You are here: WNB Home Page > 2-Society Information
Contents This Page:
- 1. Club Contacts (below)
- Members Phones / Mailing Address
- 2. Society Objectives (below)
- New Members Wanted / Mission Statement
- 3. Alex Landesco Layout History (below)
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Railroad Historical Society (WNBRRHS) P.O. Box 392, Picture Rocks, Pa 17762-0392 (570) 584-2066 (Ron Gardner, Treasurer) Internet Address: www.track2.com/wnb |
The Williamsport & North Branch Railroad Historical Society (WNBRRHS or WNB for short) needs new members to accomplish its objectives. Interested persons are invited to attend several meetings or events to "get a feel" for the group before joining.
The WNB is a small group of dedicated members, committed to preserving items of railroad history, and advancing the science of model railroading of all scales,within Lycoming County. Current projects include the following:
- Restoration, preservation, and operation of the historic Alex Landesco HO Pennsylvania Model RR
- Restoration of the Weigh Station used in Hughesville by the Williamsport & North Branch RR
- Operation of the Society's HO modules at selected shows.
- Future Project: Construction of a model of the Williamsport & North Branch railroad from Halls Station to Sattersfield, when space for a layout is obtained.
Scales: The weight station is full scale. The Landesco layout and modules are HO scale. Some members also operate or collect G, N, O, and S scales.
The 13 photos on Pages 3 and 4 of this website are part of a story of model railroad history. These photos show the 10' x 56' HO scale PRR layout-in-a-trailer, built in the 1960's by the late Alex Landesco.This layout is currently being restored by the Williamsport & North Branch Railroad Historical Society. The layout is located at the Lycoming County Fairgrounds in Hughesville, Pennsylvania. The public can see it in operation on selected occasions when the fairgrounds are open.
Alex Landesco worked in Defense Contracting with with RCA. Alex had built a previous permanent layout, which he later had to tear down when his job required that he move. He decided to build his second layout in a trailer, so that the layout could move with him.This unique layout has been featured several times during the Sixties in Railroad Model Craftsman magazine. After his death in early 1980's, the trailer sat unused, in Toms River, NJ for fourteen years.
Our Treasurer, Ron Gardener, found a notice of the layout's availability on the internet. Through the generousity of Alex's heirs, the Williamsport & North Branch Historical Society acquired this trailer layout, and moved it in May 1996 to the Lycoming County Fairgrounds in Hughesville, Pennsylvania.
The layout features several of the
original scratch built structures, including the freelanced
Altoona Station shown at left. In July of 1997, our
Treasurer met Alex Landesco Jr. for the first time. Alex
Jr., with extreme generosity, donated for display several
additional pieces of his fathers layout, including several
brass items, cars, and a scratch-built fully detailed
maintenance shop. This layout has been open to the
public on several occasions since its acquisition in May
1996.
