Police Athletic League or PAL 1950s Edgerton Park Four Seasons Layouts in Rochester, NY - Reviewed with photos and video links

Thanks for all the info... 

Mark in Oregon 

It looks like there is no Lionel track at all anymore - all GarGraves & K-Line Super K.

Yes most of the original Lionel track has been replaced in the updates of recent years, most by donations of track by producers.

Charlie

Charlie; thanks for posting this info and providing me a virtual kick in the pants!

Visiting the Edgerton layouts has been on my bucket list since I re-entered the hobby in 1989.  Unfortunately I’ve not had any opportunity to be in the Rochester area over the last 30 years.  With retirement occurring May 31; maybe I can finally find the time during one of our PA family visits to make the trip up to Rochester.

Curt

There are tours the last Saturday of each month and most weekends during the Christmas holiday season.

http://www.edgertonmodelrailro...m/page10/page10.html

Wow, I love that the four layouts are independent, and yet connect to one another.  How large is the whole room??

Definitely worth a visit whenever they have an open house. There are separate viewing areas for each section rather than one big room.

Jim McC.

Ted S

Thanks for the question on room size.  Fortunately I have both CTT and one OGR magazines issues and it took two to find some answers.

I do not have the size of the PAL Building BUT I have the room plot picture which is probably not to scale and shown below.  It is from CTT Aug 1991 and the size of each layout from OGR Oct 1989, run 107.

Summer - 24ft x 16ft,             Spring  - 26ft x 8ft,        

Fall - 27ft x 8ft,                         Winter - 22ft x 8ft

The room sizes are larger than the layouts and there are open areas for people to view the layouts in each room.  But you can get the idea of how big the rooms are.

Charlie

Looks like the overall dimensions of the combined layouts occupy about 50 x 25.  If the grey is walking area, then obviously the room is much larger than that.  How I WISH I had that much space!!

What a unique and historic layout.  If I ever make it up to Rochester this is a must-see!!

Like the others, my exposure to the PAL layouts came through my little Bantam book. There was a magic and charm seen in those pictures of that layout that was in my Bantam book. Loved it. It's heartening to see that the layouts continue on!

Andre

I get to the port of Rochester at least twice a year and I've visited the club a number of times in the last several years.  Nice bunch of guys in the club, very welcoming.  The backdrops are still original as is most of the harbor scene.  It's definitely a must see if you get to that area.

I have wondered if the turntable on the PAL layout Summer layout was hooked up and operable.  I know the turntable on the famous Lionel 1949 Showroom layout and the 1993 version in Jackson, MS were not hooked up or workable.

I watched the PAL 60th Anniversary and story link 3:43 min video of 2010 layout linked below

           https://www.youtube.com/watch?...amp;feature=youtu.be     

The following pictures were taken off my laptop screen from the above.

The first shows the almost never seen, in pictures or videos, the PAL turntable and part of the control panel, which a classic track diagram with control switches on it.  Do not know why the TT and Round House on the PAL Summer layout are usually missing in action in the CTT, OGR and PAL pictures and videos.  But maybe I am just too much interested in TT and RHs, my favorites areas of 50s era layouts.

The second picture shows the upper left area of the control panel with where the turntable and round house controls are.  It shows a large, dark circular knob of the turntable and round house selector switch and a turntable and roundhouse track power switch to the right of it.  I conclude that at least the 2010 version of the PAL layout had a operating turntable and round house.

Charlie                                

I am so glad these layouts still exist. Thank you to all responsible for keeping this historic display operating. To me the original layouts were if the Lionel catalog had come to life. Thanks again.

Thank you for all the updated info!

Peter

Here are some more pictures from the PAL layout as featured Classic Toy Trains Aug 1991.

Wish I could go see the layouts.

Charlie

My favorite OGR magazine is Oct 1989 run 107 with Fred Doles article on Edgerton Park Train Exhibit about the Police Academy League community model train layout, with the four layouts, one for each season, which is the topic of this old post.

I still love it and all your comments.

Charlie

I wonder if any of you OGR forumites have visited the PAL layouts this summer.  I would love to go see it.

Charlie

I was a member of the club during the early 1990s, and my father was their Secretary. He is even mentioned in one of the articles (OGR or CTT) as being absent the day they sent the photographer to the club for the picture. Someday soon when I am back in town I hope to take my son to see the layouts.

I wish somebody could take those earlier videos and assemble them into a commercial video and I would be first in line to buy one.

You can find many videos of Edgerton on youtube by searching on Edgerton Train Layouts. The club has made a lot of improvements over the past few years to the scenery and wiring. Also the original backdrops have been professionally restored thanks to donations from generous benefactors.

Pete

@juniata guy posted:

..maybe I can finally find the time during one of our PA family visits to make the trip up to Rochester.

Thanks Rob!

Curt

The PAL layouts are some neat postwar layouts most will enjoy.  Time to share them with newer forum members.

Charlie

Here's the link to their website again.  Tours monthly on Saturdays.

https://www.edgertonmodelrailr...m/page10/page10.html

@Choo Choo Charlie posted:

The PAL layouts are some neat postwar layouts most will enjoy.  Time to share them with newer forum members.

Charlie

Agreed! The were part of the PostWar Lionel history!

Peter

I believe I read that Arthur Zirul of the1949 Lionel showroom layout team had a part in the planning of the PAL layouts. If so, they are connected “genetically”!!  I never saw the 1949 showroom layout but living in the Rochester NY area, I did see the PAL layouts as originally built in the mid 1950’s.

The first edition of that 1950s Bantam book that prominently featured the PAL layout was my "bible" to the hobby when I was a boy in that period. I still have my original dog-eared version, and I pretty much regard it as the most highly-treasured volume in my extensive collection of prototype and model railroading books.

Allan & others

I am with you, as a kid I too had a copy of the 1950s “Model Railroading” Bantam Book I used to drool over and learned about the PAL layouts.  It is long gone but I now have a 3rd and 5th editions.

I also loved the 1949 Lionel Showroom layout on the back of a Lionel train catalog and visited the 1970s rebuilt version in Jackson MS.  These are some of the better historic layouts of old that inspired many of us years ago.  I treasure the old issues of CTT and OGR train magazines that have great articles on both.

Charlie

Let us hear from you if you have a favorite Season of the four seasons layouts of the PAL layouts.

My favorite layout is the Summer layout for several reasons.

One is it is an L shape which I like for the interesting ways the train can be run.

Two is the turntable as I love TTs.

Third, is the multi levels with two levels plus a underneath trolley line, viewed through a glass window on the original layout, but it has been terminates in the in the modern layout Fall scene.

Fourth, I like the bridges added to the modern layout.

Fifth, is the railroad yard.

Sixth is the loops on the track plan with interconnections between loops.

And seventh is the harbor scene with ships in the modern layout.

I would be very happy to have the Summer layout as my home layout.

I know it is hard to get a much real information from the limited details I provided above and I had the advantage of having OGR  number 107 issue with Fred Doles great PAL article.

Charlie

I still have my tattered original book plus a better later edition. We sure did drool over those pages.

The PAL layouts had very interesting idea of making four layouts, in four rooms, one for each season and all different.  They are connected with a track going from one layout to another so they can share trains.  It is great that they still exist and can be visited in Rochester, New York.

Charlie