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The layouts were placed in the CG & E lobby with one end next to the large plate glass windows that went across the front of the lobby. Therfore, the display could be viewed from the Fourth Street even during non business hours. For more information about this location, click here. I would enjoy the display so much that
I could watch it for hours while my mother did her Christmas shopping.
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Close up of the descriptive plaque of the Cincinnati Gas & Electric O scale layout. |
Descriptive plaques of the layout were placed near the 4th Street entrances in the CG & E lobby. (See the photo at the left.) The layout was first displayed for the 1946 Christmas season and reflected the state of the art in railroading and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in particular.
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The steam to diesel transition era can be observed in this photo. |
The yard end of the Cincinnati Gas & Electric O scale layout. |
The "O" gauge display measured 20 feet by 45 feet long.
The control panel and the maintenance bench was located near the yard end of the layout and was manned by volunteer CG & E employees. The "HO" display was slightly smaller and is no longer displayed in Cincinnati.
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The people near the yard end of the O scale layout are watching the trains from outdoors through the large plate glass windows. |
A signal bridge is mid-way through the large bend in the three track mainline as it passes the yard end of the layout. |
This layout is the most realistic of any that I have seen. I was able to appreciate the prototypical accuracy more than I had before because the April before this visit to the CG & E layout in 1982, I was hired by General Railway Signal Company as an electronic technician. As I went about my duties around the plant, many prototype signaling components were viewable. Later in my tenure at General Railway I was able to work on the control and signaling circuits.
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A close-up photo of one of the signal bridges that span the mainline of this layout. |
There is a large bend in the three track mainline as it passes the yard end of the layout. |
This visit to the CG & E layout was a family event. The gentleman at the left in these photos is my brother, Gordon, who is holding his first born, Amy. The lady at his right is his wife, Kathy. My father, Bill, my son Robby and I appear in the photo below. My wife, Sharon took the photos that appear in this frame.
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This suburban station is across the mainline from the yard end of the layout. |
A circus train is a big hit on any layout. |
This is a photo of the lenght of the layout. My father, in the black hat, myself and my son, Robby in the red coat are watching the trains. The gentleman wearing the white sweat shirt and an engineer's cap is the layout's engineer. |
A close-up of the suburban station in the photo above. |
These large decorations are in the center of the layout. |
Following my enlistment in the US Air Force, I found employment in upstate New York and I had not returned to the Cincinnati area at Christmas in more than twenty years. Therefore, I was eager to share this Christmas tradition from my youth with my son, Robby.
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In this photo, I share with Robby about various American Flyer items on display. |
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In the above left photo, the large decorations in the center of the layout were possible because except for a couple of reverse loops on both the main and elevated levels that criss crossed the center of the layout, it was an open area.
Beside the floor space that the layout occupied, there was still plenty of room around the perimeter of the lobby for showcases and small layouts. The remainder of the photos in this frame are of the displays and showcases that show what is available in various scales of model railroading.
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The layout in this photo is "N" scale.
The blue train in the foreground is American Flyer "S" gauge. |
The large locomotive in this photo is a live steam model. The passenger train in the foreground is "HO" scale. |
"Z" scale is the smallest Commercially available scale. |
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Duke Energy Holiday Train Display at the Cincinnati History Museum | Holiday Trains | Return to Trains Homepage.
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