Grand Western Mining Company

James & Sally Bando

Tour Schedule

Sunday November 13, 2011 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Basement access via short lawn area

Directions

See It On The Map

From I-575, exit at the Town Lake Parkway. Go east (into downtown Woodstock). Before downtown, there is a "Y"; stay to your left and go straight through downtown Woodstock. You are now on Arnold Mill Road. Be sure to obey the speed limits as they are very strict (2 miles per hour over the limit gets you a ticket). Stay on Arnold mill road about four miles (you will pass a Mobil gas station) until you get to a traffic light (there is a Luthern Church on the corner). Make a left onto North Arnold Mill Road. Follow this curvy road about 1.26 miles to Hendon Road (there will be a magnificent horse farm with white vinyl fencing and a pink house at the corner). Turn left (north). We are the first house on the right, a single story red brick house with four white pillars set back 3oo feet from the road.

 

Layout at a Glance

Scale HO (G under Construction)
Size 4' X 7'
Prototype None
Locale Western USA mountains
Era 1900
Layout Style Old Western town with mine
Len. Mainline 15'
Layout Height 40"
Benchwork "L" Girder
Roadbed Vinyl roadbed on plywood sub roadbed
Trackwork Code 83 Flextrack
Turnout Min #4 Mainline
Min Radius 18" Mainline
Maximum Grade Steep
Scenery Mountainous, 100% complete
Backdrop None
Controls Two control cab-control
Wheelchair Accessible Yes

Our HO layout depicts a western mining town in 1900, with cowboys, horses, and even a gunfight. Grand Western Mining Company (GWMC) owns the Idalee silver mine and the Grand Western Mining Company Railroad. Major scenes on the layout include the railroad, the Idalee mine, a sawmill, a cemetery, an engine house, the town of Crystal City, Crystal River, Crystal Falls waterfall, and Riverside Park. The theme for the 2011 pilgrimage is "Buffalo Bill's Wild West." Riverside Park will depict scenes from Buffalo Bill’s extravaganza that traveled throughout the United States and Europe from 1883 through 1908. Previous riverside park lift-out scenes, the German-style resort, the Otis coal company, and last year's Civil War reunion with the "General" locomotive and President Lincoln's funeral car, will also be on display. See how lift-out scenes in Riverside Park renew interest in the layout each year. In addition to the layout, we will have activities to entertain adults and children alike, including a layout scavenger hunt and the opportunity for children to achieve the rank of Junior Conductor on the GWMC Railroad by taking the "Junior Conductor test." Educational displays include evaluations of materials used to simulate water on the layout, how to make a waterfall, how to ballast track, and evaluations of various adhesives. Railroad artifacts on display will include locomotive oil cans and railroad tools. For you circus buffs, "The Great Circus Train" by Walthers will be on display, including all 20 cars and the rare 4-6-2 "Old Milwaukee" locomotive. We have also started a “G” gauge garden layout. As of July, we have an oval installed. We will be running live steam locomotives. If you haven’t seen live steam before, stop by.


Updated: Sun Nov 13 20:54:57 2011

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