Monolith Gardens Trails - 03/28/2019 Trip Notes

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This page last updated on 03/31/2019

(Fig. 01)

(Fig. 02)

Directions: Take US 93 south to Kingman, AZ  It is approximately 87 miles from Henderson to the turn off to the Monolith Garden Loop Trailhead on the right as US-93 turns into West Beale Street, about 2 miles before I-40.

(Fig. 03) Click to Enlarge

Description of Area: Just north of Kingman, Arizona is a stark, beautiful desert landscape. The vegetation is primarily drab scrub, with some grassland. Natural water sources are seasonal only, and typically dry. You will find Beavertail cactus, wild rhubarb, Arizona lupine, and many others. It’s also home to many types of wildlife, from desert tortoises and foxes to Gambel’s quail and rattlesnakes, as well as some free range cattle. There is a beautiful network of trails encompassing miles of biking and hiking trails that weave throughout this recreation area. The most well known trail is the 1.7 mile Monolith Garden Lasso Loop Trail (refer to map in Fig. 02). It is a fantastic maze of towering rock formations. The trails we hiked on this day are shown in (Fig. 03). It has a rolling landscape of low hills, stacked rock towers and hunched ridgeline columns. Running through dramatic boulder fields and crumbling ramparts of volcanic ash, the views are amazing. 

03/28/2019 Trip Notes: On this day Robert Croke, Ron Ziance and I decided to hike the trails here looking for some spring wildflowers. Unfortunately we were "pushing" the season, and were disappointed. The most prevalent was the California poppy (Fig. 04). Several small washes just off the main trail are loaded with these poppies (Fig. 05). Even though we were able to spot a few wildflowers scattered along the trails we hiked (Fig. 06), they were relatively scarce (Fig. 07). We saw hundreds of cacti with many multiple buds, but not one in bloom (Fig. 08). In spite of a lack of wildflowers, we were still able to enjoy the volcanic rock formations and the views they afforded. (Notes continued below)

(Fig. 04)

(Fig. 05)

(Fig. 06)

(Fig. 07)

(Fig. 08)

Notes Continued:  As we continued to hike the trails, it amazed me at how many of these rocks and formations were covered with a variety of colored lichen like in (Figs. 09 & 10). The towering volcanic rock formations were everywhere (Figs. 11-12). The picture in (Fig. 12) even had a large Globe Mallow bush growing high up near the top. The more we hiked these trails, the better the vistas seemed to be (Figs. 13 thru 15). Sometimes we thought we were looking at the mesas and buttes similar Monument Valley found in northern Arizona and Utah (Fig. 16). Near the end of our hike on the return, we spotted more than a half dozen free-range cattle munching on the yucca and other scrubs of the area (Fig. 17). 

(Fig. 09)

(Fig. 10)

(Fig. 11)

(Fig. 12)

(Fig. 13)

(Fig. 14)

(Fig. 15)

(Fig. 16)

(Fig. 17)

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Note: Every attempt is made to provide accurate information, but occasionally depictions are inaccurate by error of mapping, navigation or cataloging. The information on this site is provided without any warranty, express or implied, and is for informational and historical purposes only.

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Kingman Arizona - Summary Page

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This page last updated on 01/25/2018

(Fig. 01)

Directions: Kingman is a city in and the county seat of Mohave County, Arizona. According to the 2010 census the population of the city is around 28,068. Taking US-93 South, Kingman is located 103 miles southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Area Description: Kingman, the Heart of historic Route 66 & one of the hidden treasures of Arizona, is conveniently located on Interstate 40 and is the perfect launching point for "Route 66 and Beyond". Scenic hiking, historic charm, great cafes and restaurants, and the allure of Route 66 combine to make Kingman a remarkable destination. At an elevation of around 3,300 feet Kingman offers a temperate climate year-round. Kingman was founded as a railroad settlement and a monument in the park pays tribute to those who forged the route, such as the wagon trails of the early settlers and the surveys of Lt. Edward Beale. Located directly across from the Historic Route 66 Museum, Locomotive Park is a place where visitors may get up close and examine this marvel of earlier locomotive structure and design while listening to the modern trains whizzing by on the nearby railroad tracks across the street (Fig. 02).

