Tag: Mainline Hobby Supply

Annual SMD Mini Con – Sat. 05 April

2025 South Mountain Division NMRA Mini Con

Sponsored by Mainline Hobby Supply

South Mountain Division (SMD) Mini Con/Clinics Day is this coming Saturday, 05 April 2025. Doors open at 9:00 AM at the Blue Ridge Mountain Fire Hall; 13063 Monterey Ln, Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17214. The event is FREE! Plenty of parking along side the fire hall. Food on-site. On going presentations throughout the morning are informal. Sit and chat with clinicians. Learn something new. Meet new friends. Bring the family.

Current presentations:
  • Jeff Adams – Proto Loco Tuneup
  • Frank Benanti – Layout Legacy (What about when you’re gone)
  • Jane Clarke – Scenery using Natural Materials
  • Pete Clarke – Timesaver Module Operations
  • Larry Daily – Prototype Building from Photographs
  • Dan – Railroad Slides
  • Andrew Dodge – Evergreen Trees
  • Bob Johnson – Rolling Stock Tuneup
  • Steve King – Operations 101
  • Bill Martz – Make and Take ( Priority to 16 and under)
  • Alex Poliemi – Fast Clock Operations
  • Dottie Poliemi – Painting Hydrocal and Other Structures
  • Ron Poliemi – Craftsman Kits and Budget Model Railroading
  • John Pursell – Kit Bashing and Mingling for Better Structures
  • Bill Reynolds – All About Tortoise Machines
  • Travers Stavac – Layout Design for Operations

Bonus for Attendees…

Private layout open houses on Sunday. All Saturday attendees may request addresses for several area layouts. This bonus is for Mini Con attendees only. Request details at the registration table in the hall.

  • Theme: N scale heavy coal hauler based on Clinchfield / N&W
  • Scale: N
  • Features: TO/TT Simulation
  • Host: Steve King
  • Location: Fayetteville, PA
  • Time: 1:00 to 4:00 PM

The Virginia Midland Railroad is a large N scale layout that features heavy coal operations with just enough general freight traffic thrown in to make things interesting for the operators. The Virginia Midland brings back memories of the N&W (post Virginian merger) and features long trains of hoppers, multi-engine power consists, and even independently controlled helpers. Even if you are not personally into heavy freight drag operations this layout is worth seeing and fun to operate. This is probably one of the largest N scale layouts in the area. All operations are controlled using CVP (Easy DCC) wireless throttles. Crews will be trained in the basics of train order/ time table controlled railroad operation.

  • Theme: East Broad Top Railroad
  • Scale: HOn3
  • Features: Narrow Gauge Railroading
  • Hosts: Jane & Pete Clarke
  • Location: Damascus, MD
  • Time: 1:00 to 4:00 pm

Visit the fully scenicked and operational East Broad Top Railroad without driving to Orbisonia PA. On the Clarke’s basement sized rendition, steam powered brass locomotives haul coal in HOn3 hoppers from the mines in Robertsdale PA to the coal cleaning plant and interchange with the PRR in Mt. Union PA. For added interest, car loads of ganister, iron ore, lumber, agricultural products, and coal move along the Shade Gap Branch between Orbisonia and Neelyton PA.

The railroad was featured in the  publication Great Model Railroads. Trains run on TT/TO with a fast clock. Control is Digitrax DCC using radio throttles. Car cards, timetable, instructions, and an operator’s guide let guest operators know how to run trains.

  • Theme: Moving to a Shelf?
  • Scale: HO
  • Features: Deconstruction 101
  • Host: Frank Benenati
  • Location: Damascus, MD
  • Time: 1:00 to 4:00 pm

Maryland Junction is a 14 by 20 foot room sized modular layout that was built to travel. It has crossed the pond once since it’s 1999 birth. The railroad reached it’s zenith in 2022 when scenery was 95% complete. It’s been in steady decline since the owner began preparation for the move to a smaller living space. Towards that end, individual structures and dioramas have been removed and are being sold off along with excess rolling stock and locomotive power. There has been some track abandonment and removal. Deconstructions/salvage/sale plans hinge on future hobby space limitations.

  • Theme: Central Maine Railroad
  • Scale: O Proto 48
  • Features: Custom Built Models
  • Host: Andrew Dodge
  • Location: Olney, MD
  • Time: 1:00 – 4:00 pm

Watch steam trains move freight cars between Belfast and Camden and onto the car float/tug operation at Camden Junction. Check out the passenger side-2 wheeler that operates between Deer Island and Camden Junction. Visit this museum quality O scale railroad featuring scratch built locomotives, rolling stock, hand laid track, ships, and structures. There’s also more than a thousand hand-made trees and an operating rotary snowplow. The railroad is featured in the 2025 publication Great Model Railroads.

