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Camping trips along the Chicago & North Western as a kid inspired John Mueller to build his HO scale Northern Memories model railroad. The layout is set in northern Wisconsin in the early 1950s. In this video you can watch steam and diesel locomotives lead trains along this detailed layout.
Great story Robert
Growing up in Eau Claire, I lived two houses from the CNW line up to Duluth. Of course I watched hundreds of trains coming and going, so I enjoyed the old green and yellow reefers, the different
40ft boxcars from different roads and the steam to diesel era you depict. In the steam era, a daily (or nightly, depending on which way it was going) passenger train came by. Most winters we would see long trains of DMIR ore jennies pass south and I was wondering if you had those. Sure enough, towards the end, an ore drag came by! Strangest sight was a long freight alongside Dells Pond
that got stuck in an ice storm. The steam engine drivers just spun and the train sat there until they
split the thing, taking three sections upgrade and returning for the next. Kids appreciate that sort of stuff!
Great scenery, fabulous trees! I especially enjoyed the canoe sideways in the river!
Great layout, the scenery brings back fond realistic memories of northern Wisconsin. The C&NW in those scenes is appropriate. I have one negative comment; the sound is terrible. Too loud, not realistic and the horns don't necessarily match the model. The sounds as I hear it is nothing but noise. The one thing I remember about the C&NW and much of Wisconsin is the sounds of locomotive and a passing train diminished very fast from your viewing location due to the trees and general rough landscape.
Well to be brutally honest, that was just …. awesome! Kudos from this fellow CNW modeler.
Outstanding modeling job! I especially was impressed by the trees – the variety of types, shapes and sizes. What an artistic effort that represents. Spent several camping trips in that area myself – also in the 50s – and this really took me back. Great work, thanks for sharing it!
My Dad was an engineer for the C&NW for many years
Great sound on the rolling stock passing!
Beautiful layout…great video!
Wonderful layout and video. Only one thing detracts – the spelling of Chicago and Northwestern. It always should be Chicago and North Western. Thanks.
Very nice layout well done hope to see more. Thanks
Gary
As a fellow CNW modeler, I commend you on a great job of recreating Northern Wisconsin in your basement. Great work. Thanks for sharing you fine layout with us.
Hope I can create one 1/10th as good as this layout!
Generally, sound is good, and horn Doppler affect interesting. Like all sounds under the hood, small speakers and sound containment stifle most horn and base notes of diesel and steam engines. Thanks for sharing! Pete.
Like the authenticity of the horns and the steam engine. Nice work on the layout.
Bill York PA
Very impressive layout, sound, camera use and angles. The camera angles makes me feel that I am there watching the trains. Thank you for sharing your great work.
Great layout. Nice modeling work.
Great looking layout!! And the video is excellent.
Beautiful layout. Nice to see some switching operations too!
Great sweeping curves, interesting structures and realistic sounds make a great combination in realistic miniature railroading. Very nice presentation.
Very well done. Great scenery.
Beautiful layout.
Very nice layout and video. Thanks for sharing!
A truly impressive layout. I liked everything about it. The realistic sound effects, the detail in the water scenes and bridges and the waiting for the trains to enter into the the scene's frame I thought was really neat.Great work. Thanks for sharing.
Nicely done and great looking railroad.
I have a question in general and not specifically this video but all videos on sound equipped layouts.
Why is it that everyone has the volume turned up so loud that the sound is still heard long after the locomotives are past.
Remember that the sound needs to be in scale as well. There's a club in Colorado that the sound s are so loud even from 50ft away, that they over power you. When you stand next to an idling unit you can sill carry on a conversation .
My comment is not done in any form of meanness but rather curiosity and hopefully it will start a conversation after some thought on the subject of volume.