Years ago, it was not unknown for railroads to promote themselves via railroad models. This actually began in the toy train sphere of model railroading. Scale model railroading as a hobby emerged from toy trains, which began to come to prominence in the early 20th century. As evidence, I’ll cite the fact that Al Kalmbach’s Model Railroader magazine came into being in 1934.
Predating this was the famous 1931 Lionel catalog. On the cover is New York Central engineer Bob Butterfield, who ran regularly on the Central’s famed Twentieth Century Limited. The backdrop for the scene is a view of the driving wheels of one of the road’s 4-6-4 Hudsons; in his hands, he’s holding an example of Lionel’s recently introduced 400E steam locomotive. He’s showing it to a pair of young boys (in fact, his grandsons). The caption is: “Just Like Mine.”
To use what probably is an idiom from a then-future date, that’s a little bit of a stretch. The Lionel 400E had a 4-4-4 wheel arrangement, not the Hudson’s 4-6-4 configuration. The type existed in North America; Canadian Pacific eventually had these and referred to them as its “Jubilee” class, but they wouldn’t appear until roughly a half-decade after the 1931 catalog was in effect. In fairness, in the years ahead Lionel would produce “scale” versions of the NYC Hudsons as the premier items in its product line; Butterfield probably had retired by this time.
In the post-World War II years, the toy train manufacturer got EMD, along with the New York Central and Pennsylvania railroads, to pay for a portion of the tooling to manufacture its new F3 diesel locomotive, and as a result only the two named railroads got the publicity of having their road names on this new and desirable product in its initial years of production.
But what about railroads that promoted themselves directly via model railroading? The Santa Fe provides an example, in the form of the extensive model railroad it sponsored at what was known as the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago, and of course utilized models of AT&SF prototypes. This was and is a very popular venue, resulting in many eyes on the Santa Fe’s efforts, thus easily justifying the expense as a marketing cost.
Probably the most shining example, however, is the Baltimore & Ohio’s efforts in Cincinnati, primarily for the December holiday season display in that city. In 1936, the B&O built a 50- by 25-foot portable O-gauge layout (per their contemporary description of it) for display in the Queen City’s gas and electric company’s headquarters. During World War II, it served another function, as a public relations tool to attract civilians to enlist in the Transportation Corps. It was later used for training purposes at the Army’s Transportation School at Fort Eustis, Va.
In the postwar years it returned to its Cincinnati seasonal home. According to promotional material issued by the railroad in conjunction with later showings, more than 500,000 people were estimated to have seen it during the 1948 winter holiday period.
To put this into perspective, the population of Cincinnati peaked in 1950, at about 504,000. While this doesn’t mean that literally every resident visited the exhibit (I suspect there were more than a few who saw it multiple times, and undoubtedly many from areas outside the city limits), it’s not impossible that literally half the people living in Cincinnati in 1948 could have taken the trouble to come view it. That is a publicist’s dream and suggests that the money required for the project was well spent.
I grew up in Cincinnati during the postwar years and spent many happy hours viewing this layout, as well as the HO-scale version that appeared in alternate years during the 1950s until 1961. For what it’s worth, it did create an affinity for the B&O in my mind, even though I only traveled on that railroad once, in the early 1960s. After moving away from the area in 1963, I took the trouble to return specifically to see the O-gauge version twice in the 1970s. It still retained its essential appearance from my earlier experiences, and the Columbian’s consist I remembered from the 1950s was on view in its proper place when it was not out running on the layout.
Eventually, during the 1980s, the B&O’s owner, now CSX, loaned the layout on a long-term basis to the Cincinnati Gas & Electric Co. (more recently Duke Power). The utility company eventually donated it to the Cincinnati Museum Center, which occupies the headhouse of the famed Cincinnati Union Terminal. Each end-of-the-year holiday season it is set up and billed as the “Holiday Trains” exhibit, in spacious quarters on the Museum’s lower level.
Now, having outlasted the entity that produced it, this layout continues to delight Cincinnatians and visitors as it approaches its 90th birthday; who could have imagined this at the time of its inception? Yes, there have been lots of modifications, and equipment representing more recent times has replaced many of the older models.
However, the basic “bones” of the original are still extant and were visible when I visited the Cincinnati Museum Center in December 2023. The outside third rail is still utilized, and portions of the 1950s-era equipment still ride the 1:48-scale rails. Classic “Best and Only” examples in the form of F3s and EAs shared space in the engine service facility along with an A-B set of Baldwin Sharknoses; the Budd RDC-2 cruised the upper-level “high line.
The Cincinnatian traversed the main line, albeit propelled by a standard, non-streamlined 4-6-2; its assigned P7d must have been in the shop. And a portion of the Columbian’s passenger cars, including the boat-tail observation car Chicago that I had seen last in December 1976, itself almost 50 years distant, was still there to behold and enjoy. Long may it continue.
Learn more about the Duke Energy Holiday Junction display at the Cincinnati Museum Center at www.cincymuseum.org.
