Has anyone been to Northlandz? Is it HO scale? Is it worth seeing? It is really the largest MRR in the world? Just wondering as a future episode of "Tracks Ahead" will feature Northlandz. I visited their website and didn't really get a good feel for it.
I've never been there, but I've heard it is pretty good over all, but there are a lot of scenes that are not very prototypical. They also use cheap, unrealistic equipment (Mantua F7's and GP20's). I believe it is still the largest model railroad though.
I hear that HO scale trains run around actual 15 foot high mountains making it look rather out of scale to say the least! It must be an experience though. Good for kids I imagine. One good thing is the nearby Black River and Western RR. Also, the New Hope RR. I rode both before the "CRAZYLAND RAILROAD" opened! Unless I go back to ride them again, the model railroad is not on my list of things to do right now. I've been thinking about going there but I'd rather see something like Roadside America in Shartelsville, Pa. or the Choo Choo Barn in Strasburg. On a side note, since you live in New England, ever been to the COLE LAND TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM in Bangor, Maine? HUH! WOW! It isn't a layout but a collection of antique trucks and cars and other things that will boggle the mind!!!!!!! On a scale of 1 to10 it's a 20!!!!!!!! Just curious to know if anyone has seen it.
I've been to Nothlandz, and enjoyed it. As stated earlier, the trains are of the plastic toy train variety (donated by Mantua), and the scenery is not super detailed but it's still WAY impressive! Dizzying actually. It's so huge that the trains do look small, but just the sheer size and scope of this mans undertaking is inspiring. He also has a full scale propane burning engine/layout outside that you can ride, as well as a concert hall with a giant pipe organ that he gives concerts in throughout the day. He made his money in computer programming (games I think) in Silicon Valley, and now is fulfilling his dreams. Who of us has not dreamed? He dreamt of building the world's largest train layout. And he did it. He loves to play the organ, so he built himself a concert hall and gives free concerts. He wanted to operate his own full scale train, so he built one! This guy's a hero! If you are in the area, you gotta go.
Yes Bruce, if you have a chance to see the Northlandz (Nordlandz) layout, by all means do so! You will enjoy it! There are also other places to visit, so plan a vacation to the area if possible. Now, may I respectfully suggest that we not criticize certain rolling stock made by a manufacturer just because it may not meet our own personal perceived requirements of perfection? The scenery was not intended to replicate specific prototypes down to the number of leaves on a certain bush, but to give a "feel" for the scope of mountain railroading in HO gauge. The manufacturer made his product for mass sale to the general public aimed at the toy market to entertain children for the sole purpose of making enough profit to remain in business. As a child we were thrilled to death to receive any kind of toy, especially something that resembled a train that would actually run on a track. Yes the layout is quite a sight, also probably the largest non-modular model railroad in HO size. One may do well to research the dimensions involved in Colorado at the "Royal Gorge" swinging bridge, down to the railroad tracks below in that canyon! Or consider the 3,000 foot deep "Grand Canyon of the Gunnison" that had a railroad at its bottom. Keep in mind that even in N scale, fifteen feet is only about a half a scale mile! In HO scale, fifteen feet may not be accurate, but it does present the visitor with a sense of what real life railroading actually looks like out in those mountains. One must keep in mind that the display was not made to please any one person, but rather as entertainment for children, visitors, and his own personal pleasure, regardless of cost, detail, scale, or whether someone is ready to "cast the first stone." Perhaps it could be quite entertaining for all the members to view something to equal or exceed the layout in their own private building for their own use? I could learn to live with it! I could probably bring myself to set my articulated engines and reefers out and run "The Salad Bowl Express" full throttle for New York on a layout of that size, and maybe even enjoy it for a few more years. I for one would enjoy hearing the man play some Circus music like "The Man on the Flying Trapeze" , or "Tubular Bells" on his big Theater Organ, and take a group of school kids to see "the Trains" and watch their faces as they walk in for the first time! By the way, Mantua engines were one of the best made all metal products available to us until TYCO came along and went to plastic. I will agree that the plastic engines are not of the same quality as the heavy pullers we had before the plastic invasion.
I have been to Northlandz and enjoyed it very much. I don't believe it was ever intended to depict anything strictly from the real world, but, rather, one person's delightful combination of fantasy and realism. Go there. Have fun and lots of laughs. This display was designed for fun and there are many hidden visual jokes for you. Considering the size, I would consider the workmanship to be very good. There are things for a nit picker to find, but I wonder if that was not intentional in some cases, considering the humor found throught the display. Have fun.
Isn't this what the whole model railroad world is supposed to be about in the first place? The only place in the world that NorthLandz is supposed to replicate is Northlandz! How about that! And the people in Northlandz have chosen to buy freelanced railstock that is cheap and puts function over form...Hey, in freelancing, there are NO real world Prototypes!!! And by that idea, a little work and ANY car or locomotive that fits into the 3.5 mm to a foot scale tolerence works! If you are a rivet counter, or a prototype expert, then you can count Northlandz out. If you want to see the freedom available to you within this hobby, enjoy the trip...and take a couple hours to see everything. And let that help you when you want to go and create that world nobody has every seen. The only rulse that exist in model railroad freelancing are those rules you put up yourself. There is nothing wrong with a world built like a Dr. Suess or other such children book illustration...makes things most interesting. I think it would do ALOT of parents a whole lot of good if they tried a little harder to explore the awesome potential of the supposedly "child's" fantasy world instead of scoffing everytime they see something that is "impossible in this world." I have seen pictures of this layout....once i get out that way in this world, it is on my stop list. [ 03. September 2002, 04:28: Message edited by: Benny ]
Benny and Watash, I could not have said it better myself!! Model trains are an escape, my own world. If I want super realism I will just go railfanning! Russ