The railroad is powered by NCE DCC and uses NCE hand held radio throttles.

As a bonus, you can also view a small “portable” HO DC powered logging railroad featuring geared engines and a switchback.

  • Theme: Central WV short line operating between the B&O and WM.
  • Scale: HO
  • Features: Geared Locos & Creative Staging
  • Host: Bob Johnson
  • Location: Jefferson, MD
  • Time 1:00 to 4:00 pm

Visit West Virginia in the spring/summer of 1954 and be inspired by the West Virginia Midland Model Railroad. Coal, limestone and lumber are the main source of revenue with a mix of freight from local business. The Midland connects with the B&O at Holly Junction and the Western Maryland at Cherry Falls. The interchanges (staging) represent Grafton (B&O) and Laurel Bank (WM). Midland’s main yard and shop facilities are located in the twin towns of Webster Springs and Cherry Falls, WV.

The main body of the Midland is 12’ x 16’ with an additional 65 feet of around-the-wall running. The scenery is about 95% complete and features discrete scenes that are visually separated by viewing angles and scenic view blocks such as hills and, numerous trees.

  • Theme: Milwaukee Road, Avery ID
  • Scale: O5w
  • Features: 40’x34’ Railroad Under Construction
  • Host: Rich Randall
  • Location: Gettysburg, PA

Visit Avery, Idaho in the fall of 1973 and board the O scale Hiawatha for the trip over the Bitterroot Mountains to Montana. See first hand the challenges of building a mountain railroad. The single track main line is operational and powered by NCE DCC. Avery yard is the central focus of the railroad; although much compressed trackage generally follows the prototype. Several scratch built landmark buildings that are nearly finished will capture the essence of the area. Five industrial areas with sidings are also under development. Scenery has been started in several places. It is anticipated that one day the railroad will feature through freights, through and local passenger trains, a branch line, and blocking of cars at Avery.

Mainline Hobby Supply Layout Tours, September 2023

Mainline Hobby Supply

Open House / Layout Tours

16 & 17 September 2023

Mainline Hobby reports they have will several new layouts to view and lots of changes to the familiar layouts.

To participate you must show up at the store, 15066 Buchanan Trl E, Blue Ridge Summit, PA, 17214 (doors open at 9:00 AM Saturday, 12:00 PM on Sunday). Ask for a tour book. There is no charge for this event.

Mini Convention; Saturday, 8 April @ Blue Ridge Summit, PA

The 2023 Mini Con is a joint effort of the NMRA South Mountain Division 10 and Mainline Hobby Supply. This annual “clinics day” will be held in the Blue Ridge Mountain Fire Co., 13063 Monterey Ln., Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17214, across the road from Mainline Hobby Supply between 9 AM and 3 PM.

Copy work of maps created by Richard Lind for use by the South Mountain Division NMRA.
      • prototype and model presentations
      • formal and informal clinics
      • modular displays
      • interaction with fellow hobbyists
      • 10% discount at Mainline Hobby Supply

There is no admission charge. The venue is wheelchair accessible.

This educational event is open to the public for promotion of the hobby of model railroading.

Layout Tours 17 & 18 September

As part of the Mainline Hobby Supply 32nd annual Open House and Layout Tours, the following South Mountain Division  (SMD) members will open their layouts. Registration and layout tour guides must be obtained from Mainline Hobby Supply inc Blue Ridge Summit, PA on the weekend of the tours.

Dave Moltrup’s Beaver Falls & Shenango Railroad

This HO-scale Railroad is a freelanced steel mill set in the late 1960’s. Size is 19′ x 24′. Operation is by NCE, DCC system.

Jay Beckham’s Pennsylvania Railroad O-Scale Layout

Jay Beckham’s Model Railroad Layout. O Scale model of the Pennsylvania Railroad Northern Central branch from Penn Station Baltimore, MD to Harrisburg, PA. Trains will be running. Light refreshments will be served. This model railroad occupies our 1800 sq. ft. basement. Scenery is about 70% complete. Other photos at https://jaysoscalelayout.blogspot.com/ and on Jaysoscalelayout group on Facebook.

Don Florwick’s Pittsburgh & South Pennsylvania Railroad

This is a proto-freelanced HO layout based on the never finished route of the South Pennsylvania RR envisioned by the New York Central in the late 1800s. On Don’s 1955 version the NYC competes with the PRR across southern Pennsylvania connecting at Harrisburg PA with the Reading and at Pittsburgh with the NYC subsidiary P&LE. First generation lightning-stripe painted NYC diesels have just replaced steam to power passenger and freight traffic on this busy single-track TT&TO operated mainline.

