The Metaline Falls Railroad (MFR) is a proto-freelanced model railroad based on the Pend Oreille Valley Railroad located in northern Idaho and north eastern Washington State. For the very latest on the layout, please visit my YouTube channel and follow along with my Instagram account and Facebook Group.
Scaletrains strikes again! After falling in love with my Scaletrains SD40-2, I couldn't help myself and I ended up picking up this beautiful Dash 9 in BNSF's Heritage 2 paint scheme a few months back. The locomotive runs and sounds great and is the LAST new locomotive that my layout requires at this point to have a full operation session.
The Heritage 2 paint scheme is my second favorite BNSF paint scheme. What is my first favorite you may ask? Why, the infamous Vomit Bonnet of course!
James McNab is a model railroader whom I've been following for quite some time now. His work has been a HUGE inspiration for me as his previous layout was a marvel of design and execution and the progress on his new layout looks to be quite wonderful as well!
Model Railroader Magazine seems to think the same as well as he now has a new ongoing video series on the construction of his new layout. I am absolutely thrilled to see this and am looking forward to following his progress.
Looks like the BNSF Railway got their paperwork in order and have begun work on a second bridge crossing Lake Pend Oreille at Sandpoint. This bridge will allow the railroad to relieve some of the congestion of trains having to wait their turn to cross the nearly mile-long span. Additionally, this new bridge should open up the opportunity for more rail traffic through Sandpoint while reducing delays for local motorists at grade crossings.
TSG Multimedia has published a good number of videos about Jack Burgess and his stunning model railroad. In his latest video, Jack talks about the amazing structures on his layout and the amount of effort he put into make them as accurate as possible.
The Seaboard Central is one of my favorite layouts to be found on Youtube and a beautiful example of what can be done in a small space. This video is a tour of the layout in it's current, stunning state. Check it out!
"On a crisp, early autumn day, a trio of Montana Rail Link SD45s power a BNSF freight westbound into Algoma, Idaho, only moments after crossing the bridge over Lake Pend Oreille from Sandpoint, on October 3, 2014." Photo by Mike Dannerman
I've never really been a fan of club layouts. It's not that there is anything wrong with them, they just aren't for me personally. I've heard plenty of complaints about the politics surrounding a club layout and I just don't have the energy to deal with that kind of thing. Plus I'm way too particular in my modeling standards and I would never be satisfied putting a ton of energy and money into something that looked like it was designed by committee and built by some well-meaning people who's artistic skills may be a bit lacking.
That said, if my local club layout looked like this one... Well, that might be a different story altogether!
I've been watching a lot of layout progress videos on YouTube recently. One thing I've noticed is that most of the best railroads are in spaces that have been designed for the layout and finished with appropriate walls, ceilings, lighting and electrical work. I'm a big believer in the idea that the space a model railroad exists in is nearly as important as the modeling itself. If the floor is cold, the walls are bare and not insulated, the ceiling is exposed and there are sewage pipes, ductwork, and wiring running everywhere it takes away from the overall effect and is frankly, an unpleasant place to spend many hours in running trains or carving scenery.
That's why I really appreciate the video updates of YouTube user BArailsystem. He's been working on his layout room for over an year-and-a-half now and is only just getting to the point where he can really run trains. In that time however, he has created an exceptional space for his model railroad. I've throughly enjoyed his series of layout updates for this absolute monster of a railraod. I've spent the weekend binging on his videos and they are great so make sure you check out his past videos to see just how far the space has come.
Youtuber aurthorhouston3 brings us another update to the BNSF Fall River Division. This railroad keeps getting better and better and these videos are what inspired me to include a just a little bit of "big time" mainline railroading to my new layout.