(Fig. 02)

Kingman History: Kingman's prehistory belongs to the Patayan Culture and their decendants; principally the Hualapai, Havasupai and Mojave tribes. Read more about the Patayan Culture here ... Patayan Culture. Spaniards explored the area in search of gold as early as the 1500's. In October 1857, Lt. Edward Fitzgerald Beale and his experimental Camel Corps trudged across the present site of Kingman, Arizona surveying a wagon road along the 35th parallel. While surveying the area, they located several springs near present day Historic Downtown Kingman. This wagon road was the first Federally funded road.

In 1880 Lewis Kingman followed much of Beale Road while surveying for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. The town of Kingman was founded in 1881. The railway reached the site of Kingman in March of 1883 and the first train pulled up in October 1883 carrying about 100 people. Before long there was a steady stream of travelers to the area as people moved in to ranch, mine, or set up business to service these growing industries. Kingman became a hub for supplies fed by the railroad. In 1886 the local newspaper, Mohave County Miner, was established. In 1887 Kingman was chosen to be the county seat for Mohave.

Situated in the Hualapai Valley between the Cerbat and Hualapai mountain ranges, Kingman is known for its very modest beginnings as a simple railroad siding near Beale’s Springs in the Middleton Section along the newly constructed route of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. The city of Kingman was named for Lewis Kingman, who surveyed along the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad's right-of-way between Needles, Calif., and Albuquerque, N.M. Lewis Kingman supervised the building of the railroad from Winslow, Ariz. to Beale's Springs, which is near the present location of the town of Kingman.

The Kingman Airport is located nine miles northeast of Kingman on Arizona State Route 66. During World War II, Kingman was the site of a U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) airfield. During World War II, and was home to the Kingman Aerial Gunnery School,  training some 35,000 soldiers and airmen. After the war, large numbers of USAAF aircraft were stored and dismantled at Kingman. The airport was turned over to Mohave County for civilian use in 1949. Today, the airport has air ambulance and air charter services. The airport continues to be used as a location for long-term aircraft storage due to its suitable large ramp space and a long decommissioned runway. In 1955, Ford Motor Company established a proving ground (now one of the Chrysler Proving Grounds) in nearby Yucca, Arizona at the former Yucca Army Airfield. Several major new neighborhoods in Kingman were developed to house the skilled workers and professionals employed at the proving ground, as Kingman was the only sizable, developed town within a convenient distance. Likewise, the development of the Duval copper mine near adjacent Chloride, Arizona, and construction of the Mohave Generating Station in nearby Laughlin, Nevada, in 1971 contributed to Kingman's population growth. The location of a General Cable plant at what was to become the Kingman Airport Industrial Park provided a steady employment base as well. Kingman has passenger rail service at its train station. It is served by the Amtrak Southwest Chief route, with daily service between Los Angeles and Chicago. The small Amtrak station in downtown Kingman is a historically significant building, constructed in Mission Revival Style architecture; however, prior to the establishment of Amtrak in 1971, the structure had fallen into disrepair with the decline of passenger rail service in the U.S. A total renovation of the building was completed in 2010. While still serving as a railroad station, the building is also now home to a model railroad museum. Today Kingman has over 60 buildings on the National Historic Register and is frequently referred to as the "Heart of Historic Route 66".  Not only is it on a major rail line route with Amtrak service, with plenty of hotels and restaurants it is a major stopover on Interstate 40 and US 93 for anyone headed to Laughlin or Las Vegas.
                               
