We are a 40' x 120' HO Scale layout featuring a large main line run, with a narrow gauge line, trolley, line, logging branch, steel mill, and numerous industrial tracks. Our 40' x 120' HO Scale (1/87 scale) model train layout operates every 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month from 1-4pm; every Sunday between Thanksgiving and New Years. When the club first began in the late-1970s the layout operated s
trickly Pennsylvania Railroad and New Haven Railroad equipment. In time the layout diversified to include Penn Central and Conrail, and now all railroads, past and present, can be seen operating on any given day. Thanks to our New Haven and PRR roots the layout is based on Connecticut and Pennsylvania and includes a scale replica of the Bon Amis Building (home to Time Machine Hobbies and the SCMRRC), a recreation of Main Street in Mancherster, CT circa 1950 including the Cheney Silk Mills, and a near-scale replica of the world famous Horseshoe Curve located just west of Altoona, PA. Our "Main Line" operation on the layout also includes a freight classification yard, passenger terminal, trolley line, HOn3 narrow-gauge line, major locomotive servicing facility (under construction), a steel mill, a logging operation and abandoned quarry (under reconstruction), and a coal mining operation. A single,skilled operator can run the layout with at least three trains in motion. The layout contains enough wood, wire, and plaster to build a one-and-a-half story ranch-style house, and contains over one-and-one-half "actual" miles of track. We do not know how long it takes to build a layout this size because we haven't finished it yet. Driving directions:
From Hartford: Take I-84 east to Exit 63 in Manchester. At the end of the ramp go straight onto Rt. 83 south (Oakland Street). Follow Rt. 83 as it turns right onto North Main Street, then left onto Main Street. After crossing the railroad tracks, take your first right onto Hilliard Street. Time Machine Hobbies is about 1/4 mile down on the right. From Springfield, MA: Take I-91 south to I-291 east (Exit 39A) in Windsor. Take I-291 to I-84 east, follow "From Hartford" directions. From the east: Take I-384 west to Exit 3 (Rt. 83/Main Street) in Manchester. Follow Rt. 83 north (Main Street) to Hilliard Street. Left onto Hilliard, Time Machine is 1/4 mile down on the right.
