One of the largest O scale model railway layouts in North America: Model Railroad Club of Toronto

After watching European model railroad layouts on Pilentum Television’s KZbin Channel, it is time to discover model trains from North America, namely from Canada. We do not explore a small train diorama in this video, however, we discover one of the largest model railway layouts in O scale, built by the Model Railroad Club of Toronto. All aboard! Let’s discover the famous Central Ontario Railway during a cab ride video layout tour.
The Model Railroad Club of Toronto was founded 1938 by Borden Lilley and Harry Ebert, originally meeting and building a model railroad layout in Harry’s basement. Quickly outgrowing this space, they obtained a large space in 1939 on the 4th floor of Toronto Union Station. During the next six years they built a fairly decent model rail layout with the scarce materials available during the wartime years. In 1946, with railway business expanding, the Union Station needed more space and asked the Club to vacate their premises. With Harry Ebert in the real estate business, it was discovered that a local factory site was now vacant and would be an ideal space. Measuring 40’ by 120’ the Club moved in to 37 Hanna Avenue and stayed there for the next 67 years.
The O scale layout was originally built to the then standard outside third rail, however, with a rebuilding of the layout in the early 1960s, the decision was made to move to two rail. Over the next 50 years, the Club built a large layout featuring over 6000’ of hand-laid track, featuring two full yard facilities complete with passenger, freight and engine facilities. Connecting the two main towns (named “Lilleyburg” and “Ebertville” after the founders) was over 10 scale miles (1100’) of mainline running. Numerous towns and industries dotted the railroad mainline providing a vast amount of on line traffic to simulate fully a Canadian railroad albeit in miniature. The time era has been early 1960s which was the final days of mainline steam in Canada.
The Club has remained on the forefront of model railroad trends, having designed a point to point railroad featuring full operation by fast clock system for timetable passenger operation, paper waybills for freight operations and fully operational signals. With a large 5000 square feet layout, efforts were made to create walk around control systems to permit the engineer to stay with their train long before this sort of thing was commercially available. Further developments involved integrating a “Commodore 64” to run the signal system and interlocking logic, eventually paving the path to full PC based computer integration. Signalling, block and throttle assignments, entrance and exit logic was all integrated into the system.
In 2012, the Club’s 24 members received the unfortunate but inevitable news that Toronto’s relentless building boom had reached the former factory district where it was located. Notice was given to vacate the premises in early 2013. New space was secured in Toronto’s east end, and after much ceremony and national news coverage, the model railroad layout was dismantled and significant components saved and moved. Since 2013, the Club has rebuilt using those components and now again features a large O scale model railroad, now the largest model railroad in Canada!
New technology continues to be embraced, with the transition to full DCC, complete model railroad computer control using Java Model Railroad Interface (JMRI) and walk-around control using the “WiThrottle” Application for iPhone and iPad. Recently the Club has installed staging yards to provide 1100’ of storage, enough for 22 full length model trains. Total trackage is now over 5000’ with over 300 electrically controlled turnouts, and 50 manual turnouts. Over 70 on line industries provide for interesting freight operations. Passenger trains run via timetable fast clock. The train layout is fully signalled using the prototypic Canadian Railway Operating rules circa 1962. There are about 700 freight cars, 100 passenger cars, and 80 locomotives on the O scale layout. Central Ontario locomotives power most trains, however interchange traffic and traffic rights over certain sections of the mainline allows for CNR and CPR power to be seen too.
The Club’s 24 members meet regularly on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday throughout the year. Monthly operating sessions are usually scheduled for a Saturday complete with a catered lunch. Lots of fun with the layout keeping 15 or more operators busy. Also, the Club has regular Public Shows, which has been a Toronto favourite. Visitors are welcome! Please visit the Club’s website.
The Model Railroad Club of Toronto
www.modelrailroadclub.com
Pilentum Television
www.pilentum.org

[@massmike11]

That the first two rail O I have seen in a long time. It looks great.

[@VanGreen28]

The pictures shown during the long tunnels are an excellent treat. 👍🏼😊🚂

[@pilentum]

Thank you!

[@RemyJacqueminVerguet]

Superbe réseau, merci pour la balade.

[@andyfiala7500]

Beautiful details! 😉👍💺

[@tracksidemike]

Very nice ride along layout looks fantastic thanks for the great share. Thanks 👍🏻🔔🚂😎 TSM

[@christinelatex]

splendide très belle maquette sur plusieurs étages très bien décoré ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@frankkie3849]

Nice details and layout, thanks for showing us.

[@pilentum]

Thanks for watching!

[@gino7444]

As always enjoyed a top video and a good choice of music 👌, thank you!.👍

[@tommymartin4827]

That's really impressive. Superb track work ,it's cool to see those rails all shined up

[@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643]

Thanks Tommy Martin!

