Franklin Range Division n scale layout?

Model railroading in all scales and gauges. HO talk welcome :)
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DaveO
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Franklin Range Division n scale layout?

Unread post by DaveO »

Is that the name of what is(was?) the large traveling n scale layout that went to various shows?
What group was the owner?

I remember it being a pretty nice setup for shows.

GreatLakesRailfan
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Re: Franklin Range Division n scale layout?

Unread post by GreatLakesRailfan »

That's the right name. It was built by 3 members of the Blue Water International Ntrak club in the mid-90's as an alternate to Ntrak after a dominating club member had sucked the joy out of Ntrak (according to one of the original 3). The layout was named after the streets the original 3 lived on at the time and some of the construction stories I've heard are kind of amazing.

Even though it was built by Blue Water International Ntrak club members, it's not a club layout. The operating group is mostly a combination of people who enjoy setting the layout up and operating it with each other. The layout is a show layout, so it only gets setup for shows. It lives in a trailer in my driveway the rest of the time.

The layout was built long before I got into N scale, but my understanding is that it has elements of a couple different modular systems, including Ntrak and Freemo. It's a full 10" taller than Ntrak, which makes it a pain for little kids to be able to fully appreciate since we don't have a viewing platform of any type. It's built to the 2x4 and plaster covered chicken wire standard, so it's heavy, but manageable when we have a full crew for setup and tear down. Because it lives in a trailer, it's not as easy to maintain outside of when it's set up and COVID and work schedules have hindered our ability to set it up much the past couple years. We did do Railfans Weekend at Crossroads Village back in August, which was the first time it was out of the trailer in 2 years.

The base layout is 20' x 40'. It can be expanded up to a whole lot larger (the full size is escaping me at the moment), depending on the space and time available. We don't get many opportunities to set it up anymore, partly because of the lack of train shows on this side of the state and partly due to size and scheduling issues. Our club has a growing T-Trak faction, which is a lot easier on aging joints and doesn't require a large dedicated storage trailer. The FRD isn't dead, it's just limited by the factors I mentioned above.

Sorry DaveO, I'm guessing that's a lot more information than you were looking for- I wasn't expecting to see a thread about the FRD this morning, but I appreciate the mention and if 80mac (one of the original 3) sees this, I'm sure he'll appreciate your comment as well.
~ Charles W.

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DaveO
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Re: Franklin Range Division n scale layout?

Unread post by DaveO »

Thank you, I wasn't expecting that much of answer but truly appreciate it.
I've been thinking about resuming show visits and the FRD is one layout I would like to see in person again.
But it will be sometime until I can drive safely due to shoulder surgery.

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