Come Visit the Conrail New Jersey Layout
MRA EditorsDescription
When it comes to capturing the gritty industrial areas and action-packed northeastern region’s railway activity, few model railroad layouts can match the efforts of Matt Snell and Debie Baker. Model Railroad Academy’s Allen Keller visits the duo and learns how the Conrail New Jersey division portrayed in HO scale grew out of Matt’s discovery and exploration of rail lines when he was a young railfan.
It’s a 1⁄87th world of chemical plants around Newark, with heavy freight trains intermingling with high-speed commuter lines and lots of interchange traffic. The layout also features trains from Amtrak, New Jersey Transit, and Rahway Valley Railroad.
The Conrail New Jersey is designed for model railroad operations as close to the prototype as possible and follows the same operating rules as other Northeastern lines. Controlled by signals and dispatcher, the CNJ runs different sessions for day and night operations.
The benchwork is open grid, and the minimum mainline radius is 22”.
Debie has helped build and operate the 24’ x 40’ basement layout—an uncommon woman in the normally male-dominated world of model railroading. But she says the hobby has allowed her to go places and meet people she would never have had the opportunity to experience. Matt agrees that building the layout together has allowed him and Debie to develop similar interests—and have fun doing it!
Matt Snell and Debie Baker have put a lot of railroad into their basement. The Conrail New Jersey division is based on lines that Matt discovered and explored when he was a young rail fan. This is the gritty, industrial area of New Jersey, with Newark, the Northeast Corridor of chemical plants, high-speed commuter lines and lots of interchange traffic. This HO railroad is run much like the prototype in every possible way. Matt and Debie follow the Northeast operating rules that the railroads of New Jersey use. This layout is controlled by signals and dispatchers and runs with different sessions for day and night. Hi, I'm Allen Keller and this is Debie Baker and Matt Snell, the builders and operators of the Conrail New Jersey division. Debie, you're just as involved in this as Matt is. What does that mean to you? Being involved in this hobby has given me the opportunity to go a lot of places I would not have been able to go and meet a lot of interesting people. And it's also given us the opportunity to develop some similar interests and spend time together doing it. The Conrail New Jersey division occupies 24' by 40' in the basement. The bench-work is open grid with a minimum radius of 22" on the main. Besides Conrail, the layout can boast of trains from Amtrak, New Jersey Transit, and the Rahway valley. Coming out of staging, the line first appears at a well-known railfanning spot.
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