He (Todd Treaster) has a monster layout and roster. I remember seeing it featured in NSR mag years ago.
When I lived in Maryland I had the opportunity to visit Todd's place twice. The photos that ave been published do not do it justice. I even have video of trains meeting from opposing directions at that very section of track somewhere.
Todd's layout has been in N Scale Railroading magazine five times. I've visited it twice and watched three or four prototypical length trains of one hundred+ cars navigate the layout flawlessly. Several You Tube video's of the layout are available along with an interview of Todd describing coal mine operations. The interview is on DJ Trains' You Tube channel. Here is the URL: Notice in the early part of the video how the cars are loaded. Majority of the coal load is in the front of the car with an empty space at the rear. This is done on purpose as the coal which is crushed to almost powdered form is destined for a power plant where it will be blown into the boiler firebox much like fuel injection on an auto engine. As the train travels the coal will have a tendency to settle and move back in the car so that when the train arrives at the power plant the coal is about level with the top of the car. Coal trains such as this are limited to 40-45 mph as anything faster will cause the coal to be blown out of the car.
