Final NEB&W Op Session in Davison

Spent my Saturday at the Rensselaer Model Railroad Society for the final operating session of the New England, Berkshire, and Western Railroad in its home since 1972. Starting basically immediately, the famous layout will be carefully dismantled, crated, and moved out of the basement of RPI’s Davison Hall. This move is necessary to facilitate a long overdue renovation of the dormitory, where leaky pipes have plagued the layout for decades.

In the short term, the layout will likely be moved into storage while a suitable new home is located and prepared. Once a location is secured, the layout will then be moved in and reconstruction can begin. While it will take several years to get the layout back into operational condition and even longer to repair all of the damage to the scenery that the move will inevitably cause, this move will likely be a good thing in the long run. The space we have in the basement is far from ideal, and a new home will allow the club to correct several design flaws in the layout itself and potentially also allow for expansion.

My goal with these pictures was more to capture the emotion of the session rather than the trains. I’ve taken plenty of photos of the layout over the years, so this time I was focusing on the people (pun intended). Of course, this was in amongst running my trains.

So… Au revoir for now, and I look forward to helping get the layout back together and even more spectacular in the future.

NEB&W Final Op Session – 2019/02/16 / Google Photos

NEB&W Operating Session April 2018

I spent the bulk of the day yesterday working on the Rensselaer Model Railroad Society’s New England, Berkshire, and Western Railroad’s Spring Operating Session. Here are a few videos I grabbed with my 360° camera mounted on a flat car I modified to carry it.

Train AT-2 – Southbound Paper Train – Alburgh to Troy

Vergennes to Lake George
New video by James Lauser / Google Photos
Proctor to Gassetts
New video by James Lauser / Google Photos
Saratoga Springs to Cohoes
New video by James Lauser / Google Photos

Train #5 – Northbound Local – Albany to Chateaugay

South Troy to Green Island via Troy Union Station
New video by James Lauser / Google Photos
Cohoes to Saratoga Springs
New video by James Lauser / Google Photos
Johnsonville to Bartonsville
New video by James Lauser / Google Photos
North Bennington to Grand Isle
New video by James Lauser / Google Photos
South Hero to Lake George
New video by James Lauser / Google Photos