Overview of the Canandaigua Southern

The Canandaigua Southern belongs to one of the hobby's most famous, riders, rail fans, and modelers. John Armstrong is the Dean of Track Planners and the originator of many ideas and conventions that we take for granted, such as, walking with your train and only allowing a train to pass through a scene in one direction. His O scale CS has inspired many modelers to build a layout even though John has not finished his. John believes in research and development but once he has figured out how to make or do something, the challenge is gone. The Canandaigua Southern has been under construction since 1950. His structures are highly detailed, but few in number. His mammoth scratch-built locomotives are especially impressive since he built them more than fifty years ago when there were few parts, other than motors. John has be involved in the hobby for more than sixty years so he has a special viewpoint on his early history and even the latest developments. Railroading has become his life. Hi, I'm Allen Keller and this is John Armstrong, the hobby's premier track rider and the President of the Canandaigua Southern. John, as a child, were you a model railroader? Well, you know, they talk about a second childhood and I guess I still am. The Canandaigua Southern is a sixties original carrier with all of bridge traffic. John started on this O scale railroad in 1950. It has a fifty-four inch minimum radius with hand laid track. The point to point route fills a twenty-four by thirty-four foot basement. Both ends, Canandaigua and Pittsburgh are represented by the hidden loops in the center of the room. The top layered curve is actually a reverted loop. Our tour begins at the exit of that loop.