Visit Notes: Even though I have visited or passed through Kingman Arizona on several occasions, in January 2018 I made another daytrip here with two of my fellow hiking partners, Robert Croke and Jim Herring. As neither had ever been here before we decided to spend the day visiting the town's several museums and historic attractions. There are more than 60 buildings in Kingman that are on the National Register of Historic Places. It is impossible to see everything in a single day. Among some of the more popular places of interest are: the Bonelli House, Mohave Museum of History and Arts, the Route 66 Electric Vehicle Museum, Locomotive Park, the Amtrak Depot, the Modell Railroad Museum, the Arizona Route 66 Museum, and Mr. D'z Route 66 Diner. Though not on the register of historic places, Mr. D'z Route 66 Diner is one of my favorites. I always make this a stop whenever I visit Kingman. After touring several museums, we decided to eat a late lunch at Mr. D'z. To read more about Mr. D'z go to Mr. D'z Route 66 Diner. On one of my visits, Connie and I took a tour of the Bonelli house. To read more about this house go to The Bonelli House. Another museum is the Mohave Museum of History & Arts. This museum offers a good introduction to the history of Northwestern Arizona. Dioramas & murals show development from prehistoric times to the present. You’ll even find a special exhibit on Andy Devine, local-boy-turned-movie-star. Outdoor exhibits display ranching, mining machinery plus a 1923 railroad caboose. To read more about this museum go to Mohave Museum of History & Arts. If you are a train buff, you will love the little Locomotive park. Located at Beale Street and Andy Devine Ave. (Route 66), the park is home to Santa Fe Locomotive #3759, that ran passengers between Los Angeles and Kansas City for over 20 years and traveled more than 2.5 million miles. The engine was given to the city of Kingman in 1957. In 1987 1,200 residents used rope to pull the locomotive forward, so a Santa Fe caboose would fit behind it. To read about engine #3759 go to Locomotive Park. Located in the downtown Kingman there is another historic building, the train station of the Amtrak Southwest Chief route. This building also contains a Model Railroad Museum. To read more go to Amtrak Depot & Model Railroad Museum, Probably one of the most prominent buildings in Kingman is the Powerhouse Visitor Center. Today is home to the Kingman Visitor Center & Gift Shop, the Arizona Route 66 Museum, and the Route 66 Electric Vehicle Museum. To read more go to Powerhouse Visitor Center & Museums.

If you enjoy hiking, you can hike the 1.7 mile Monolith Garden Lasso Loop Trail, part of the 5,620 acre Cerbat Foothills Recreation Area, created by the City of Kingman, the BLM, and the Arizona State Trail System. Just two and a half miles outside of Kingman, this area is filled with a fantastic maze of towering rock formations. It has a rolling landscape of low hills, stacked rock towers and hunched ridgeline columns. Running through dramatic boulder fields and crumbling ramparts of volcanic ash, the views are amazing. It is hard to stop taking pictures of the rocks, flowers, mesas, buttes, and ever changing colors of the area. To read about this wonderful area go to Monolith Garden Lasso Loop Trail.

Monolith Garden Trails - Summary Page

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This page last updated on 04/01/2019

(Fig. 01) View from the Trailhead

(Fig. 02)

Directions: Take US 93 south to Kingman, AZ  It is approximately 87 miles from Henderson to the turn off to the Monolith Garden Loop Trailhead on the right as US-93 turns into West Beale Street, about 2 miles before I-40.

Area Description: Just north of Kingman, Arizona is a beautiful desert landscape, a joint venture created by the City of Kingman, the BLM, and the Arizona State Trail System.  The 5,620 acres of BLM land is now known collectively as the Cerbat Foothills Recreation Area. Established in 1995, it is jointly administered by the City of Kingman and the BLM. This area is located in the Mohave desert, and vegetation is primarily scrub, with some grassland. Natural water sources are seasonal only, and typically dry. You will find Beavertail cactus, wild rhubarb, and Arizona lupine, and many others. It’s also home to many types of wildlife, from desert tortoises and foxes to Gambel’s quail and rattlesnakes. There is a beautiful network of trails encompassing miles of biking and hiking trails that weave throughout this recreation area. The most well known trail is the 1.7 mile Monolith Garden Lasso Loop Trail (refer to map in Fig. 02) is a fantastic maze of towering rock formations. It has a rolling landscape of low hills, stacked rock towers and hunched ridgeline columns. Running through dramatic boulder fields and crumbling ramparts of volcanic ash, the views are amazing. It is hard to stop taking pictures of the rocks, flowers, mesas, buttes, and ever changing colors of the area.

03/28/2019 Hiking Notes: On this date I decided to hike the trails here looking for some spring wildflowers. Unfortunately we were "pushing" the season, and were disappointed. The most prevalent was the California poppy. Even though we were able to spot a few wildflowers scattered along the trails we hiked, they were relatively scarce. We saw hundreds of cacti with many multiple buds, but not one in bloom. In spite of this fact, we were still able to enjoy the volcanic rock formations and the views they afforded. Click here for pictures and a description of this visit ... Monolith Gardens Trails - 03/28/2019 Trip Notes.

