RAILFAN GUIDES of the U.S.
Railfan Guide to
the
JUNCTION VALLEY RR
and the
BRIDGEPORT MI area
It's billed as the largest quarter scale railroad in the world, and although I have nothing to compare it too, I can't imagine many other quarter size railroads packing more into a certain size area than these guys have, and let's not forget the elevated diamond!
As always, if you have something to add or correct,
it's toddgp30@yahoo.com.
Pix are from www.bing.com/maps
and aerial shots are "Snagged" with
Techsmith's Snagit!
Above, flyer for open house 2009, and below, the 2009 JV pamphlet
General Shots
The main building on the road, which is a truck repair facility. The
hobby shop is at the far left of this building.
The tower is kinda the centerpiece up at the main station
A train on the loop. It will pass by the
station area, then back into the station
The main interlocking tower "down in the valley"
If we turn around 180 degrees from the two above photos,
you get this view of the yard
On the approach to one of the many trestles
Heading down the 6% grade "into the valley", we're
adjacent to the roundhouse area
So
how do you throw one of the switches?.... with this miniature throw of
course!
Some of the trestles
Trains crossing each other at one of the trestles
The A-B-A set running around the pond
Exiting the tunnel near the picnic area
A Train coming into the picnic area station
At the Shops and Roundhouse
The roundhouse is located a little bit down the hill from the main building and hobby shop, and the owners house is located "above" it.... nice model layout to play with, huh? The shops where they fabricate everything is located behind the roundhouse and the main building.
On the turntable
Inside the shops where they make all of their equipment
Engines
Junction Valley RR has many engines. They are all patterned after the real deal, but are customized to make their construction easier. Wheels are also not prototypical, but the large flanges allow the trains to negotiate tighter changes in direction than do standard profile wheels... this is especially handy on their switches which are fairly abrupt, maybe some like a #3 or #4 turnout.
An A-B-A set, you could say they are loosely patterned
after the Alco FA's
Inside one of the cabs, there is a fair amount of room
inside of most of them
The innards to one of the engines.
Rolling Stock
You name it, they have built it... well almost everything anyways, but they do have a large variety of cars and cabooses!
An air operated dump car that they use to ballast the
tracks
Just enough room inside for small adults! :-)
You saw this photo earlier
with the bi-level car in it....
It shows the building expertise these guys have...... they do not run this
car :-(
Signals
Although not many of the signals functions as trains pass by and then disappear into another block, they nevertheless add a realistic atmosphere, and are very well done!
Aerial Shots of the Property
NEW 07/21/2009
Last Modified
22-Nov-2011