It was a dark and dreary morning. You fool, it’s always dark and dreary at 4:00 am in the morning!

So this is the beginning of Whirlwind III. David and Brian started out in Cooperstown and headed out to pick up the remaining individuals going along on this journey. John was picked up in Herkimer and then onto Saint Johnsville where Lorenzo met the group to continue to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam the remainder of the troupe was collected with Mike and Al. Finally, when everyone was gathered, we were off to Boston.

First stop, George Sellios’ Franklin and South Manchester. We hooked up with Ernie in Peabody and proceeded to George’s. We were warmly welcomed by George and kindly allowed to take pictures of this treasure of a layout. The level of detail is indescribable! This is truly a wonder of the model railroad world. If the opportunity presents itself, do not miss this layout.

After a while, the group gathered together again and moved on down the street to a local hobby shop. The N scale selection was minimal, but Lionel, HO, and plastic models were abundant. On to lunch. Ernie led us to a local establishment where we were treated to excellent cuisine.

Following this it was off to Ernie’s wonderful N scale layout where we were afforded the opportunity to operate a great fleet of finely tuned locomotives.

Our schedule called for our meeting Pete Laier next around 3:00pm, so we left Ernie’s on our trek to Pete’s. After a small mix-up in directions we finally arrived at Pete’s place. Here we were warmly greeted by Pete and his wife who welcomed us with open arms. Pete’s Arcadia Terminal is a compact, highly operable, around the wall, shelf style layout.

Although not large, there are a tremendous amount of operations possible on this beautifully scenicked railroad.

After running the railroad for around an hour, we were off again on our way back. Along the way we managed to stop at Shepaug Hobbies where we were able to find a large cache of N scale supplies available.

The next leg of our trip took us to the Steaming Tender for dinner. This is an old railroad station turned into a restaurant with fabulous food and fantastic railroad surroundings. Following a very satisfying meal, we were off on the final leg of our trip back home. In Amsterdam we dropped off Lorenzo, Mike and Al then continued to Herkimer where John departed. Lastly, David and Brian finished up the trip when they arrived back in Cooperstown around Midnight. All in all, a wonderful and full day of all kinds of railroad fun. Whirlwind IV is being considered in the near future!

Brian