Modeling

Members of the Hudson Valley Railroad Society model in many scales. We have enthusiasts who model in N, HO, and O gauges. The former baggage room has a number of small N gauge layouts.

One of our N-gauge layouts is the well-known Kingston New York layout, made by Mike Rourke, which was featured in Great Model Railroads 2000. This layout has scratch-built replicas of many well-known structures in the Kingston area. It was made to showcase New York Ontario and Western operations. The Kingston NYO&W train station is modeled in complete detail.

A major feature of the Hyde Park Station is our large HO layout, located in the upper level above the former baggage room. We can run multiple DCC-controlled locomotives. The layout features a rail yard, bridges, tunnels, two levels of running, and realistic buildings from the steam era to modern.

February 2005: WE CONTINUE TO UPDATE THE HO LAYOUT. Come on out on a Monday night to see what we are doing!

On the upper level, there is a yard that we based on the CNE's Smith Street yard in the City of Poughkeepsie. Trains have been running through it for several summers now. Details include buildings that model Poughkeepsie-area industries; trackside service structures; train sheds; streets and vehicles; and realistic trees and ground cover.

Reconstruction continues on the lower section of the HO layout. We are now able to run 3 trains at a time on 3 non-intersecting loops, all controlled by our new DCC control system. New buildings are also in place, including several train stations, a roundhouse, and industries on service sidings. Many of the tracks have been ballasted.

We are running the most recent DCC-controlled locomotives, which include realistic sound effects. Both steam and diesel locomotives run freight and passenger trains around our layout. Jeff Armstrong has assembled a wonderfully detailed circus train. Look for the elephants!

A favorite feature of our HO layout is our TrainCam. This working color video camera system allows you to see the layout from the tracks, just as if you were an HO-sized engineer running your own train down our tracks. The camera uses a special 120-degree wide-angle lens, which shows the view much better than other traincam systems. Recently, Larry Laliberte installed a rail power take-off system that continuously powers the camera. This eliminates batteries. Now the camera will always be running when visitors come by!

Due to the outside-the-room arrangement of our layout, the traincam almost always shows scenery and backdrops. We have updated our backdrops to make the layout look more like the Hudson Valley.

MORE TO COME.