Jim Hediger, a member of the Model Railroader staff for 43 years, passed away on February 9, 2024. His family generously donated his slide collection to Kalmbach Media. While going through the images, I found several slides featuring Jim’s HO scale Detroit Western RR. The layout was the successor to the 5 x 9-foot NJ&E RR, which Jim wrote about in the December 2000 issue of MR.
The following information on the Detroit Western is from Jim’s article “The Ohio Southern RR” in the July 1978 issue of MR:
A new layout, named the Detroit Western RR, was designed with an operating pit in the center of the track plan. This allowed for 36” minimum-radius curves and No. 6 turnouts as trains made two full laps around the operators. The DW layout was significant for several reasons. First, it was my initial point-to-point layout. (It did have a double-track loop in it to represent other railroads.) Second, the DW included my first attempts at using interchange as a means of receiving and dispatching traffic from off-line points. The point-to-point DW line interchanged with the loops at two locations, simulating prototype junctions. Third, it was my first real attempt to model a portion of a real railroad. The result was a layout that was patterned after the prototype Detroit, Toledo & Ironton RR and its operations in the Detroit area.
The choice of the DT&I as a prototype came easily — my parents both worked in the line’s general offices. I also liked the fact that it ran nearby, it used a wild assortment of colors on its equipment, and it was seldom modeled. The DW version of the DT&I modeled the Dearborn Branch of the railroad with all the local industries and major points of interest represented in somewhat condensed form. This layout was my first one that was equipped with Doug Smith’s card order system of car movement (detailed in Bruce Chubb’s book How to Operate Your Model Railroad [Kalmbach Books, 1977 — out of print]). Continued operation of the layout with four mainline engineers and two yard crews brought out a major flaw in the DW: its main line was too short for the traffic.
During my junior year of college, the DW was torn up and rebuilt in the same area on the same benchwork. However, the double-track loop was removed and the point-to-point line was given an extra lap around the layout. This allowed me to spread the industries farther apart so the switching work didn’t interfere with the next town.
This reworked layout still followed the Dearborn Branch prototype which ran single GP7s or GP9s on short trains. Each train originated at the main yard and worked its way northward to deliver 8- to 10-cars along the line. These runs typically took an hour to reach the Dearborn yard.
A summer vacation trip in the early 1960s took the family to southern Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana along the Ohio River. The rolling hills and multi-unit trains I saw there resulted in a total teardown of the DW Dearborn branch layout.
Jim Hediger was a member of the Model Railroader staff from 1972 to 2015. During that time, he wrote more than 750 stories, columns, and reviews. His HO scale Ohio Southern was one of the first practical examples of a double-deck layout. Be sure watch “History According To Hediger” on Trains.com Video for wisdom, stories, and more from MR’s longtime senior editor.
DW was the predecessor to JDH’s single level OS really from the 1978 MR. What a craftsmen and pioneer in double deck model railroading.
Maybe ya’ll can make of photo book of Jim’s pictures along the lines of Dave Ingles book. “History According to Hediger” is a favorite maybe there’s an Out-take program lucking in the archives??. Thanks for the D&W story.