ProRail 2026

This past week was the 29th ProRail operating weekend, held this year in northern New Jersey.  I enjoyed myself operating on four excellent layouts — no surprise — and we even had some nice weather, far from guaranteed in New jersey springtime.

The first day was a bonus session, outside the regular schedule, held at John Rogers’ relatively new Maine Central layout. He’s setting it in 1925, a time when railroads were strong and profitable and had extensive passenger service. I worked as the Bangor yardmaster, and in the photo below, John himself was giving us pointers on how the yard operates (that’s the yard engine in the foreground). I was quite impressed by how much John has built in a relatively brief time, and things went smoothly. 

That evening, I participated in one of ProRail’s long-standing traditions, attending a baseball game. It was a minor-league game, which are always enjoyable in smaller stadiums (someone described it as “how baseball was meant to be”). We watched the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs play the Durham (NC) Bulls, members of the Triple-A International League. Lovely stadium  in Allentown, PA as the sunset faded. 

The next day I was at  Dave Abeles’ Onondaga Cutoff, modeling Conrail mainline action in 1990. It’s a fast-paced and impressive layout. During most of the session, Seth Neumann and I did the branchline switching job with Morristown & Erie Alco power, a lot of fun away from the speedy main line. In the shot below, Seth has our train at CP 294, ready to enter Conrail’s yard with our cars.  

The following day was the highlight of the event for me, operating on Tony Koester’s Nickel Plate Road layout. I was the Eastbound Yardmaster at large and busy Frankfort Yard, ably mentored by Fred Wall, who often does that job. We just about kept ahead of the flow, an intense experience but truly fun. Here is how that yard looks from where I worked.

Finally, on the last day I got to operate on Jerry Dziedzic’s Susquehanna. It’s a large layout that kept a big crew busy. Below are Rich Remiarz at left, working with Seth Neumann at Unionville on a local freight. 

What an excellent weekend! Many old friends to renew connection with, gorgeous layouts, and a well-organized event. Not a surprise, the same can be said of most ProRail events, but this was right up there with the best of the ones I’ve been to.

Tony Thompson