Remembering the legendary layout
Model Railroader’s famed 28 x 54-foot, HO scale staff layout, the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy, is no more. The layout, which celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2024, began as a concept in Kalmbach Media’s downtown Milwaukee offices in 1975. I won’t attempt to write the full history of the layout; indeed, there is likely no single, complete epitaph which can be written that could capture the life and memories of the beloved MR&T. It is a layout which was, over the course of its life, many things to many people, from Model Railroader staffers with tales of legendary after-hours operating sessions to readers around the world who have seen the layout in the pages of MR for decades. Bryson and I set out to create a Milwaukee, Racine & Troy retrospective gallery to write, at least in some small way, a history of the layout as we remember it. If the old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” is true, then perhaps the images below can at least tell a story of the layout in its recent years.
Amtrak ALC-42 Charger No. 301, painted in Amtrak’s “Day One” paint scheme, leads Amtrak train No. 7, the westbound Empire Builder, down Winter Hill on the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy staff layout. - BS
A collection of freight cars at the Wisconsin & Southern interchange yard is viewed from the perspective of a passer-by on the Highway 67 overpass. - MH
In an alternate universe where the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy ran electric power, this Amtrak AEM-7 would look right at home pulling its Fast Mail train through Williams Bay. - BS
This is probably my favorite image I ever took on the MR&T. I find it to be evocative but simple. The landscape blends seamlessly into the background. This image reminds me of the David Lynch film “The Straight Story,” which focuses on a WWII veteran’s journey across Iowa and Wisconsin on a John Deere tractor. - MH
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection field agent looks down upon a passing freight train using a deactivated signal tower. - BS
The layering of color in this composition was what drew me to this scene at Badgerland Ethanol Corp. In the foreground of the image, and out of focus, we have a layer of greens, both in the grass and bushes at the bottom of the image and in the coniferous tree which protrudes upwards at right. Then the grays and black of the track, tank car, and accompanying shadows. Finally, the white structures and behind them, the bright blue sky. In the middle of it all, interrupting the earth tones of the images, is a single figure, clad head to toe in high-visibility orange. - MH
A group of Customs and Border Protection field officers are on hand at a crossing on the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy to physically inspect this train. - BS
The bridge near Big Bend under which the figures are fishing creates a frame-within-the-frame, with the river flowing towards the camera and breaking out from the confines of the bridge and, by extension, the bridge as a framing device. - MH
After reports of an unruly passenger, local police officers have met the southbound Amtrak Hiawatha at a grade crossing to physically escort that passenger off of the train. - BS
I love Volvos, and more specifically than that, I love old Volvos. So when I found an old Volvo on the MR&T, I had to find the right way to photograph it. This model most resembles a Volvo 244 sedan. While I’m most partial to the C30 and V70, for sentimental reasons, I must admit that the 244 is a handsome car, and it looks almost stately here, pictured between Montgomery Supplies Inc. and the schoolhouse. - MH
Nickel Plate Road No. 765 puts on a show for guests at the Mukwonago station. - BS
I always found myself drawn to the less-appreciated, less-photographed scenes on the MR&T. Looking at this image of these workers at Wisconsin Iron & Steel scrap yard, perhaps stopped for a smoke break, I am reminded of the social realist art movement. - MH
That’s all, folks. With the benchwork removed from the room that the MR&T once resided in, all David Popp and I could think was “imagine the kind of layout we could build in this space!” - BS
This image, taken at the pedestrian crossing at the Williams Bay commuter station, has a nostalgic, almost wistful feeling to it. For one, the female figure is wearing an outfit very reminiscent of the infamous Jackie Kennedy pink Chanel suit. With that connection, it’s difficult to not feel both nostalgia and tragedy at once. Formally, the subjects of the image are turned away from us. Where are they going? I suppose we’ll never know. - MH
Click here to see a track plan for the 2024 iteration of the MR&T.
Click here to see a video from the engineer’s perspective for a final ride on the MR&T.
