Videos & Photos Videos Layouts Layout Visits Layout Visit: Lance Mindheim’s CSX Miami Downtown Spur in HO scale

Layout Visit: Lance Mindheim’s CSX Miami Downtown Spur in HO scale

By Angela Cotey | March 19, 2016

| Last updated on January 21, 2021


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Model Railroader Video Plus visits Lance Mindheim’s HO scale CSX Miami Downtown Spur, one of the most impressive representations of today’s railroading you’ll ever see on a model railroad! In this exclusive video, Lance guides you on a tour of his basement layout, featured in the December 2013 issue of Model Railroader magazine. Along the way, Lance shares insights on how he makes commonplace scenes look so spectacular!

25 thoughts on “Layout Visit: Lance Mindheim’s CSX Miami Downtown Spur in HO scale

  1. My second or third time through on this video. It is almost real, and in some spots one thinks it just might be filmed on the actual location.
    I do have one question, Lance, is there a wye or turntable at the end of the line? The engine was running cab forward in both directions.

  2. What a spectacular layout, a true work of art that eschews cliche and embraces the average to achieve greatness. It reminds me of the great photographer William Eggleston, who “photographs the ugliness”, creating beauty.

  3. Like the photo street crossings.. FYI UP hauls a lot of potatoes east out of Tulare Calif. There is one huge processing plant there that would take up about half your layout. We are talking long unit trains several times a week in ARMN reefers. Talk about reefer madness.

  4. Just incredibly impressed with the artistry of this layout. I have seen many in the decades I have been in the hobby, but very few of this caliber.

  5. Such a PERFECT example that you don’t need a ton of track just because you have the space. Ref: How to operate a modern era switching layout per: Lance Mindheim

  6. I always enjoy watching this video. The scenery is so realistic, however, you need to work on weathering your vehicles . This would add greatly to the different scences. Also put a crew in the cab.

  7. Outstanding modeling Lance. I follow you on your web site. Would like to see you model a waterfront switching line in the Pacific Northwest such as Seattle albeit in S scale instead of HO.

  8. Even though I live just outside the narrow-gauge capital of the world and love mountain railroading, when it comes to model railroading Lance Mindheim’s Downtown Miami Spur is the most inspiring and well-executed layout ever. It looks so real! I love the trash, the weathering, the graffiti, and the realistic slow speed of the train. His technique of using photos on cores for buildings and container stacks shows great imagination and is a money saver, too. My bedroom-size layout is “inspired” by the San Luis & Rio Grande in Colorado’s San Luis Valley, but its real inspiration is Lance Mindheim’s concepts of the everyday and the usual. The Downtown Miami Spur shows that one doesn’t need a huge basement to create a railroad what will give lasting enjoyment and operational possibilities. Great work, sir, great work!

  9. I really wish Lance would make a DVD/Bluray of operations on his layout in more detail(I’d buy it).I totally respect Lance for what he does.His attention to detail is so realistic.I wish Modell RR magazine would concentrate more on the modern era,instead of the other era’s.

  10. A truly neat layout that’s really convincing in it’s design and use of the various structures. It certainly looks like south Florida. The weathering on the locomotives and cars is also super fantastic. Great work Lance, thanks for sharing.

  11. I looked at the photos in December 2013 issue of MR/ My wife swears the photos are of real trains and not models, I don’t disagree with her (for obvious reasons), and agree that some of the scenes extremely realistic. Great job and wonderful presentation,

  12. This is one of the best MR Videos. At first I thought I was watching prototype trains. The detailing and scenery is excellent. And, the camera work is great, too! I’m going to go back and review the back issues covering this layout. Thanks!

  13. Very nicely done tour. But I am still missing out on whatever you might have for the larger scale guys like me (O and G gauge/scales). All I ever see are the N, HOn3 and HO scales. What’s up with that??

  14. Great tour and video! I’ve loved that layout since the first time I saw it and it’s one of my all time favorites. Thanks for all of your contributions Lance!

  15. Thanks, MR, for another visit to Lance’s railroad and convincing scenery. The video was so realistic I was looking for the rail and ties to sink as the loco and cars rolled by, as would be typical on an old branch line. Lance’s modeling techniques and ability to model a convincing scene are awesome, plus his ability to explain them! Thanks, Lance.

  16. The layout is very authentic in details. It makes me “home sick” every time I view Lance’s Miami layout. I grew up just 5 to 6 blocks from this railroad. My elementary school was just a block and a half from the railroad. In the 1940’s and 1950’s it was my neighborhood. The buildings are very Miami-ish. Thanks for the memories!

  17. I’m a big fan of Lance’s work (and his books). I like the tip about getting rid of the magnetic hooks on the couplers. They look hideous and Lances rolling stock (where you don’t see any!) only proves it!

  18. Excellent modeling techniques Lance. The video tour really highlights the different industries not seen in MR whether rail served or not. I like all the attention to detail with weeds, trash and grass growing up between the rails and ties and the use of background photos to extend the depth of the layout. Realistic weathering on the rolling stock and use of patch-outs to show change of car ownership. Next stop is your website to learn more. Thank you for sharing with the rest of us!

  19. Outstanding work! Lance has accomplished some of the most realistic modeling I have ever seen, and being from Florida, it’s nice to see something other than the Colorado Rockies once in a while!

  20. WOW! Great video Lance. It’s unusual to watch a video of a layout without the sound being obnoxious. We’ll done. I’m looking forward to seeing more of your work in print and video.
    Thank you

  21. Brilliant work Lance! Especially liked the application of real building photos onto styrene “boxes” to fool the minds eye. The track plan – see the MR track plan database – reveals a relatively simple – albeit relatively large – switching layout that would keep operators pleasantly busy without frustrating them with gimmicks. Interesting that the layout does not feature a yard or “outside staging” so it defies somewhat today’s conventional wisdom.

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