In the August 2025 issue of Model Railroader, we featured Art Kear’s HO scale Buffalo & Susquehanna to Wellsville, Addison & Galeton. The 12 x 32-foot multi-deck walk-in layout features a logging line circa 1910 and the steam-to-diesel transition era in 1950.
“Once the train room was completed, it was time to get started on the layout,” Art wrote. “Potter County in north central Pennsylvania would be the setting.
“I couldn’t settle on one theme,” Art continued. “In my youth, I enjoyed watching trains on the Wellsville, Addison & Galeton. My other interest is logging railroads in the 1910s. Climax, Heisler, and Shay locomotives, along with Barnhart log loaders, were all items that I wanted to model.”
The layout has a mainline run of 96 feet. The minimum radius is 22”, and the minimum turnout is No. 8. The height ranges from 24” to 52”, and the maximum grade is 2% on the upper level and lower staging. Additional features on the model railroad include wall-mounted benchwork, Homasote roadbed, and Atlas and Shinohara code 83 flextrack. Direct-current Model Rectifier Corp. Tech II power packs are used to run trains.
“The structures on the layout are a mix of kit-built, kitbashed, and scratchbuilt,” Art noted. “I enjoy drawing and scratchbuilding structures based on WAG prototypes. My preferred building materials are wood siding sheets and scale lumber from Micro-Mark and windows and doors from Tichy Train Group.
“One of my favorite scratchbuilt structures is the WAG headquarters,” Art wrote. “I measured the prototype building and scaled it down to fit the available space.
“Similar to other layouts shown in the hobby press, the HO scale Buffalo & Susquehanna to Wellsville, Addison & Galeton will never be done,” Art concluded. “There’s always another detail or structure to add and another smile to put on someone’s face when they come to visit. That’s what gives me the greatest pleasure of all.”
