We are so fortunate to live so close to so many wonderful layouts. And one of the finest you might ever see is that created by artist Howard Zane in Columbia, Maryland. HARM member and longtime operator at Howard’s, Fred Eisen, arranged for several of us to visit his home and layout on Sunday, March 8, 2020. Of course, before we could do any model railroading, we had to meet for lunch at a local sub and pizza shop. HARM runs on their stomachs. HARM members that attended included Dave R, Bob U, Scott M, Bill F, Harry I (and friend from NJ), Jeff D, and Scott W. When you first enter Howard’s home, you are greeted by walls of floor to ceiling display cases of brass locomotives of all types in HO and O scales. It is just an overwhelming sight to behold. Also on the main floor of the house is his workshop with several desks where Howard builds, paints, and details locomotives, rolling stock and structures. Once down into the basement, you see that the model railroad encompasses all but the aisle ways of his basement in three distinct “rooms”. Some of the space is original to the home, while other spaces have been added on over the years. Howard has also rebuilt several of the sections and reconfigured track and scenery. Speaking of scenery, it extends from the facia to the ceiling in most places and presents a nice backdrop to the layout. You really feel as though you are in a mountain valley. Howard’s structures are exquisite, with details galore to bring them to life. You can really tell that Howard enjoys hosting groups at his home and enjoys talking about his layout, experiences, and model railroading in general. He was not too mobile today, recovering from recent knee surgery. If you ever get a chance to visit this layout, jump at the opportunity! The pictures below really don’t do the layout justice, but enjoy anyway.
If you would like to see more pictures from our other visit to Howard Zane’s layout, CLICK HERE.
