Railway of the Month
The Phillips & Rangeley Garden Railway

It somehow seems appropriate that Steve King's P&R hilltop railroad be featured in this first Newsletter. Steve produced the 7/8n2 NEWSLETTER which motivated me to start the 7/8" scale email list and, with the help of I.B. DeBoss, to found the Guild. Steve is truly one of the founding fathers of 7/8" scale.

Steve's railroad is unusual in many ways but is essentially a large oval about 330' in diameter which surrounds a small knoll in Steve's yard. The knoll is heavily wooded and contains a small abandoned graveyard. Part of the track is at ground level, part along a stonewall built into the side of the knoll, and part elevated on posts. The elevated section contains a small yard, a 6' long car storage building, and a scale 45' turntable. Plans are in the works for a major extension in the future.

Since the railroad is based on Maine prototypes and practices, nothing is really small on Steve's 7/8" scale P&R. Steve uses code 250 painted, aluminum rails attached to the ties by home made staples that are inserted up from the bottom through predrilled holes and are then bent down over the base of the rail to hold it in place.

Steve modified a Roundhouse live steam engine and created the SR&RL No 6 Forney. His extensive collection of Maine style cars is impressive. Charlie Lix could build an entire 18" gauge railway on top of a string of 28' flat cars since each one is about 27" long over the couplers. Enjoy the photos below - Editor

The Forney crosses a short trestle

No 6 steams into the yard

The Raised Yard with Steve and Tom Eagles (standing)

The long trestle

Approaching the framework of Rangeley Station

On June 8th & 9th, Steve will host his fourth invitational meet for 7/8" scale at his home near Rocky Mount, VA. Contact him directly at seven8n2@aol.com or (540) 483-9230 M-F, 9-5 Eastern for an invitation and reservation information. This year, a night run will be added to two days of running and swapping of ideas and techniques.