Here is a video survey of a large model railroad. Frank Gillette created a building and then the miniature diorama inside of it to showcase his collection of O-Gauge model trains. Overall, the layout is the size of a 4-car garage. The track exists on 3 levels and there are no grades. All track is MTH Scale Trax. The trains are a mixture of Lionel and MTH products. The train of tank cars is running on the lowest level. There are two passenger trains running on the same tracks in the middle level - kept apart by a combination of electrical blocks, relays and signals. On the topmost level is the coal train running loop-to-loop.

The Alachua Central is an O-Gauge model railroad. The owner and creative force behind the railroad is Frank Gillette. This video is a very short survey of some of the trestles, bridges and operating signals. The track plan concept is a birthday cake arrangement with no grades. The lowest level supports a roundhouse, oil depot, lift-bridges and a yard. The middle level has automatic block control using relays. When a train is within one of the six blocks, electrical power is cut to the block behind it and the MTH signal is activated. There is much more to see than fits in this video.

This is a short video showing a row of buildings on a model railroad. The name of the RR is Alachua Central: Route of the Galloping Gator. The scale is O. Most of the buildings are made by MTH and then modified.

A short video showing Brad's O-27 layout in operation and a very fast survey of the well-packed collection shelves. Brad held an open house on March 23, 2012. These are a few of the festivities.

A couple of custom decorated toy trains running on the dining room table. Fun for Halloween 2017. The little switchers were made by Lionel. Originally, they ran on 3-rail DC. Now, there is a diode bridge to allow them to run on AC.

Test run of a Halloween train in 3-rail O-Gauge. The locos are modified Lionel switchers from the 1970's. The cars are current production shorty Madison cars from RMT. Ready Made Toys produces a nice range of trains that run well and look good. They have a lot of whimsy in their line. These are Peep cars. The Lionel switchers were originally powered by DC.

Short video of an old train running around the Christmas Tree in 2016.

Short video of a small Christmas train running around the base of our Tree. The loco and cars are all made by Marx. The loco has custom paint and decoration. The tender and cars are all older Marx 8-wheel tinplate steel with 1-way couplers. The MTH sectional track is crewed down to the board. The curves are O-31. There are 2 each 10-inch straights and 2 each 5 1/2 inch straights.

On an O-Scale layout, we see an automated block control in action. The distant Amtrak train is passing through the sensor section. That activates a relay which does two things. It disconnects the center rail in the controlled block and sets the MTH signal to Red. The following train (just an engine in this case) moves forward into the dead block and stops. When the front train passes out of the control block, the relay is deactivated. So, power is returned to the controlled block and the signal cycles through to green.

A clever accessory for toy train layouts. It has animals in outdoor cages. They move back and forth. Fun. Saw one at a train show 12/2/2107 and chose to show a friend.

I just printed this part out after learning about it from an online colleague: Jim Roberts

A quick test of a Marx 333. It is old and all original as far as I can tell. I got it at a train show from a guy who got it from someone else. The loco runs well in forward and reverse. As you can see, the reverse unit is a bit sticky. If I were to keep it as a runner, I would open it up and clean that reverse unit. That ought to do the trick if you prefer to avoid thumping it.

A very short video showing the American Flyer whistling billboard operating. Really, it is more audio than video. The first part is just pressing the control button with full power. A little later, the button is held down and the throttle is turned up and down a couple of times to hear the difference that makes.

This video was captured while snorkling in Costa Rica in 2008. The camera is built in to the goggles. I sometimes wish I had a gyro-stabilized head. The treat was to see the line of bluish fish swimming and the yellow pectoral fins flashing. My memory tells me the colors were much more vivid in person than in this brief view.

Relay For Life 2012. My part was to run a toy train for 1000 scale miles. I asked subscribers to pledge a penny per mile or $10. Wound up with about $350 in contributions. The train was redecorated Marx loco and cars in RFL and Seminole Ridge High School colors. In the flat cars, there were little people made of wood and paper. If you wished, I would put a name and photo of your choice on those passengers. Video uploaded from my mobile phone.

It was a very warm night in South Florida. The original date in February had been moved to a date a couple of months later. Probably not a good idea. The locos were overheating in the hot air. I had planned for that, at least a little bit, and brought along additional locos to swap out before anything sustained damage. Video uploaded from my mobile phone.

The run of 1000 scale miles required a specific number of laps around the loop. To be sure of the correct distance, I built a lap counter based on an infrared sensor from MTH. Since they also made the track, it seemed like a good fit. However, since the weather was so hot that night, the counter did not work at the start of the event. Later on that evening, the weather cooled off and the counter started working. Video uploaded from my mobile phone.

Later on in the eveing and after midnight, the weather was pleasant. The walkers, passing by as they traveled their own parts of the Relay For Life, would stop to watch the trains. It was a fun time. Video uploaded from my mobile phone.

Drag race 1/8 mile with bracket handicap. The family station wagon is much slower and has published a best speed that it should be able to match. The hot rod is faster and has published a much lower minimum time for the 1/8th mile race. The yellow staging lights at the top of the 'Christmas Tree' indicate when the race can start. The wagon gets a head start based on the difference in the published speeds. At the end, the green light goes on to indicate that the hot rod won the race.

Another race using the bracket handicap system. These are two fast cars with nearly matching published times. So, the handicap difference is small.