The O Scale layout is found on the north patio of the AMRS building and is the first display most visitors
see when approaching the building entrance.

The table is approximately 25’ x 7’ feet and the intended feel is more of a department store/toy store
window feel, rather than trying to cram lifelike detail for a large scale into a limited area.
The table contains 3 main circular loops using Lionel Fastrack. The first loop is an extended oval and is a
mix of O72 and O84 curvature at either end, which allows us to run most of the largest O scale
locomotives available. The second loop is a solid O72 radius, which allows us to run non-articulated O72
trains as well. The second loop is now connected to the third loop via a crossover right smack in the
middle of the viewing north side of the table. The third loop has an O36 end at the east side of the oval
with an O48 end at the west side.

There is now a reversing loop at the east side of the layout, which encompasses a carnival scene. To the
west end, there is a working oil field with a and a newly completed switchyard. Both scenes flank the
central downtown area of “Sid City”, where a trolley runs back and forth from a Coca-Cola plant on the
east side to the oil field on the west side using traditional tubular track in front of the town.
All trains can be run on the layout with a conventional Lionel transformer, but recent upgrades have
allowed the members to run locomotives using Lionel TMCC through the Base 3 module. Also, the MTH
DCS system has now been linked to the display so any DCS capable engines are able to be run in that
manner. Setup at the start of each day allows us the flexibility to select which loops will be DCS and
which will be TMCC at our choosing.

Most of the table is run for O “Scale” (1:48) engines in cars, and there is an additional 4’ x 8’ table to the
east under construction to run more of the postwar “0-27” (1:52) types of trains.
The group generally runs Saturdays from 9 am to noon, and Sundays during the spring from 11am to
2pm. Summer heat ends the Sunday sessions and moves the Saturday sessions earlier to a 7 to 10am
timeframe in order to beat the heat.

Stop by, say hello, ask questions, and relive some of the nostalgia of a parent’s (or grandparent’s) train
set of yore.