Free Open House
In Conjunction with Gowanda Pioneer Days
Friday May 19th, 6-l0 pm
Saturday May 20th, Noon-4 pm
Gowanda & Buffalo Model Railroad Club
Admission is FREE. Donations are appreciated. Membership open.
Basement Building #73 - On the Grounds of the Collins/Gowanda Correctional Facilities. 14267 Taylor Hollow Road - Collins, New York 14034
Access to the display area is by stairs only.
Now with two Operating Model Railroad Layouts!
The G&B is a 33 by 50 foot HO gauge railroad. It was originally started in 1961 by Doctor Zecker as an occupational therapy project for patients at the former Gowanda Psychiatric Hospital. This local landmark has been maintained by a group of volunteers dedicated to the preservation of this creativity and local railroad history. Highlights include a 52” long toothpick suspension bridge that was originally built by a former patient; a large mountainous region with a cogwheel incline railroad serving a mountaintop resort; an oil refinery, a steel plant on the waterfront in “Buffalo” and a village scene of “Gowanda”. Other areas include Collins, Lawtons, Eden, Hamburg and Buffalo Creek Junction. Current construction projects include scenery, mining operations, a new engine facility with roundhouse and turntable. The rebuilding of the 30 foot long Collins Yard is near complete! There are over 115 switches, 3 large yards, 600 foot of mainline track, an operational signal system and 10 “block control” panels on the Gowanda & Buffalo Railroad.
The new N gauge layout is operating “under construction”. Some of the modules are scenic, others are bare. You can see the many stages of the construction and ask the builders the “hows and whys” we all have when we read about those “Dream Layouts”. Yet un-named it is part permanent and part standardized “N-track Modular”, allowing us to combine it with other modules or to stand alone at model railroad shows. This is a walk around operation from the mountains to the sea on three main lines and a mountain line; with interchange, a wye, a main yard, many passing sidings and industrial spurs.
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