Welcome
Welcome! You've reached the online home of the Piedmont 'N' Southern model railroad club. This site will provide lots of information about the club and our activities, our modules (NTrak and Bend Track) and our activities. We'll of course have lots of photos and layout schematics, plus information about the electronics and software behind the scenes.
Upcoming Shows and Events
Central Railway Model & Historical Association Annual Show in Easley, SC will be held on Saturday, February 4 (10am-5pm) and Sunday, February 5 (noon-5pm). The planned layout is even larger than last year's, adding Joe's city modules and our brand-new staging yard. (See layout diagram below). Setup will be Friday afternoon, and tear-down after show close on Sunday.
Visit the CRMHA web site for more info on the upcoming show.
Planned Layout for the 2012 CRMHA Show in Easley
Recent Events
Autumn Rails All Scales Train Show, in Asheville, NC (at the Western NC Agricultural Center) on Fri. October 14th (1-7), Sat. 15th (9-3). Download the flyer [HERE] for more details about the show. We joined forces (and modules) with the French Broad e'N'pire Ntrak club, for an exciting long run. We had a few challenges at startup, but were able to work through those and run some very long trains through some good-looking scenery. Many of the FBE modules were built by the original PnS, just as ours were. We also enjoyed Joe's city modules, which were filled with flashing, blinking lights and action. Check out the layout below [click to enlarge, and use download link for even larger]
Autumn Rails 2011 show configuration
We had a great show in Mauldin, SC for the Chamber of Commerce's Trains, Trains & More Trains event, over several days between Friday, May 13 and Saturday, May 21, 2011. We had lots of inquisitive visitors, and a few really interesting characters. The slideshow to the right features pics from this event.
Our modules were set up in the configuration below, and highlighted our recent scenery work on the Transition, Logging and Clarksville modules.
This configuration allows us to run plenty of trains, including some DC, and provide a lot of constant visual variety for the visitors.
Mauldin show configuration
About the Club
Purpose
The purpose of the Piedmont 'N Southern Model Railroad Club is to promote the hobby of model railroading through creation of an operating modular N-scale model railroad layout built to Ntrak and/or Bend Track standards. This layout is intended to be displayed to the general public.
History
To accomplish this goal, a group of interested model railroaders formed a N-scale model railroad club in July of 2009 The decision was made to build a four foot Ntrak module with a Mountain Division. This module, along with seven refurbished modules (built for the former Piedmont 'N Southern Model Railroad Club of Greenville, SC) completed an 8' x 10' operating layout.
In September of 2009, a set of By-Laws was approved by the Club members. The name of the Club is the Piedmont 'N Southern Model Railroad Club (reviving the name of the former Ntrak club of the 1980's and 1990's).
2010 saw the construction of a new Ntrak to Bend Track transition module, including the Mountain Division. This module allows the Piedmont 'N Southern Model Railroad Club to join with Bend Track modules owned by Club members and other Bend Track clubs. We also built a Logging module to Bend Track standards, plus it connects to the Mountain line of the transition module.
2011 was spent adding scenery to the new modules, and sharing the hobby at a number of great shows.
Future
In 2012, we are building a staging yard to go inside the "pit", with a new 4-foot module to serve as the yard entrance. These modules are not yet "complete", but they are ready to be used at the Easley show. We also plan to build a step-through module to ease access to the pit. It will feature a swing-in access "door" through all four tracks (including the mountain line).
Club Membership
Membership in the Piedmont 'N Southern Model Railroad Club is open to anyone with an interest in the hobby of model railroading in general and N-scale model railroading in particular. There are no restrictions based on age, race or gender.
Contact Information
Use our [Online Contact Form]
Write us at:
Piedmont 'N Southern Model Railroad Club
P.O. Box 864
Mauldin, SC 29662
or visit the club's [Yahoo Group] Note: we use the Yahoo Group to schedule all work sessions and meetings, so sign up if you're interested in attending.
Piedmont N Southern Model Railroad Club