[@henryszubielski8601]

Wow! The layout is amazing. I hope there is a video in the future as progress continues. Thanks for sharing!

[@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643]

Stay tuned.... for even more madness...chk out other vids on the Model Railroad Club of Toronto's YT site: kzbin.info/door/irQ1VO85VaRWI5jdjuaCJQ

[@thomascavaliere1975]

Very cool train ride! Thanks for such a great video!

[@denimcowboy501]

Wow, I shared to my facebook page

[@defel1]

An excellent layout in so many ways. A feast for the eyes. I especially liked the suspension bridge--nice work! This is a great channel. I appreciate the work you do to make these videos. Thank you.

[@pilentum]

Thanks, David!

[@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643]

Hi David, thanks for watching and the comments. The suspension bridge was actually built in the 1940's when the Club was located in Toronto's Union Station. Now serving in its ~80th year...it has seen many 10s of thousands of O scale trains.

[@defel1]

@@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643 Do you still have trains from the 1940s?

[@rickyarger1169]

Now THAT was a great train ride...even kinda spooky crossing those bridges and trestles...being an engineer and crossing those has to be a puckering experience no matter how many times you do it...impressive work and eye for detail like the workers in the beginning who had the mishap with the baggage cart...thanks for showing...

[@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643]

Glad you enjoyed it! And so far no disasters on the high steel trestle... which was installed in early '22.

[@claudekevorkian7599]

merci à TV PILENTUM de nous présenter cette vidéo et bravo au personnes pour le réseaux

[@mainankocak]

wow amazing trainz

[@pilentum]

[1] Track Plan 3D and Picture Gallery on www.pilentum.org/model-railroad-club-of-toronto-canada (english). [2] Plan du réseau ferroviaire et galerie d'image sur www.pilentum.fr/le-plus-grand-reseau-ferroviaire-du-canada-club-modelisme-ferroviaire-toronto (français). [3] Tracciati Ferroviari e galleria immagini su www.pilentum.it/il-piu-grande-plastico-ferroviario-del-canada-club-modellismo-ferroviario-toronto (italiano).

[@josephstubler4903]

FANTASTIC LAYOUT!

[@mustafavdhoek]

Fantastic lay-out great to see

[@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643]

Thank you Mustafa!

[@Bruno.Trains]

Les trains, un spectacle fascinant dont on ne se lasse pas ! Merci !

[@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643]

Merci beaucoup!

[@igorgavrilov8140]

Замечательный макет! Восхищаюсь мастерством людей, которые это сделали!

[@SB5SimulationsFerroviairesEEP]

Superbe! Merci du partage! Stéph.

[@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643]

Merci Stephane!

[@sambowz9077]

NICE!

[@paolomargini7904]

Wonderful, merveilleux.

[@cwillpiko1994]

Hats off to the intrepid viewers who make it through the round-trip! As impressive as the entire layout is... (and it is!) it is tedious without any explanations/commentary.

[@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643]

Hi, here is a link to a more recent trip that does feature some commentary: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eaDYemacZcilfrs. (Hope this is ok Markus)

[@timothykeinard8085]

NICE LAYOUT

[@bruno_mm_goncalves]

Bom vídeo excelente parabéns 🎊

[@oddities-whatnot]

Thats a big layout

[@allalsimah6964]

Fantastique 🔥🔥🔥

[@lottaaction8072]

Obviously still a work in progress on some parts but it loooks amazing!

[@Tg-travels]

So good

[@mdnoob1]

O Guage is where I got my start in model railroading when I was ten with a Lionel New York Central train set. Still have it to this day. If only I had the space and time to continue the hobby.

[@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643]

Thanks for watching and sharing your Lionel train infused youth.

[@pierrepinson2906]

🕊Oh là là ! C'EST MAGNIFIQUE👏👍.

[@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643]

Merci très bien!

[@giuseppearditi7963]

Veramente eccezionale ottima la telecamera rende molto bene la dimensione del plastico

[@steventartamella454]

One of the coolest layouts I've seen.. How long did it take you to build it? Awesome video 🙂

[@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643]

We've been building it since 2013, about 20% came from our old layout, as we saved the large yards and suspension bridge plus the big steel arch at the entrance. Thanks for the comment too!

[@RTWest-kn5fr]

O! That's a lotta work, eh? But, I wanted to check it ewut! (just practicing my Canadian-English ... born in Buffalo and grew up in the excessive snow and cold of Hamburg, New York, but left for good in 1971... won the 1st ever Vietnam Birthday Draft Lottery, as a manner of speaking). Very impressive layout. I've been in warm weather for so many years I had to put on a sweater when we got high up on the trestles and bridges. Como siempre (As always) an excellent Pilentum presentation of a great work/super layout. Gracias por tu video. R.T. sends, envía et envoie (still some using French in Canada, even in Toronto?), Colonia Centro Histórico, Puebla, México...

