rolling stock and locomotives. "The man ‘who sees his goal as an operating: model railroad is more than kely to concentrate on having plenty of cars and locomotives, and a complete ‘track layout, so that he ean make realistic man. ‘euvers. Perhaps he lacks both time and money needed for making all this work complete to the smallest detail; but being interested in operat ing, these limitations bother him very little. But his friend, who wants his work exact to the rnth degree, may spend more time and money, and yet not approach the operating complete ness of the other layout. For example take the matter of signalling. ‘Must model signalling circuits follow real rail~ road circuits to the extent of using closed track circuit and the other complications of railroad. signalling designed to positively assure the pas- ‘songers’ safety, or can thoy take a few shorteuts ‘which will allow them to give correct indications, and appearance, even though a wreck may result im one case out of thousand? A road described fn this issue, run by a railroad signalman, uses closed circuit, following standard railroad prac~ tice right down to those details of wiring which ‘cannot be seen, but which undoubtedly give the builder a satisfaction he wouldn't enjoy if his