Trainfest Photos
Of Operating Model Railroads
At The Milwaukee 2010 Show

Photos I took during the Trainfest 2010 weekend are posted here. This includes photos from the show and of other top notch layouts in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. I was fortunate to visit Mark Preussler's terrific Soo Line. Trainfest videos. As there is a lot of material from the weekend I've broken it up on several pages.

Mark Preussler's Soo Line

*Soo Line Operating Rules*

Mark's layout occupies an approximate area in his basement of 42 X 25 feet. Power is by NCE Procabs. Operations is by RailOps switchlists. Secenry is almost complete. There are a few areas that are still to be finished.

He models familiar Soo Line places like Fond du Lac, Waupaca, Dale, Medina Junction, Manitowoc, Collins, Neenah and West Neenah, Hilbert Junction, Oshkosh and Stevens Point. There's a wonderful barge loading scene that is under construction. I've tried to capture individual buildings and scenes. Lots of inspiration here! Click on the thumbnails for a larger view.

David Paquette's HO scale Chicago and Northwestern

David's model railroad is a point-to-point line that portrays the CNW from dePere through Appleton to Green Bay. It's double-decked with a helix. At the time I saw it the layout was only about half-scenicked but operated well. Below are a few of the scenes he was working on.

Lee and Gloria Bauer's HO scale Northwestern Lines

Lee and Gloria were with us at our Craftsman's Corner at Trainfest 2010. They live in Racine, Wisconsin. We were invited for dinner and to see their layout.

It occupies a space of 13 by 24 feet. Gloria did clinics about painting figures at our Trainfest booth area. She has populated their layout with hundreds of people. The buildings, many from familiar kits, are amazing the way they are grouped and Lee has lit most of them. By the way, Trainfest has started an online newsletter in 2011. It includes articles. There's one by Gloria explaining her methods in the January 2011 issue. Go to www.trainfest.com for the free newsletters.

I've tried to capture the essence of what they have done in these photos. Enjoy. I also put together a video. Videos are on another page. Use the link at the bottom of this page.