08/18/2017 Hiking Notes (below): Today, Harvey Smith and I got up at 5:00 am and headed to Kingman. At an elevation of nearly 3,800 feet, it was 10-12 degrees cooler than in Henderson. We turned off of US 93 and parked in the parking area of the Cerbat Foothills Recreation Area and trailhead of the Monolith Gardens Trails (refer to map in (Fig. 02). The trailhead has a restroom but no water available. Starting in a westerly direction head towards the mountain on the old access road. Climbing down from the parking area you end up directly in front of a large monolith structure with what appears to be the opening of a mine (Fig. 03). Upon closer inspection, it turns out to only go in for about 8-10 feet. Just to the right of this opening the trail begins to wrap around this high outcrop (Fig. 04). As you hike around it, the view in (Fig. 05) is of the back side. Directly behind this monolith is an intersection that is actually the beginning and end of the Monolith Garden Lasso Loop. We chose to go left, starting the loop in a clockwise direction.  As you hike along you are constantly confronted with a variety of  towering rock formations all around you (Figs. 06 & 07). The scenery is straight out of an old western movie. As we hiked along the trails in this we were amazed at how green the desert floor present dozens of cacti and wild flowers like those seen in the collage in (Fig. 08). Arriving at the next intersection there is a bench if you wish to relax and take it all in. If you proceed to the right for a quarter mile, you come to another intersection. If you continue to keep taking right turns you will end up back to where you started, completing the 1.8 mile Lasso Loop. We chose to go left, allowing us to hike a yet another larger "loop" (see Fig. 02) This allowed up to "get up to and personal with many more of these beautiful monoliths (Figs. 09, & 10). (Notes con't below).
                                                         

(Fig. 03)

(Fig. 04)

(Fig. 05)

(Fig. 06)

(Fig. 07)

(Fig. 08)

(Fig. 09)

(Fig. 10)

Hiking Notes Continued: Finally we turned west and hiked across an open area and headed back towards the Lasso Loop trail. After passing some more unique structures (Figs. 11 & 12), we came across meadow filled with a blanket of yellow ground cover (Figs. 13 & 14). There were so many bees sucking nectar off these plants, that their 'buzzing" was extremely loud. Then we noticed hundreds of white-lined sphinx moth caterpillars (Fig. 15) eating these plants as well. We could see and hear many birds as we hiked these trails, but our hiking sounds made them instantly scatter, making them almost impossible to capture any pictures (Fig. 16). In the end we hiked a total of 2.75 miles. All in all we both agreed that this was a beautiful area and can't wait until Spring when we would be able to capture many more cacti and plants in full bloom.

(Fig. 11)

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(Fig. 13)

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(Fig.  15)

(Fig. 16)

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Upon reaching Kingman we stopped for lunch at the famous Mr. D’z Route 66 diner (Figs. 18 & 19) before starting the ride home. To read more about the diner go to Mr. D'z Route 66 Diner. Along the way we also visited the town of Chloride [Chloride - Arizona] and the Roy Purcell Murals [Roy Purcell Murals].

(Fig. 18)

(Fig. 19)

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ReadMore - Locomotive Park, Kingman, AZ

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This page last updated on 01/14/2018

(Fig. 01)

On a trip to Laughlin in January of 2009, we stopped by the Locomotive Park in Kingman, AZ, home to famed steam engine #3759. Built in 1928 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Eddystone, PA, Engine No. 3759, a “Northern-type” coal burning steam locomotive ran passengers between Los Angeles and Kansas City for more than 20 years, and before it was retired by the Santa Fe Railroad, it had run a total of 2,585,600 miles. This engine was a 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam engine. It was one of sixty-five engines of this type used by AT&SF. 4-8-4 refers to the wheel configuration of the engine. There is a four-wheel leading truck, supporting the cab of the engine. This four-wheel truck is followed by an eight wheel driver arrangement. The driver wheels on the steam engine were 73 inches in diameter. The driver wheels are followed by another four-wheel truck, the trailing truck, which supported the fireboxes and the boilers. The 4-8-4 configuration made locomotives faster, and was used mainly on fast freight and passenger trains. In 1941, Engine No. 3759 was rebuilt and converted to run on oil fuel. Engine No. 3759 was presented to the City of Kingman by the Santa Fe Railroad in 1957 as a historical monument. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Area Description: Kingman, the Heart of historic Route 66 & one of the hidden treasures of Arizona, is conveniently located on Interstate 40 and is the perfect launching point for "Route 66 and Beyond". Scenic hiking, historic charm, great cafes and restaurants, and the allure of Route 66 combine to make Kingman a remarkable destination. At an elevation of around 3,300 feet Kingman offers a temperate climate year-round. Kingman was founded as a railroad settlement and a monument in the park pays tribute to those who forged the route, such as the wagon trails of the early settlers and the surveys of Lt. Edward Beale. Located directly across from the Historic Route 66 Museum, Locomotive Park is a place where visitors may get up close and examine this marvel of earlier locomotive structure and design while listening to the modern trains whizzing by on the nearby railroad tracks across the street.

