Fellows I don't know how many of you worked on this set up but I am very impressed. Yall have something there to be very proud of. God Bless my friends.
I'm slowly being convinced that ANYONE who could somehow muster a negative comment about a magnificent project such as this is either jealous, or just angry all the time anyways, about everything, LOL. Who cares about the guys showing up in the video? Who cares about running red lights? The scenery on this layout is simply spectacular. AWESOME JOB GUYS, and a sincere thumbs up to y'all !
Many of us old timers have learned to appreciate the efforts of a good videomaker who goes to great lenghts to eliminate club members' images and conversations to produce a favorable presentation of a club layout. IE---no distrations to detract from the efforts to make the layout appear as real as possible via a cab ride video.
This layout is probably the best HO layout I've ever seen. If you have any way of contacting the builder, let him know just how perfect it is, I worked on the line for 2 years, and every scene is recognizable. Elmore yard, Deepwater tunnel, crossing the Kanawha, coming into Alloy yard. Vaco Jct. This layout actually succeeds in bringing back memories of running coal trains up and down this line, something no other layout of any other line I've worked has done. Stellar job.
Magnificent layout...My grandfather who worked for the Virginian in Princeton WV in the early 1900s would be proud. Having grown up with the Virginian and Norfolk & Western in Virginia I love the scenery and the scene of long coal drags. There could be no better model railroad anywhere.
ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC TRACK SCENERY , The trees ,shrubs, rock walls, ballast , ties , exactly in real world ! You can smell it !!! Hats off gentlemen A+++++++
I'm watching this video only days after the passing of Al McClelland. In my mind he is one of the three pillars of our hobby as it is practiced today. My sympathies to his family and friends.
Quite the layout! Well done! Enjoyed the train's eye view, foibles and all! The retired RR'er in me couldn't help but chuckle at some of the operational antics... but that just added to the entertainment value. Have fun with your trains!
Great layout, enjoyed the ride for the most part... You really took away from the experience by cutting the trips through the tunnels. Thanks for sharing.
I agree. I always like it when the videos never cut for tunnels. Only time is when the trains are waiting at a red should the video stop. I like to see the inner sides of scenery...
thanks Gerry for making me make a comment when I first saw Mr MClelans v&o in great model railroads I loved it the coal mining industry my cousin Jim Rollo worked for the Norfolk Southern his locomotives and caboose are ficticous but it is some thing I myself would like to try . This is one of my favorite railroads besides the Erie railroads of the 1950s take the origional Virginia and Ohio and put it all together and it would be massive
Just one of the best layout tours I have seen. I really enjoyed the scenery authenticity for the Virginia countryside. Your signals are impressive. I am a FM Trainmaster fan and could only suggest that you show the locomotive whose windshield through which we will view the trip. Do this at the start of the video-maybe pose a figure climbing the steps of the loco. Nonetheless, this is an enjoyable video. Thank you.
This is one of the best dioramas (with model trains running through it) I have seen. Really great job guys! Clearly, you have a geologist amongst you. Love the strata in the rock and the talus in the ditches. I love how the train comes around the corner and there are all these huge heads floating in the scenery. And I love the pride you guys have in the work. Keep it up!
This is an amazing beautiful Railroad ! The landscaping is outstanding. Many RR's here on You Tube but by far this is my favorite ! Thanks for sharing and congratulations with this ' Art work of love'. Greetings & all the best
Fantastic work !! The monotony of Coal Country : sober and so real !! A pity for the problems at 13.30. However, we all know those kind of surprises, don't we ? I'll enjoy this again on a bigger screen.
I had the pleasure of visiting this layout during a Division 3 to Division 7 layout tour, with Allen McClellan... Amazing... Hope to someday operate on it...
Deepwater is where my late Dad is from. I love the layout down to my Grandparent's Church down by The Virginian bridge [the one on the side of the hill] My Dad's family lived down behind the Deepwater C & O RR Depot with the RR in front and the river in back. I loved the Trains more than the river anyway.
This is one of the nicest layouts I've seen. It fit the style I like myself so well, even though I prefer to model from the 80's to present day. If I ever do a large basement style layout it would be similar in style to this one.
After watching dozens of videos I think this one has absolutely the straightest track of all - not even a slight shimmy. Must have been hand-laid with great precision.
I saw this in print and print doesn't do it justice. Just fabulous. How many people have been involved in the building? Remarkable quality throughout. Keep videos coming.
