Hamtramck Mi USA - (In Progress) - Thistle Modelmakers Society

View of the RH end of the layout. Posing is a CN SD40-2W #5271 with 2 Canadian Wheat Board and 1 Government of Canada grain hoppers. It is pushing this cut of cars back toward the grain unloading shed.

Hamtramck (pronounced Ham-tram-ick) is an HO scale USA-set layout being built by Thistle ModelMakers Society. It is set in the town of Hamtramck Michigan, which is bordered pretty much entirely by the city of Detroit, famous as the “Motor City”. The layout is a work in progress and measures 20′ x 5′.

Despite Detroit’s industrial decline, there are still several auto manufacturers present (including GM who have an assembly plant in Hamtramck itself).

The scenario here is that a nearby industrial site has recently been developed with money from Hamtramck and Detroit’s local govts to create jobs. Thanks to President Trump’s ongoing trade war against the EU , Mercedes Benz have opened up shop in Hamtramck.

*SD40-2W running on the layout during our current testing phase of wiring and track.* *At the far end you can see the Mercedes Benz Auto plant, with the loading/unloading ramps currently kept safe under a custom made box.*

The industrial park connects to Canadian National Railway (CN)/Grand Trunk (GT)’s East Yard and Conrail shared assets south yard. CN engines are the main power at the site with the occasional visits from Norfolk Southern (NS) and CSX via the Shared Assets yard. Industries include:

– Mercedes Benz assembly plant. Boxcars bring vehicle bodies and Autoracks take away the finished vehicles.

– Packaging plant.

– Oil terminal – ethanol

– Grain elevator – grain from rural Michigan and Ontario is stored here for cross country markets.

– Print distribution.

Ballasting continues, after months of development of custom magnetic un-couplers for use with American Kadee Buckeye couplings.

Print distribution unloading shed, built by a different newer member. This is also one of his first forays into kitbashing in plastic, though he has done some neat kitbashing with metcalfe card kits for his home layout before!

The layout is to include a unique feature – autoracks with automatically opening doors, that will allow vehicles fitted with the Faller Road system to drive inside, before the doors are closed and the wagons hauled away!