(Fig. 02)

History of Old Steam Locomotive 4960:  Locomotive 4960, last used on the Grand Canyon Railroad, is on display at the Grand Canyon Railroad depot in Williams, Arizona. The 4960, a 2-8-2 was first used in CB&Q excursion service on December 28, 1958 when the Illinois  Railroad Club sponsored a trip between Chicago and Ottawa. 4960 received a major overhaul in 1961 where she received new tires, flues, arch tubes, and arch brick. On March 4, 1966, after over seven years of excursion service, the CB&Q announced that steam trips would be discontinued after 4960's July 17 trip. However, 4960 was not scrapped. In 1966, 4960 was retired to the Circus World Museum where she remained until donated to the Mid-Continent Railway Historical Society's museum at North Freedom, Wis. In 1980, she was leased to an excursion operator, the Bristol & North Western (B&NW) Railroad, in Bristol, VA. A short-lived reprieve, she entered service running out of Bentham, Va., during the summer of 1981. During this time, a personal relationship began between 4960 and two present Grand Canyon Railway employees: Ervin White, train master, and Robert Franzen, superintendent motive power. White was part of the crew that prepared 4960 for the trip and moved her from North Freedom to Bristol. He stayed on with the B&NW in charge of train operations and maintenance of track. At this same time, Franzen signed on with the company as a fireman. Both worked on the engine to prepare her for the 1981 season and continued to operate her throughout the summer as firemen and engineers. By 1984 the picnic was over. The B&NW went out of business and Franzen ran her for the last time from Benhams to Bristol. Both White and Franzen bid her farewell, not knowing they would eventually meet again. In March 1985, the engine was moved to Ft. Wayne, Ind., where she declined in storage until purchased by the Grand Canyon Railway. Shortly after the reinaugural of the Grand Canyon Railway on September 17, 1989, mechanics dissembled most of the components and shipped the running gear on trucks and the frame, boiler, cab and tender on flat cars to Williams, AZ. (Fig. 03) Finally stopped in July 1993, she began one of the most thorough overhauls of a steam locomotive in modern times. Stripped of all running gear, tubes, electrical systems, bearings, pumps, stay bolts, and coal systems, she looked a bit forlorn. But, as newly manufactured and rebuilt equipment is added to the basic frame and boiler, the huge engine continued to take on a new life of her own. Boiler men, welders, electricians, and mechanics turned out flue sheets, pumps, fittings, and running gear to low tolerance specifications from raw material that made 4960 the queen of the United States steam fleet. No rebuilding in the past 45 years has been so complete. Franzen was in charge of this massive rebuilding project that spanned more that 24 months and expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ervin White supervised train operations.

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ReadMore - Amtrak Station & Model Railroad Museum

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This page last updated on 01/27/2018

(Fig. 01)

Description: Kingman has passenger rail service at its train station. It is served by the Amtrak Southwest Chief route, with daily service between Los Angeles and Chicago. The small Amtrak station in downtown Kingman (Fif. 01) is a historically significant building, constructed in Mission Revival Style architecture; however, prior to the establishment of Amtrak in 1971, the structure had fallen into disrepair with the decline of passenger rail service in the U.S. A total renovation of the building was completed in 2010. While still serving as a railroad station, the building is also now home to a model railroad museum (Fig. 02). Kingman also is located on the Southern Transcon route of the BNSF Railway. This is the main transcontinental route between Los Angeles and Chicago, and carries 100 to 150 freight trains per day.

(Fig. 02

(Fig. 03)

