"Solid Rock Railroad", an incredible achievement

They are two wonderful people in our hobby. Congratulations to both.

Alex, thanks so much for your good words. We enjoyed having you and Judy come and visit us....by the way, our home is always open to you all.

 

I think that Vern did a great job on the photos and the words. Without him, this layout would NEVER have come to completion....it would still be on a ping pong table.

 

I would never try to dig this crawl space out again, but now I can enjoy this wonderful hobby.

Roger,

   Real nice, enjoy your layout!

PCRR/Dave

Congratulations Roger you the man!!!

Very nice article.

Congratulations to Roger and Vern !!!!!!!!!

 

Alex

I want to thank you all...Brian, Dave, Don, Spence, GrampsTrains, & Alex M. on your kind words. Those kind words from you all, my peers make the digging and hard work worth while.

 

I learned a lot from everyone on this forum on a lot of different things. From scenery, trackage, ballast, structure building, etc. This forum is the BEST place for the O gauge hobby. Thanks again for your kind words and I hope you all have a great Holiday weekend coming up.

 

And we hope to make it to York this October to meet more of you.

 

 

Roger,

Roger your layout is amazing as was the article by Mr. Hart. I would love to see more photos of this layout.

 

Brad

Brad,

Thanks for your kind words. I have had several folks e-mail me wanting more photos, I will try to post more photos here later today. Thanks for your request.

 

Roger - Love your layout and the story about it.  I have seen pictures of your layout from time to time on the forum and would love to see more.  It was a great article in the magazine, but left me too wanting to see more pictures of the layout.  The magazine pictures were all closeups and didn't give us a sense of the layout's scenery or scope.

 

Art

Alex, Thanks for posting this thread about Roger's article in OGR.

 

And Roger, the article was a very interesting read, and all the more so because I had met you at York. It was enjoyable to learn of such a determined effort by you to eventually play with your trains in your own home. (Of course, one photo in particular gave me quite a good feeling, and I was tickled to see it made the cut.) Congratulations on your victory and on being presented in OGR !

FrankM.

I read Roger's Web site thoroughly a year or two ago, and had to email him at the time about how impressed I was.  I know of guys who have dug out crawl spaces for layouts, and one fellow who dug out a whole basement starting on his stomach with a searving spoon.  But cutting through rock I'd unbelievable!

 

the layout itself is fantastic in its own right.  Thank you OGR for publishing this article that gives more insight!

 

Thank you Roger for the inspiration to build a layout and the inspiration of the double meaning of your layout name!

Just read OGR.....

"Solid Rock Railroad" is a unique and outstanding layout. Most unique is the owner who was equally adept at digging his model railway right-of-way with a pick and shovel and, building the motors at Level Cross Shops to help Richard Petty win a record 200 NASCAR races.

 

Look forward to seeing more photos of the Frisco operations.  

Amazing layout Roger.

OK, here are a few photos, but bad quality as I have taken most with an iphone.

Some have ask about the size...the first layout is 13' x 17' and the main part that is under the house is 46' x 30'

 

If you right click on a picture and then click "open link in new window", you will get a full scene shot that will give a lot of detail...  Hope you enjoy and I appreciate you taking the time to look.

 

Now some of the photos from down under:

 

 

 

 

And now for the smaller layout that we call the John Deere Room:

 

If these are too many photos, I am sorry. If you want more, please let me know.

Perfect timing, Alex, for posting this - I received Run 279 yesterday and just read the article on Solid Rock Railroad article this morning.

Vern, nice job on the article - it's a fun read.

Roger, what a creative use of a crawl space area, and kudos to you for undertaking your 2 year excavation project.  The results are amazing.  In the overview pictures that you shared, I like your control panels, the lighting effects that you have, the backdrops all around, and the hot air balloon. Great job!  Enjoy your layout.

beautiful layout!

Frank, Jim -

 

You are very welcome.

 

The first time I saw Roger's layout, I was in awe. Then, when I learned the story behind it, which took more than one visit to take it all in with both Roger and Vern adding details, I wanted to tell the world about it.

 

Needless to say, all my neighbors and many of our guests have heard about Roger's layout and the saga of getting it built. Rebecca, my young neighbor who has helped me with my layout (OGR Run 263, pg 68), has asked me to take her along to see Roger's layout.

 

The best word to describe Roger's and Vern's work: Inspiring.

 

Alex

Just read the article last night. An amazing layout in all respects!

Read this article when it came out.  That is one fine looking layout you have there Roger.  Mighty fine indeed!

A very impressive layout.  Congrats.

Congratulations Roger!

The article and photos, including the recent ones you posted here, present a great story of the Rock Solid Railroad (it could have been called "The Dugout Layout").

 

I'm sure all visitors will walk away smiling for hours.

Again, Congratulations and Happy 4th.

Ted

 

PS

My deck is up, just laid about 30 feet of track and put on a Rio Grande cattle car to see how it tracks.  Your railroad and a few others are truly inspiring.

Roger, just read your article in OGR and I must say that its an impressive layout, even your bank of Lionel PowerHouses. The detailing is first class. Congratulations on the OGR spread.

Thanks to SantaFe Jim, Ted and Paparay for all of your kind words. Your kind words really mean a lot to me. This forum is what inspired me to make my layout. Thanks again and I hope you all have a great 4th Holiday. One more photo below:

 

 

Roger,

 

I am glad to see your layout in OGR and receiving the exposure it deserves.  I too have had the pleasure of seeing your layout as part of an Alan Arnold layout tour a couple of years ago. I really enjoyed the article in OGR. Your layout is indeed one of the O gauge layout "Wonders of the World."

 

Happy and safe 4th of July to all,

 

Richard

Hi Richard, yes I do remember you all coming by. I am like everyone else on this forum....I love to show off my little baby.

 

Thanks for your compliments and I hope that you all have a great 4th Holiday.

I have been checking out your site and the photos of the progress from the start...Very impressive!

 

Jeff Davis

Thanks Jeff, yes my website shows the construction I had to go thru to get this done. But I think that Vernon Hart did a great job on the article.