Content on this page was provided by Gaylord Gill
The Buffalo & Chautauqua is Gaylord Gill’s S scale representation of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Northern Division in 1953. The layout is centered on PRR’s Babcock Street yard in Buffalo, NY, and trains run southeast along the Buffalo Main towards Emporium, PA. In the other direction, trains run southwest on the Chautauqua Branch as far as Brocton, NY. The layout is built for operations, with a single-track mainline in a point-to-point configuration. The 320’ mainline terminates at each end in hidden reversing loops. The loco’s are powered by NCE’s DCC system with wireless controllers. The trackwork is code 100, minimum radius is 43”, and maximum grade is 2%. Besides the information on this page, you can find additional stats and photos of Gaylord’s work at the NASG Layouts page: http://www.nasg.org/Layouts/S/indexGillGaylordYBuffalo___Chautauqua.php
An overview of Gaylord’s Buffalo & Chautauqua S scale layout. The benchwork extends around the walls of the basement, and Gaylord has painted his backdrops directly on the wall. Nine control panels permit electrical routing of turnouts.
PRR’s Babcock Street yard is the centerpiece of the B&C. This trestle supports one entry to the double-ended yard, which consists of seven tracks at its widest. The yard features an icing platform, concrete coaling tower, diesel servicing and a nine-stall roundhouse.
At the center of Babcock St yard, Gaylord is constructing a pedestrian walkway for the PRR employees to get to the engine servicing facilities. This is a kit-bashing project, with components from six manufacturers being combined into a unique structure.
The countryside along the Buffalo Main is typical of rural New York State. As a result of storm damage along its Buffalo to Salamanca line, this eastbound Baltimore & Ohio train temporarily has trackage rights on the PRR main.
We reach Olean, NY, where this SW-1 switcher (or “shifter” in PRR terms) gets ready to sort a cut of cars from the arriving freight train. This smaller yard is also double-ended, with a passing siding to facilitate routing of opposing traffic.
Olean yard at twilight, showing the sanding tower and the 100T coaling station. Gaylord has recently been adding lights to his structures, and these goose-neck units come pre-wired with micro LEDs. Although designed for HO, they look great for S.
Back in Buffalo, there’s plenty of activity at the Pennsy’s Seneca Street freight house. Gaylord constructed the 400’ structure from HO modular components, supplemented by cornice and pilaster pieces he duplicated with his own molds.
Heading southwest out of Buffalo stands FW tower. Gaylord mostly scratch-built the tower using walls and windows that were laser-cut by Jamie Bothwell. A construction article on the project appeared in the March 2021 Railroad Model Craftsman.
Near the New York Central interchange at Dunkirk, a work train prepares to hoist the derailed end of a flat car back onto the tracks. This photo appeared on the cover of S Gaugian, along with an article Gaylord wrote about the work train that Roger Jensen had built for him.
The Buffalo & Chautauqua is Gaylord Gill’s S scale representation of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Northern Division in 1953. The layout is centered on PRR’s Babcock Street yard in Buffalo, NY, and trains run southeast along the Buffalo Main towards Emporium, PA. In the other direction, trains run southwest on the Chautauqua Branch as far as Brocton, NY. The layout is built for operations, with a single-track mainline in a point-to-point configuration. The 320’ mainline terminates at each end in hidden reversing loops. The loco’s are powered by NCE’s DCC system with wireless controllers. The trackwork is code 100, minimum radius is 43”, and maximum grade is 2%. Besides the information on this page, you can find additional stats and photos of Gaylord’s work at the NASG Layouts page: http://www.nasg.org/Layouts/S/indexGillGaylordYBuffalo___Chautauqua.php
An overview of Gaylord’s Buffalo & Chautauqua S scale layout. The benchwork extends around the walls of the basement, and Gaylord has painted his backdrops directly on the wall. Nine control panels permit electrical routing of turnouts.
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PRR’s Babcock Street yard is the centerpiece of the B&C. This trestle supports one entry to the double-ended yard, which consists of seven tracks at its widest. The yard features an icing platform, concrete coaling tower, diesel servicing and a nine-stall roundhouse.
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At the center of Babcock St yard, Gaylord is constructing a pedestrian walkway for the PRR employees to get to the engine servicing facilities. This is a kit-bashing project, with components from six manufacturers being combined into a unique structure.
The countryside along the Buffalo Main is typical of rural New York State. As a result of storm damage along its Buffalo to Salamanca line, this eastbound Baltimore & Ohio train temporarily has trackage rights on the PRR main. |
We reach Olean, NY, where this SW-1 switcher (or “shifter” in PRR terms) gets ready to sort a cut of cars from the arriving freight train. This smaller yard is also double-ended, with a passing siding to facilitate routing of opposing traffic.
Olean yard at twilight, showing the sanding tower and the 100T coaling station. Gaylord has recently been adding lights to his structures, and these goose-neck units come pre-wired with micro LEDs. Although designed for HO, they look great for S. |
Back in Buffalo, there’s plenty of activity at the Pennsy’s Seneca Street freight house. Gaylord constructed the 400’ structure from HO modular components, supplemented by cornice and pilaster pieces he duplicated with his own molds.
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Heading southwest out of Buffalo stands FW tower. Gaylord mostly scratch-built the tower using walls and windows that were laser-cut by Jamie Bothwell. A construction article on the project appeared in the March 2021 Railroad Model Craftsman.