Our second layout tour is a visit to Allen (Shorty) Parker's beautiful HO scale layout. Shorty has built a Pennsylvania Railroad themed, Northwestern PA-ish layout in his basement. I was tipped off by Bill Schopf (see his layout tour video!) that Shorty was contemplating dismantling the layout in the near future. Bill said that someone MUST document his layout, as it is just too nice to have no visual record for posterity.
I was able to arrange a visit and the layout absolutely is a site to behold! It is magnificent! Shorty is a master craftsman and has built some gorgeous structures and scenes. His model of the coal loader at Sandusky, Ohio is the most impressive model I have ever seen. It is an award winning work of art.
Unfortunately I am NOT a professional video maker. I did the best I could with the equipment (or lack thereof!) I have. Due to the ambient light I had to shoot at f2.8 and ISO 800, so the video quality isn't the best. I also tried to keep the camera movements smooth, but please excuse me if the movements are a bit quick. I did try to correct for the lighting in post processing.
You will hear Shorty and I conversing throughout the video. Hopefully it isn't too distracting. I was torn between capturing the video and enjoying the layout and talking with Shorty!
Shorty tells me Model Railroader is planning to come and video the layout, but there is a two (2) year wait! Well, the layout may not be around then. So I tried my best to make a good video so we all have documentation of this wonderful model railroad. If MR is smart they will get out here asap and make a professional video of Shorty's layout!
Look for a follow-on video that will include more detail on the coal loader. Shorty gave me a wonderful review of how it works, operation of the loader, etc. It amounts to roughly 20 minutes so I decided to make it a separate video as this tour video is nearly an hour long as it is!
Sit back and enjoy. Trust me, you will not be disappointed with Shorty's layout!
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