I attended the 2024 Mid Atlantic Railroad Prototype Modeler (MARPM) event in metro Baltimore recently. In addition to the model railroad activities, I found the Heavy Seas brewery tap room just a few minutes from the hotel. But I know you are here for the model railroad stuff, so off we go!.
The RPM started with an open house layout tour on Friday. Seventeen home model railroads were open in the suburbs of Baltimore and Washington, DC. I was able to visit six layouts before running out of steam.
Todd Hermann’s Lehigh & New England Catasauqua Branch was the first stop. Todd’s HO scale layout focuses on a short stretch of the L&NE just north of Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the mid-1950s.
Tadmor Yard is the far eastern end of the layout and an active staging yard. The full scenery treatment is not common for a staging yard, but it makes the layout seem larger.
Six railroads interchanged with the L&NE. The scene here represents a location just west of the Lehigh River in Catasauqua. In the background is the Lehigh Valley mainline while the Reading and L&NE share foreground trackage.
The town of Catasauqua is taking shape in this scene. The L&NE is in the background here and winds through town to cross the Reading. The long thin mock up in the background is a highway bridge. Todd uses structure mock ups to plan scenes to determine how scratchbuilt structures will fit. For more on Todd’s layout, visit his Flickr site for 635 additional photos!
Jim Brewer’s HO scale Norfolk & Western Shenandoah Valley Line was the next stop. I hadn’t visited Jim’s layout in twenty years. The layout captures the look of the region like few others.
Many of the structures are scratchbuilt following prototypes found along the Shenandoah Valley. Most of the towns are smaller communities in Jim’s 1956 setting.
Agriculture dominates the rural feel of the layout with many line side feed mills. This is one of the larger facilities, and one of three in this town. The railroad also serves a limestone quarry, tannery, and a very large rayon manufacturing plant.
The N&W still has quite a few steam locos in service, and Jim has a several on the layout. This 4-8-0 sits at Waynesboro awaiting an assignment. Jim’s layout has been featured in a few YouTube videos. Here’s the first of a three-part series.
It was great to catch up with Jim and his layout, but time to roll along to the next one on the tour.
I arrived at Kelly Regan’s HO scale Baltimore & Ohio Georgetown Branch layout pretty quickly. The Georgetown Junction is the first scene inside the door with the Capitol Limited on the main.
The layout has most of the rail in place and operating but is not fully sceniced. I enjoy seeing how modelers build benchwork and support the roadbed. Kelly uses spline for much of the branch. It works well with the meandering right of way. He also designs and prints 3D parts to build models of specific prototypes. The bridge in the above image will span the C&O Canal. It is currently in the planning stages with a few parts seen in the foreground.
The line ends along the Potomac River in Georgetown. While it serves several local industries directly, many more receive or ship their goods via this team yard. Steel, lumber, and concrete are typical of inbound loads for the growing DC suburb. Kelly uses a number of mock ups to assist in planning and operating.
The branch ends at a second team yard. Kelly poured plaster to represent the roadways. he devised a tool to scrape the flanges of wet plaster and another tool to reduce the plaster level between the rails. Both of these tools have contributed to improving the street trackage operation. I took home lots of ideas from Kelly’s layout to use on my next project.
Visit Kelly Regan’s Georgetown Branch layout website for additional information on his work.
Saturday and Sunday at the RPM were filled with presentations. There were several I hoped to see but conflicted with my own presentation or others that I wanted to see. Too many good presentations is a mark of a very good event.
I snapped photos of quite a few models that were on display. Visit the 2024 Mid Atlantic RPM photo gallery to view those.
What a great weekend! I arrived back home ready to tackle a few new projects. Thank you to the Mid Atlantic RPM organizers; Bernie Kempinski, Bob Sprague, Mike Pulaski, and Doug Chapman for pulling together another fine event. I hope to attend the 2025 Mid Atlantic RPM!
As of this posting, there are eleven Railroad Prorotype Modeler events on the schedule in the next couple of months, plus one to kick of 2025. Check the RPM Calendar for dates, locations, and links. Maybe one of these meets will fit your schedule!
I’ll be attending RPM Naperville/Chicagoland, on October 10-12 in Naperville, Illinois. A The $60 advance registration ends soon. After October 1st, the registration increases to $75. There are 35 presentations scheduled and I’m presenting on Team Yards and Team Tracks. I’ll also have a few models on display. Maybe I’ll see you there!
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Well done Eric and excellent modeling on the layouts you shared. Thanks
It is so cool to see someone modeling the Georgetown Branch. I was alongside of it every day in the spring while running down the towpath along the C&O Canal while in high school. Thanks for this great post Eric.
I think Ben Sullivan is planning to model the branch, too. He presented a great clinic on the line at MARPM. – Eric H.
Love Jim Brewer’s N&W scenery! That looks like a lot of work! Plus, a nice long string of hoppers!