In Memoriam: Paul J. Dolkos

Paul J. Dolkos, a longtime contributor to the pages of Model Railroader magazine and its annuals and special issues, passed away on August 9, 2024.

Paul became interested in trains and model railroading as a teenager. His second hobby was photography. Paul’s first MR cover photo, a scene on the Severna Park Model Railroad Club’s HO scale Chesapeake & Allegheny RR, appeared in June 1973. That was followed by another cover image in December 1975, a feature on the club layout’s urban scenery. In that issue’s Bull Session column, it noted, “Paul finds that his model railroading and photography hobbies complement each other due to the many challenges of extreme close-up photography. Both the model and camerawork must be right to get good results.”

Duquesne RR

In addition to his work on the Severna Park Model Railroad Club, Paul had three different home layouts featured in MR. The first story, which appeared in the March 1983 issue, was “Last days on the Duquesne.” The cover story was on Paul’s 5 x 10-foot HO scale Duquesne (Du-Kane) RR/Tygart Coal & Lumber Co., which he tore down after buying a house. “I began building on January 21, 1967,” Paul wrote. “I’m positive about the date because I kept a log during the enthusiasm of initial construction, though I must admit the notes got scantier and scantier until they ceased altogether after only a few months.”

Paul also shared his feelings about demolishing the layout. “Tearing down a model railroad is a bittersweet experience,” Paul wrote. “You’ve put a lot of work into it, and whether large or small, highly detailed or not, the railroad has provided many hours of pleasure. You hate to destroy it, but the end of a layout also clears the deck for new accomplishments. It’s an opportunity to correct those mistakes you don’t want to talk about.”

The Boston & Maine era

The best was certainly ahead for Paul. At his new home, he started work on his HO scale Boston & Maine New Hampshire Division, featured many times in the pages of MR over more than a quarter century. Paul introduced the layout in the September 1986 issue. “Starting a new model railroad is like writing a book: you begin with a clean sheet of paper. A book can be fiction or nonfiction, the story contemporary or historical, and the scene set anywhere. Starting out, the author has many options, and so does the model railroader at this point.

“I had one of those clean sheets of paper a few years ago when I stopped work on my coal-hauling Duquesne RR and moved into a new home. I also decided to move from the world of fictional railroading into one of nonfiction. I had the urge to model a prototype set in a specific time and place because I felt that the research this requires would be very interesting.”

The 16 x 29-foot layout was set in northern New Hampshire in November 1952. Though the B&M was the primary prototype, the layout also featured interchanges with the St. Johnsbury & Lamoille County and Barre & Chelsea.

After building and operating the layout for several years, Paul wrote the two-part series “Lessons learned from a successful layout” for the October and November 2005 issues of MR. “Recently I declared that my HO Boston & Maine New Hampshire Division was finished,” Paul wrote. “Of course, there will always be things to do, but everything appears to be complete — no bare plywood showing, all track is in and operational, and there’s a full roster of appropriate equipment to run.

“It’s a nice feeling to complete any project, especially a fair-sized model railroad. The grand plan came together pretty much as I had envisioned, and I’m generally satisfied with the results.”

On the waterfront

Paul’s final model railroad was the HO scale Baltimore Harbor District. The 17 x 17-foot model railroad, which had a staging yard in the 9 x 17-foot workshop, was set in Baltimore, Md., in April 1955. Paul reflected on the new layout in Great Model Railroads 2021. “For more than 25 years I built and operated an HO scale model railroad based on the Boston & Maine RR in northern New Hampshire. But I reached the point at which the roster and scenery were complete and there were few projects left.

“So the idea of building a new railroad based on a busy urban area began to seem more compelling. I could create areas that offered lots of switching. Urban architecture is different from that of rural areas, offering new and interesting construction opportunities. I also wanted a prototype location with a seaport operations and a car float.” Paul shared how he built the Baltimore Harbor District in the December 2015 and January 2016 issue of Model Railroader.

A versatile contributor

There was much more to Paul J. Dolkos than just writing about his home layouts.

He also authored how-to articles for MR on a wide range of topics, including modeling different types of track, head-end equipment operations, and building styrene structures.

Several MR editors over the years commissioned Paul to photograph some of the hobby’s best-known layouts. Among the model railroads he documented were John Armstrong’s Canandaigua Southern, Andrew Dodge’s Colorado Midland; Allen McClelland’s Virginian & Ohio, and Lance Mindheim’s CSX Miami Downtown Spur.

Paul, who lived in Alexandria, Va., worked in computer communications, product sales, and marketing. His wife, Linda, passed away on June 5, 2019. They are survived by children Todd and Paige.