[@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643]

Gracias por ver este video! And thanks for your comments. Buffalo was always a favorite place to go train watching, such huge traffic volumes and variety. Must have been even more amazing back a few decades before all of the neat stuff was ripped up. (btw...in Toronto now you'll hear more Mandarin, or Hindi, or Arabic than you'll hear French... cosmopolitan city it is!). Cheers

[@RTWest-kn5fr]

@@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643 In the summer month that is that part of Ontario, Canada, we would also go to the Algonquin Park and Parry Sound further north than Toronto. They spoke a form of Canadian-English incorporating a few words of the indigenous Muskoka tribe's dialect... and now, I believe, Canadian Sasquatch. Just a beautiful place! Now at 72, I think that visiting your model railroad would be more to my liking. RT sends, Puebla, México. ¡O! ... I vaguely remember seeing steam on one of the NYC or Penn Central lines in 1956, 57 or 58 in Hamburg south of Buffalo. I'd go train watching there with my Dad. Again, great work Club Toronto, amigos del norte!!!

[@robertsimpson9403]

Best yet, how did you all avoid 3rd rail? I don't like that middle rail for power, takes away the look, how you do it?

[@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643]

Hi Robert, the equipment is all wired for 2 rail operation just like you find in other scales. Not as common as O scale 3 rail but far more realistic. The Club has been using 2 rail exclusively since the early 1960s. Thanks for watching!

[@GregPalmer1000]

Great layout & vlog, but the sound of the e ngines cutting in & out spoils it

[@a7b89]

all well and good,but it would be nice to see the trains

[@pilentum]

We will definitely publish another video at Pilentum TV in which we will see the trains - a lot of trains :-)

[@a7b89]

Thanks

[@Blenderfnafanimati6430]

I didn’t know O scale had 2 rails

[@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643]

When formed in 1938, the Model Railroad Club of Toronto used outside third rail (like subway systems) which was popular at the time. In the early 1960s they converted to the more realistic two rail system. Two rail O scale can certainly be found but are certainly outnumbered by the three rail contingent. Typically an easy conversion, with the need for two rail wheel sets and better couplers. Check out Proto48 for the next step in realism! Madness.

[@dahuang3910]

有宏观图吗？

[@kungfuwitcher7621]

More than likely a bizarre thing for me to say, but O Scale or O Gauge seem to look less realistic than HO/OO to me. Don’t know why but anyway a very impressive layout. One question though, what are those sort of hissing like sounds coming from the loco? Great vid as always Pilentum 😊👍

[@sarge4455]

Same

[@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643]

@@sarge4455 The detail level in O that is obtainable with structures, track, and rolling stock is much much greater than one can get with the smaller scales. One has to see a model side by side to really understand. Also the equipment is about 6X more massive... so train handling of larger heavier trains is very different from HO. And finally perhaps its just that O scale 2 rail is not often seen and ones mind automatically thinks of the lesser detailed O scale 3 rail equipment. Thanks for watching and your thoughts.

[@sarge4455]

@@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643 it sure is cool 😎

[@steffenrosmus9177]

Problem os O scale layouts are normally larger than HO ones so it takes more time to get the same detail level. It took 8 years to complete my HO/HOn3 layout and and I am now building for 15 years on my S/Sn3 layout and detail level is app 50 %.

[@lenny6676]

O is definitely less realistic

[@DJW701]

Is this larger then the O scale model railroad in The Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Carnage Science Center?

[@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643]

The Model Railroad Club of Toronto's layout is about 100' by 38'.

[@pilentum]

Sorry, I don't know the layout in the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Carnage Science Center.

[@alex187ho9]

красота

[@badwolfsat5]

Remember when Lionel came out with that really crappy looking b/w camera to put in loco front ends? This is how it was meant to be. lol

[@raymondleggs5508]

Tall layout

[@victorpinho4103]

Show 👍👍👍👏👏👏🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

[@shafiqshabazz2462]

Is this O gauge ?

[@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643]

Hi Shafiq, yes this is O scale 2 rail. Thank you kindly for watching.

[@shafiqshabazz2462]

@@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643 such beautiful project ! !

[@user-zw9hp4ih6t]

大きい事はいい事だ

[@sarahday5861]

Do the trains ever crash or derail?

[@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643]

Hi Sarah Day, derailments happen but not too often... we take great care to keep the track and equipment in top working order.

[@lenny6676]

Only if your train is Amtrak

[@georgejetson4378]

Meh! Mine is bigger!

[@modelrailroadcluboftoronto1643]

LOL! now thats funny