An O gauge ride on the Reading
A three-rail tribute to a fallen flag
Len Smith, whose O gauge layout pays tribute to the Reading, likes to ask viewers how they first discovered his favorite among the fallen flags of postwar America. People who had grown up in Pennsylvania or New Jersey after World War II might have glimpsed a Reading freight train carrying anthracite coal or maybe ridden a Reading streamliner into Philadelphia. Anyone who, like Len, had played with American Flyer trains as a kid might recall his or her S gauge set including an Atlantic steam engine and tender or a little caboose marked for the Reading.
Then Len concedes the inevitable point: “Most people remember the Reading because it was one of the four railroads on the Monopoly board.” He’s right. Only because the railroad served Atlantic City, the locale of the famous board game, did millions of baby boomers “Take a ride on the Reading.” Len’s 24 x 27-foot display offers a tour of that well-publicized line.
Dual-gauge in the attic
Len hardly required a Monopoly set to understand the importance of the old Reading Co. Marvin Gardens and Waterworks might have baffled him as a kid, but the presence and activity of the Reading,
with its diesels painted a distinctive shade of green and its hoppers transporting tons of coal, were not mysteries while he came of age in Morgantown, Pa.
The fact that Len’s top train as a boy was a Flyer freight might also have been responsible for reinforcing the prominence of the Reading to him. He and his brother, Bruce, collaborated with their father on an around-the-walls dual-gauge model railroad in the family attic. Sheets of plywood were reinforced along the perimeter of the dank room. Then Len became chief executive of the
S gauge network serving as the outermost loop. His brother handled the O gauge line with switches put inside the tworail route.
Still not sure
By the time Len reached adolescence, he was familiar with the different advantages and shortcomings of both S and O gauge. When he did return to the hobby, where he might end up was really an open-ended question.
Swaying his response was a major event in the life of his hometown: the opening of a hobby store by the late Norm Rhoads in the 1970s. An enthusiastic advocate for model railroading, Norm rekindled Len’s passion for miniature trains by showing him the HO scale layout in Norm’s shop.
Len decided to construct an HO layout at home. His wife, Lana, failed to understand what the fuss was about, but would never stand in the way of her husband. Neither would their children, Brad and Kristin. So, Len was free to move forward and create an HO railroad.
Good as the layout seemed to be, something was missing for Len. He just sensed the trains ought to be bigger and run on track with three rails and not two. Before too many years had passed, he had torn down the HO layout and taken the first steps toward constructing what would be the very first O gauge model railroad he could claim as his own. Lionel trains reigned supreme on it.
Different roads
Len agrees that it’s rather funny how Norm Rhoads, a fellow whose last name suggested streets or highways, did much to influence his involvement with trains. Norm’s influence was felt again when he invited Len and three friends to help build an O gauge layout in his basement.
Later still, roads of a different kind would have an even greater impact on Len and his family while strengthening his commitment to model railroading.
The small town where Len had come of age and then settled has long been dominated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike. So just imagine how Len and Lana felt when the commission overseeing that thoroughfare made an offer on their home!
Len admits, “It was tough having to leave.” He had been making progress on a 14 x 20-foot O gauge railroad. Track was in place, and scenery and structures were nearly complete. Now, it would be gone!
Perhaps the chief consolation for Len came after Lana and he had finally found a new place to call home. The key attraction for him was the large and clean basement there, perfect for another 3-rail display.
Lana, realizing how important the opportunity to build a new O gauge layout would be for her husband, generously turned over much of the open area downstairs to him. She and their children became Len’s loudest cheerleaders.
No hesitation
Maybe because the process of being uprooted from their longtime home was fairly traumatic, Len had no wish to delay launching work on a new railroad. There didn’t seem to be any benefits to waiting, even if he might have devoted the time to reading more hobby publications and accumulating more planning ideas.
Before long, Len and his brother, Bruce, were collaborating with their father on an around-thewalls dualgauge model railroad in the family attic.
sought to replicate the lines that had brought coal to various industries. The mix of coal and railroads opened the door for Len to model the Reading Co.
Getting down to work meant erecting open-grid and cookie-cutter types of benchwork to support the solid foundation. Len fashioned out of 2 x 3s and 2 x 4s the elementary framework supporting the sections of ¾-inch-thick plywood.
