As of 5/15/08, we have 5o confirmed layouts in 48 locations, open at  various times , all 4 days from Thursday afternoon until Sunday evening...a 23% increase from when the NER last visited Syracuse in 2002!  

Click Here to view a complete list of the layouts, dates and times!

N scale layouts on tour include:

- Brian Curry MMR, with some 3-foot narrow gauge logging,  a new overhead trolley line, and multiple Baldwin Trophy award winning models;

- newcomer-on-tour Sandy Colabufo with his Annaville and Adirondack, located close to the convention hotel;

- newcomer Don Dennis and the Not Yet Named Railway in his fabulous home...and more.

HO layouts abound in all sizes, styles and configurations!  We deeply regret that the home of the Bill Brown MMR family was lost to fire in early May, and the LARC featured in Model Railroader some time ago is now gone.  But we have more terrific privately-owned, home HO layouts open for viewing, which include:

- Mike Shanahan’s: arguably the finest HO scale home layout in the area, and a “must see”;

- Drew and Karel James’ Canada, Spokane and Pacific, new to our tour and operating!

- Dave Martini’s CSX Northeast, a modern system, featured in “Scale Rails” this year with...

- his dad Dick Martini, whose CSX almost fills the basement with organized operations!

- Bernie Messenger, operating a largely-expanded, freelanced modern system;

- Len Amrhein, driven by John Allen’s talents and vision for his own Wauroad and Glorre;

1. -Russ and Val Schiller, veteran modelers with beautiful steam power on their Otisco Valley;
   

2. -- Dick Lautenslager, whose Northern Central steamers are legendary: Swiss-watch like!
   

- Ed and Judy O’Rourke, modeling urban New Haven passenger and freight operations.

- Martin and Brenda Collard’s exceptional standard and narrow gauge modeling on the Borodino and Southern;  and many, many more.

Permanent club, as well as modular HO scale layouts are also open for your viewing and enjoyment, and include:

- Central NY Modelers (CNYMOD) with their award-winning, well-known modular display, fully assembled and operating at the downtown Museum of Science and Technology (MOST);

- Lowville and Beaver River, featured in RMC many years ago, now home again and running;

- CNY Model RR Club in the historic Hartlot railroad station, operating their Delaware and Ontario system;

- Syracuse Model RR Club, operating their fully scenicked layout in Eastwood; and more.

O and larger scale offerings are plenty, too!  Check these out:

- Tom Scibetta’s O scale empire, recently featured in the NER Coupler, and a mastery of selective compression!

- Steve and Wendy Boslet..and Ed Bernat: two separate O scale layouts, open for the first time;

- Dick and Karin Thomas: experienced modeler, well-known in G scale garden railroading;

- Other G scale garden railways, including Roger and Susan Caiazza, Gordon Davis, and the huge Leatherstocking Line Garden Railway on display at Drivers’ Village in Cicero; and  

- multi-scale, live steam action at the Finger Lakes Live Steamers complex near Clyde, NY.

These are just some of the layouts: available, open and on tour. 

As in 2002, our layout tour book will be separately mailed, starting early August, to those who register and pay for the book to be sent to them.  But, we have refined the book to include:

1.  For those of you with GPS (“global positioning system”) capability in your vehicles through

laptop computers or in-vehicle GPS devices, the book will have GPS coordinates for all locations.  In that way, you can be better assured of finding your way the first time, instead of wasting time on unfamiliar roads getting directions.

2.  The book will include a companion CD (PC or Mac compatible), containing written detailed

driving directions to get you from any one point located in the book to any other point in the book.  Bring a laptop computer with you to convention, and you’re not getting lost..but getting there faster!

3.  The CD will also have a 360-degree “virtual” video tour by VRT computer files of specific layouts on tour.  Your computer will need to have Quicktime 7.0 or newer version to view the VRT files.    At this time, the website has Dave Martini’s and Jim Heidt’s layouts for an on-line virtual tour, allowing you to scan around, and even focus in on some layout highlights. (See below).  The idea is to give you a “preview” of what you will see when you come to Empire Junction ‘08; and

4.  Finally, we will have a “Dispatcher’s Desk”, a staffed location at the hotel with a posted telephone number to be a “EJ’08 - 911" number, if you will.  By telephone, that staff member can help you with driving directions, assistance, answer questions, etc.

Now, how can you NOT look forward to touring the layouts at EJ ‘08!?

In the layout map book there will be a companion CD (Mac & PC compatible) with directions from any layout to any layout on the tours. Also included will be a 360 degree virtual tour of each layout.

You will need Quicktime 7.o or later to view the VRT files.

DICK MARTINI - SigOps & Layout Tour

Click the sample links below to take a Virtual Reality Tour (VRT) of Dick Martini’s HO scale Fingerlakes Railroad layout. Dick’s layout has 100%  of the track work finished and he holds regular operating sessions. His next step is starting the scenery. If you love operations, Dick’s layout is a must see.

Sample #1 martini1.mov 1.5mb

Sample #2 martini2.mov 1.7mb

Sample #3 martini3.mov 1.4mb

JIM HEIDT -  Layout Tour

Click the sample links below to take a Virtual Reality Tour (VRT) of Jim Heidts Ogdensburg and Norwood HO Scale Layout. Jim’s Layout has about 90% track work and 80% scenery completed. Don’t miss the shot of Jim’s workspace, you would think you are in some little Ma & Pa hobby shop!

Sample#1 heidt1.mov

Sample #2 heidt2.mov

Sample #3 heidt3.mov

Sample #4 Heidthobbyshop.mov

You will need Quicktime 7.o or later to view the VRT files.