Beautiful layout, the scenery is so realistic, this is the type of mountain railroad setting I want to build as well. But the locomotive pushing the camera car is probably not great electrically, so much stopping and stutter along the way, feels like the wheels need to be cleaned.
Great layout. So what if the guys are in the picture. It's great that they can watch their work on a video screen. Magnificant work done on the scenery, details, and lineside work. Thank you for the ride along.
This is a stunning layout, and I can't imagine the amount of man-hours this must have taken. I appreciate the fact that although they have extensive room to put in a lot more - they haven't. That gave great realism for me. The scenery is magnificent, and the rolling stock nicely weathered. For me, a camtruck video is like a "showcase" of your layout, and if one is being taken, it should be planned well, with maybe some members in view in the beginning (or end) but not in the middle. I also found the disjointed nature of the video hard to follow, and the jerkiness of the camtruck could have been avoided. Having another train in the way while doing a camtruck was a first for me. Still, a very enjoyable video. Well done folks!! Where can I see a layout plan of this railway? Would love to see it in it's entirety. :-)
I agree with Syd. What a fantastic lay out. Just amazing scenery and attention to detail. There must be years of work involved. It would be nice to see an overall shot, or parts there of and a little commentary about the lay out. May be you will put another up sometime. Thanks for sharing and a big thumbs up.
This is outstanding! The scenery is breathtaking. At several points in the video, when there are no humans and none of the room visible, you really feel as though you’re in the “real world.” What kind of loco is the camera on? Sounds like a Nathan on a first generation Alco. Love it!
Nice layout. Nice scenery. Too many edit cuts, and too many giant humas. Must be nice to have the money and the time to devote to it, though. I started out with a 4x8 sheet of plywood when I was a teenager. It saw several different configurations, lots of lumber, lots of changes, moved with me to several different apartments, mini storage units, a house, a trailer, and one final storage unit, before it all got siezed, along with whatever else was in the unit for nonpayment of rent. All my stuff was DC, and mostly Bachman. Some Roco military miniatures, several kit buildings, a couple scratch-built buildings, lots of Johnny Lightning and Hot Wheels, etc. But I didn't even know about DCC. I didn't know it even existed until I went to a train show in 2005, long after my stuff was gone. If you're gonna go to the trouble of sound cards and all that, why not power the locos with Lithium Ion batteries? Then you wouldn't need power to the track at all. I'd bet I could modify a Dewalt battery to power an HO train. If it's already radio controlled, or bluetooth or whatever, convert it to run on rechargable batteries, and then you can eliminate pulling miles of low voltage wire, yeah? Just an idea.
Absolutely spectacular layout! Still would've preferred a ride that was uncut & included the tunnels rather than all the jumping around from section to section. Almost feel a tho we missed some of this stunning layout. Other than that it's an excellent video.
16:30 did you buy the bridge that says virginian on it like that or did you make it, because it just adds to the other amazing things about this layout! keep up the good work!
Oh my God I about had a heart attack at the opening of this video the elderly gentleman with the light blue shirt and the white beard could pass for my late father's twin brother I even had to back it up and look again because it just looked like my dad standing right there. And I couldn't believe what I thought I saw. They say everyone has. Twin. And that gentleman looks so much like my late father who recently passed away it brought tears to my eyes.
I read your comment and decided to watch the video and count the signals blown thru. First one is at 5:52, there are a total of three complete fails then one more where he runs the light but does stop beyond it so he doesn't hit the train ahead. I liked that one the best. But it makes me wonder is this all you have to say about this layout video?
Wow, huge, impressive layout. Breathtaking scenery. You don't see too many layouts where there aren't enough superlatives to describe how breathtaking it is. Hats off to Gerry for his dedication to the hobby. Few too many camera edits though. Not your best work, Joe.
That's No Way to Run a R- X -R Almost slammed into the Ass End of a Coal Train ( and I don't mean the music group ) . Other than that ..... Looks great . Wish I could get my 14 ft X 26 ft 6 1/2 in layout started
Nice layout ... too bad the members didn't take the videographer's work serious enough to stay out of the video. It would have been much better without seeing people in the video.
Stunning. Now, if they want to do a PROPER job they'll round off the walls' corners to achieve a smooth sky, and have wooded backdrops on the black verticals. A cab view then would be very confusingly realistic! A superb work of art in miniature, with an amount of detail that boggles the mind. A tiny example - the boulders scattered at the cliff bottom from rock falls - so accurate.
Cabride too slow. At least double the speed, please, and don't ruin the scenic experience with those selfies. Present the crew separately at the beginning or the end instead...
