About the Atlantic & Great Western

I am the only one I know of modeling a large Class One Proto-freelanced railway. I have been modeling the Atlantic and Great Western for over 40 years. My friends accept it as a real railroad. They have even had T-shirts made. Some have even counterfeited A&GW stock to try a hostile takeover. I’m very happy they have enjoyed and jumped on board the concept.

My A&GW is an 18,000-mile line stretching from the Atlantic coast to the Missouri River and Gulf of Mexico and is set in the 1980’s. I only model a small portion, from Chicago to Milwaukee, Madison and Green Bay. This allows me to have a variety of modern power and cars. All the A&GW power is custom painted with DCC and sound. Some pool power from the UP and SSW can be seen.

The layout is double deck occupying a 2600 sq. ft. basement. It is walk around with no duckunders. The two decks are connected in the middle with two wyes and a helix. The perspective of the upper level is the same when operating the lower level in a chair.

The A&GW operates 55 trains and switch jobs out of five yards. The trains are spread over two 4-hour operating sessions representing AM and PM.

The Port of Milwaukee, Miller Brewing, Champion Paper, Kelloggs, USP Glass, Fox River Stone, Heartland Ethanol, Cascade Lumber and Great Western Malting are the major on-line industries. These industries all have their own Industrial switchers. Customers also include three power plants, and the Illinois Junction Railway which serves Illinois Steel.

The Wisconsin Shortline also has its own line and some trackage rights on the A&GW. It runs from Milwaukee to Dubuque, Iowa. It was dormant for many years until the Farmers Co-Op bought the line and refurbished it. It is almost all agricultural-based with some zinc processing, and it operates with all second-hand Alco and GE locomotives.

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