Cork roadbed went on next, followed by smooth networks of O gauge track made by Atlas O. The realistic appearance, notably the contour of the metal rails and the wood ties, greatly appealed to Len.
Satisfaction with what Atlas O offered extended to its turnouts. Len went with that brand and operated the switches with machines from Atlas. As a final note, he pointed out his reliance on momentary push buttons for activating them.
Hills are alive
Modeling the landforms of the Keystone State began with Len and Rob carving pieces of pink extruded insulation foam until they had the shapes and contours desired. They compared their handiwork against what they saw in photographs as well as what Len remembered observing.
Once satisfied with the foundation, Len glued the pieces in place and then prepared to color them. He relied on flat shades of commercial brown paint.
While the covering was still wet, Len sprinkled on textures and hues of grasses from Scenic Express and Woodland Scenics. He glued hedges from Noch and bushes from Woodland Scenics. In a few spots, he substituted medium and coarse types of ballast from the latter firm.
Trees were essential, and Len refused to skimp on them. He selected a wide assortment of miniature trees put out by Grand Central, Scenic Express, and Woodland Scenics. He also fabricated some of his own trees using goldenrod.
Another realistic scenic effect was a small pond. Len carved out the bottom from the extruded insulation foam and then painted. “Woodland Scenics puts out some excellent materials for modeling water,” he explained, “and I’ve made good use of what they sell. Then I add debris.”
Finally, there were the roads. Black roofing material, which contractors insert beneath wood shingles, served as an easy method for making rural highways and urban streets. Len finished by pressing automotive pinstriping on the simulated blacktop. Both the yellow and white stripes looked fantastic for the dozens of vehicles.
Take a smooth ride
Turning over the Chance card in Monopoly instructing you to “Take a ride on the Reading” suggested to Len that passenger service must be the best. Besides laying the track with care, he and two hobby buddies (Bob Berkley and Bill Sharman) made sure to wire everything correctly.
Len started by installing two no. Z-4000 transformers from MTH. They were going to handle the trains while vintage Lionel power sources (types KW and ZW from the postwar era) would take care of the juice needed by Lionel and MTH block signals, crossing gates, highway flashers, signal bridges, and street and yard lights being planned by Len.
Designating a couple of powerful MTH transformers for the trains made good sense to Len for two primary reasons. First, the vast majority of his motive power came from the MTH cataloged line. Second, he was intending to install the Digital
Mental images of life in the 1950s and ’60s would guide Len as he sought to replicate the lines that had brought coal to various industries.
Command System pioneered by MTH as his mode of command control.
As Len described it, his layout featured a block system to run the track and various signals. There were 28 blocks on the main lines and sidings. All of them used detectors from Dallee Electronics. “Blocks are used,” Len stated, “for signaling and so were controlled through a Track Interface Unit (TIU) by MTH.”
Feeder wires reached each and every one of the blocks. Len opted for 18-gauge wire for that purpose. Thinner 22-gauge handled the connections to light up the structures and carry current to illuminate various lights, signals, and lamps.
In retrospect, Len considers the ease and consistency of operating all the trains as a tribute to what he had learned during long conversations with Norm Rhoads. Putting that information into practice on the O gauge layout built at Norm’s home made so much of the wiring easier for Len and his friends many years later.
Plan and be flexible
Having a plan proved to be crucial for Len. He studied every aspect before launching construction on his O gauge Reading layout. “You can’t assess each stage of work enough,” he declared. “My friends and I investigated the electronics and scenery in depth and made sure the wiring for the blocks was absolutely correct.”
Then Len quickly adds with a slight laugh, “But no plan is perfect, which is why you have to stay flexible!” No matter how much preparation you do and how many potential problems you try to anticipate, stuff will arise that challenges you. That happened fairly often, and we had to stay focused and confident.”
Just relax and get ready to make a few changes. “Flexibility is vitally important,” Len said. “There’s nothing wrong with taking your time, looking at all your options, and proceeding with a relaxed attitude. Be sure to get friends involved,” he advised. “You want to do everything you can to have plenty of fun and laugh.”
Each stage of construction has turned out to be more enjoyable than Len had thought possible, even scenery. He looks ahead to modifying the main town on his layout, its downtown, in particular. Widening the diameters of the main lines sounds as though it will also be a priority. Until then, however, Len vows to keep finding enjoyment and sharing the fun of riding on the Reading.