History:  Recent research shows that Kingman has had four railroad depots, all of which were operational prior to Arizona being admitted as the 48th State to the United States.  The first train to come to Kingman arrived on March 28, 1883. The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad used a boxcar then as a depot at the southeast corner of 4th and Front Streets (Andy Devine Ave.) until a proper depot was built.  All subsequent depots were constructed in the same location. The Second was built in 1885 and destroyed by fire in 1900.  The fire was said to have been caused by hot cinders from a passing steam engine. The Santa Fe Railway then built a single-story wooden depot in 1900 that looked similar to the current one, except that it did not have the ornate roof structures.  This new depot opened its doors in December.  It burned down on June 24, 1906, and again the fire was said to have been caused by hot cinders from a passing steam engine. After having lost the two previous depots to fire, the Santa Fe Railway built a new depot that was fireproof and constructed of concrete with a stucco siding. This was a success, as the depot that opened on July 22nd, 1907,  is still standing today (Fig. 01). By the early 2000's the depot was in disrepair. It was restored, and the building was reopened in the spring of 2011.  Although the station is an unmanned station (meaning there are no ticket agents or baggage services), Amtrak uses the west end of the building as a crew room and passenger waiting room for the two Amtrak trains that stop there daily.  At one end there is a 111 year old luggage cart is The larger portion of the building now houses the Kingman Railroad Museum and is used by the Whistle Stop Railroad Club twice monthly for their membership meetings.

(Fig. 04)

The Model Railroad Museum: The Whistle Stop Railroad Club Railroad Museum is located inside the train depot on Andy Devine, Historic Route 66, at Fourth street. It is in the east end of the building. The hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. The 14,500 square foot museum space showcases various relics, different types of model trains, and the history of trains here in Kingman. Built by the members of the Whistle Stop Railroad Club, there are three beautifully detailed model train set layouts, each of which that have several trains running. They include HO-gauge, Lionel O-gauge, and N-gauge. With the cooperation of the City of Kingman, the Whistle Stop Railroad Club operates and maintains the Kingman Railroad Museum. The club is comprised solely of volunteers who have a shared interest in the preservation of the historical depot, finding and obtaining railroad memorabilia, and in sharing their findings with the public. At this time, the volunteers of the club are revamping the HO layout by adding DCC wiring and making the Plexiglas walls around it to be more camera friendly. The N-gauge layout is also currently undergoing an expansion. As you enjoy the museum’s displays, the BNSF freight trains speed by the Museum’s floor-to-ceiling viewing windows (Fig. 05).

(Fig. 05)

The detail of these three layouts is absolutely amazing. The first one you see when you enter the room is a "HO" Layout (a scale of 1:87). HO was created after the First World War to make layouts more suitable for smaller home layouts and cheaper to manufacture. For this new scale, a track width of 16.5 mm was designed to represent prototypical standard gauge track, and a model gauge scale of 1:87 was chosen. This came on a raised, quasi-ballasted trak with a guage of 16.5 mm, which was described at that time as either 00 or HO. Accessory manufacturers, such as Kibri, marketed building in the corresponding scale. In figures 06, 07, & 08 below you can see a farm, a container shipyard and a trestle bridge and construction area. At the end there is even a section that shows the depot and an area of downtown Kingman (Fig. 09). Click on each picture to see more detail.

                                        

(Fig. 06)

(Fig. 07)

(Fig. 08)

(Fig. 09)

The second layout in the middle of the room is a "O" scale (1:48 to 1:43.5) (Fig. 10). By the 1930s three-rail alternating current "O" guage was the most common model railroad sale in the United States and remained so until the early 1960s. Even though its popularity declined due to the introduction of smaller scales, a number of changes in recent years have addressed the concerns of scale model railroaders, making "O" scale more popular. Due to its larger scale there are less tracks.  In spite of this, four trains run around the large mountain in the center and the detail is still quite amazing

(Fig. 10)

(Fig. 11)

(Fig. 12)

(Fig. 13)

(Fig.  14)

The third layout to the left rear of the room is an "N" scale layout, where the scale ranges from 1:148 to 1:160. In all cases, the gauge (the distance between the rails) is 9mm (or .354"). Height is a measurement of schedule; i.e. schedule 55 or 60 mil rail height with brow ties, while schedule 80 the rails are 80 mils and the ties are black. The advantage of the popular "N" scale is that it allows hobbyists to build layouts that take up less space than HO scale, or put longer track runs into the same amount of space, because the models are smaller (by nearly a half) than they are in HO scale. This layout was so large, it was hard to take it all in. The view in (Fig. 15) is only about half of this layout. The details, like those seen in Figures 18 and 19, provided by Robert Croke are just amazing. There was even one of a helicopter crash scene that show two people carrying an injured person down the hill (Fig. 20). We all really enjoyed our visit here and would definitely go back again if we were in the area again.
                                                       

(Fig. 15)

(Fig. 16)

(Fig. 17)

(Fig. 18) Picture courtesy of Robert Croke

(Fig. 19) Picture Courtesy of Robert Croke

(Fig. 20)

(Fig. 21)

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