Spotlight Archive

 

The Spotlight is where we highlight fun and interesting railroad-related photos or information.  We have archived them here so you can find something you remember seeing or discover things you have missed.

The San Juan Central

[January 2026]

As a teenaged aspiring model railroader in the 1980s, Malcom Furlow was my idea of the ultimate model railroader.  The first time I saw his work in the November 1983 Model Railroader magazine I was blown away.   The level of detail and artistry in his models were unlike anything I had seen before and were what I aspired to be able to do one day.

A few months ago, I visited the California State Railroad Museum (CSRM) in Sacramento for the first time and was thrilled to see Furlow’s San Juan Central as part of the "The Magic of Scale Model Railroading” exhibit organized by the CSRM and National Model Railroad Association (NMRA).  Seeing this layout in person let me better appreciate how well he captured both small details and the overall feel of the place in a small space.

For those who aren’t familiar with it, in the early 1980s Malcolm Furlow published a series of articles in Model Railroader explaining how he designed and built a new Hon3 scale layout, the San Juan Central.   The fictional railroad was based on the narrow gauge railroads of the Rocky Mountains and Desert Southwest and made me feel like I was really there.

Here are a few photos of the exhibit from my visit.  The quality isn’t great as I took them with my phone, but as the saying goes, “The best camera is the one you have with you.”

Text and photos by the LA Division Webmaster, Mark Fischer, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

John Parrish's Modules

[December 2025]

Click on a photo to read John's description of the photo and how he made it.

Los Angeles Division member John Parrish shared these photos of some of his work.  The first four photos were taken outdoors on HO scale modules that John built as part of the former Green River Junction Modular Railroad.  John positioned the boards and backdrop outside at the same time of day as the backdrop photo positioned them so that the shadows on the module and the backdropped matched each other.  This attention to detail helps increase the realism of the photos.  The outdoor photos were taken with a Canon PowerShot SX20IS digital camera on a tripod.  The last photo was taken indoors on John’s "Great Southwest and Pacific Railroad" layout using a film camera.

John is a member of the Santa Susana Modular Railroad in Simi Valley.  He is on Facebook with a number of western railroads (UP, SP, ATSF, BNSF, WP and Rio Grande) that display both models and/or prototypes.  You can e-mail john at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Slim Gauge Guild

[November 2025]

The Slim Gauge Guild is a model railroad club in downtown Pasadena focused on modeling narrow-gauge trains in the Rocky Mountains. It features two separate layouts built in different scales in a 2,000 square foot space. The HOn3 layout is based on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad and the Rio Grande Southern and focuses on modeling specific prototype scenes. The Sn3 layout is more freelanced. The mainline is loosely modeled on the Colorado and Southern and the highline is based on northern California lumber companies.

The Slim Gauge Guild is located in the basement of 300 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, CA 91105. Their web site, http://www.slimgaugeguild.com, has more information. The Guild is looking for new members. If you are interested, stop by to visit them during their Tuesday night weekly meetings.

You can find links to The Slim Gauge Guild and other local model railroading clubs and groups on our "Fun Stuff" page.

Modelers' Image Archive

Prior generations of the web site included a collection of photos of model trains built, photographed or both by Los Angeles Division members.  To make sure those gems were not lost, we are including them here for people to continue to enjoy.