Construction of the HO scale model railroad display began in 1991. As with most model railroad displays, there is always more work to do. Per the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) Kalmbach Memorial Library, the SLHRS has the largest HO scale helix in the United States both in height and in diameter.
There is over 4,000 feet of track on 3 levels, dozens of switches, and miles of wiring that have been installed by society members. It takes about 30 minutes for a train to travel the entire length of the display at scale speed. Most locomotives and rolling stock are membership owned and cared for.
The HO scale display represents the Southern Pacific Overland Route from here in San Leandro through a variety of cities along the way through to Reno/Sparks, Nevada. This route can be followed today by taking Amtrak from Oakland to the station in Reno. Of special note represented centrally in the display is the icing platform in Roseville that was used to supply the cars for the Pacific Fruit Express trains, the Alameda Mole, and the Snowsheds of Donner Pass and Emigrant Gap.
We were featured in a TSG Multimedia Layout Tour Video (filmed March 2017):
3 thoughts on “HO Scale Display”
Comments are closed.