Toy Trains Tours & Visits Norm Charbonneau’s Hi-rail Layout

Norm Charbonneau’s Hi-rail Layout

By Angela Cotey | September 15, 2009

| Last updated on November 7, 2022

Norm is back with an addition to his stunning O gauge layout, which was first featured in the November 2008 issue.

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In the November 2009 issue, Norm tells you how he built his locomotive servicing terminal to showcase big steam power.

The cover story in CTT’s November 2008 HI-RAIL SPECIAL issue was on the stunning 19 x 22-foot layout created by Norm Charbonneau.

A weathered Lionel New York Central L2a 4-8-4 Mohawk spins on the Bowser 30-inch operating turntable that Norm installed in the engine terminal.

The scratchbuilt foam-core, hardboard, and MDF structures perched behind the Lionel Pennsy J1a are impressive in size and detail. Parts of this prototype-inspired cityscape rise more than 36 inches above the tabletop.

4. This view overlooking the southern end of Greenbrook, reveals how effectively Norm balances urban and rural scenes.

An express train pulled by a Lionel Pennsy M1a winds through a cut at one end of Norm’s layout. The background hill is 1/8-inch green-painted hardboard that he covered with various textures of ground foam.

An Atlas O Alco RS-1 eases its train downhill. Norm plans to eliminate this grade to provide access into the Greenbrook yard.

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