Steve King’s Virginia Midland

The Virginia Midland is a fully operational N-scale railroad located in the Virginia and West Virginia area and set during the 1969 period.  The layout is about 10 scale miles long and operates between two staging areas representing Marion, Virginia and Welch, West Virginia.  One passenger train, four freight trains, plenty of coal trains, and several daily mine runs keep the layout busy.

Bob Johnson’s West Virginia Midland

The West Virginia Midland is a HO scale freelance short line (based on a combination of several prototypes) which runs between the B&O at Holly Junction, WV and the Western Maryland at Laurel Bank, WV. Both the B&O and the WM have industry specific haulage rights on the Midland. The time period is summer 1954.

Major traffic producers on the Midland include a limestone quarry, coal mine (with a second simulated in staging) coke ovens, lumber mill (pending construction) with associated logging traffic and an industrial area around the Webster Springs / Cherry Falls area.

Scenery is approximately 90% completed

With the exception of two gas mechanical industrial switchers the WVM is 100% steam with a large number of geared locomotives (B&O and WM interchange power is diesel)

Operation is by TT&TO

The layout has an E-shaped 12 ft. by 16 ft. main area with a 50 ft. “around the wall” shelf extension.

The layout is designed so that each major industry is a “stand alone” scene that is large enough to be a viable source of revenue for the railroad. The intervening areas are modeled as open country to preserve the feeling of a rural short line railroad.The design of the railroad puts a heavy emphasis on local trains with extensive switching requirements.

Bob Morningstar’s Western Maryland Railway – Hagerstown Subdivision

This is my recreation of my childhood and teenage years of railfanning in and around the Hagerstown area. The layout represent the Western Maryland Railway, circa 1978-1983, more or less. It covers the Hagerstown terminal area, NC tower, and points west to Hancock.The layout encompasses a dedicated layout room of 14’ x 16’.   Cement operations in and around Hagerstown play a large role in the operations. There is a large cement plant in Pinesburg, MD that requires daily servicing. In addition, there is a cement hopper clean out facility in Hagerstown that supports cement operations.  Numerous industries are serviced by locals that originate out of Hagerstown. The B&O Weverton branch (severed by Hurricane Agnes in 1972) is now serviced out of Hagerstown. There are numerous industries to be serviced east of Hagerstown via the Security Branch of the B&O.

Transfer runs to and from the Conrail and N&W connection at Vardo Yard are important sources of interchange traffic.

The Mini-Con is Back!

From Grant Berry

On Saturday, 23 April, 2022, South Mountain Division (SMD) will present a Mini Convention in Blue Ridge Summit, PA, sponsored by Mainline Hobby Supply. Beginning at 9:00 AM, this free annual outreach programming consists of a morning loaded with informal clinics, including a couple of make-and-take opportunities, and then concludes in the early afternoon with a couple of formal presentations. Both NMRA members and the general public are invited to this no-cost gathering.

This Mini-Con activity is a great opportunity for the Division. It offers an occasion to reconnect with one another, encouraging active participation as a way to give back, and a path to promote the hobby to the public. It takes a large staff of volunteers to host this event. Most are Division members. Attendance in past years averaged over 200 persons.

To encourage casual interaction and an exchange of ideas, approximately twenty informal clinics take place during the first four hours. Clinic topics this spring will cover structure building and painting, rolling stock maintenance, upgrades, and weathering, locomotive tuning, DCC topics, a fiber optic presentation, Tortoise machine operations, and more. Clinicians will be seated at tables welcoming attendees to observe their projects. Conversation and questions are entertained as the clinicians work.

In some instances, guests may be invited to try their hand at the work.

Being sensitive to physical distancing protocols, no modular layouts will be present this spring to facilitate enough space between and around clinicians.

As in the past, the SMD will have two make-and-take clinics that focus on the beginner, giving preference to the youth in our hobby. Both culminate with a small structure to take home. An entry-level craftsman kit and a basic plastic kit are the foundation for this activity which is billed as a wonderful parent and child activity.

Two formal presentations are slated for the afternoon hours. Division member John Pursell will offer a program on frugal methods to model railroad, and lastly, member Pete Clarke of the Friends of the EBT has arranged for a talk on the happenings and progress at the East Broad Top Railroad.

The sponsor for this event, Mainline Hobby Supply, is within walking distance from the Blue Ridge Mountain Fire Co location. The Division encourages all to thank owners Bonnie and Brian Wolfe and to support their business. Mainline is offering a 10% discount to every Mini-Con attendee on the day of the event. Additionally, a $150 gift certificate for Mainline Hobby will be raffled off during the day.

The raffle ticket holder must be present at the time of the drawing on Saturday to win.

Watch this site to get all updates regarding this event.