The "Model Train of the Year"... or something like that...

Time Magazine has its Person of the Year, therefore we shall have the Model Train of the Year.

Their choice of PotY is always characteristic of that person's impact on the year's events. In 2023, the choice was surely clear. For us, when evaluating the various model railroad projects I've taken on at my leisure, the choice couldn't be clearer. 

Since 2019, ECHOES, the East Coast HO Exhibitors Society, has displayed at Pinecrest Gardens on a new, sweet, extended arrangement for their holiday-themed Nights of Lights festival. Gone was the short opening weekend stint that usually happened on the second weekend of December. Our display time and scope swelled up like a sweet tooth only would during the Holidays into a three week affair. The two end-loops with five lucky 2'x4' modules turned into a much more appreciable fraction of our maximum possible footprint. Our Nights of Lights display has become the marquee event, trumping the annual Harvest Festival that has all but faded into obscurity. You can partially thank COVID for that, though.

Running trains for three weeks straight can be a bit of a bore. Well, first of all, we do it in shifts, and the increase in membership year-to-year has helped ease up the load. Adding a little theming helps this rather greatly.

The club acquired a Toy Story themed train in 2019 which was a bit of a hit as it was. Since 2023 though, we really stepped up our game. A Polar Express train complete with Pere Marquette 1225 makes its rounds and a commissioned Amazon Prime intermodal train also shares the rails. 

The individual members have taken to running their own special trains, myself included. The ease of setting up and packing up intermodal trains due to the many 3-in-1 boxing arrangements made several stack trains a staple. Every year, on my end, it is the latest iteration of the FEC Port Miami train, or PM1, which is a daily turn job between Hialeah and Port Miami. the limited capacity in the layout keeps me disciplined at a very familiar number of platforms: 18. It is a multiple of 3, convenient for the 53' wells, and two strings of 9 fit the portion of the club's T-yard that is brought out for this event. Sometimes, I'll throw in some 40' deep wells as well which may adjust the count, but the system for this train is something that can be efficiently understood and repeated.

Case in point, the 2021 version and 2023 versions, videotaped below.

Unit trains are popular subjects due to their own easiness of packing, unpacking, and setup. Coal and ethanol from many members have made their appearances. In my case, this year and last saw a guaranteed ethanol train. Why complicate things when there's more than enough in a 64Q tote bucket?

Every year, I also like to highlight an impactful train, often reflective of my recent railfanning experiences. Without even realizing it, this tradition dated back to 2019. With 2020 excluded due to COVID, I will highlight and ultimately reveal, for 2023, the "train of the year" designees and roughly when they were run:

• 2019: Mixed and matched with the CSX F749 local (now L245) based off of Acca Yard in Richmond, VA. Since this was our first go with the tight end loops, using a local that often was powered by SD40-2s, whilst being predominantly short boxcars and covered hoppers, made for a convenient move. But in 2019, I had just come back from Virginia after a very nice cold weather chase of F749 on the Hopewell Subdivision, with two SD40 variants pulling. Model what we see. This ran throughout the three week event, where I ran just about every other day.
• 2021: Nothing too direct, but that was the year I had an early copy of ScaleTrains' run of CSX 4042, the "Yellow Plow", which was an extension of their recent squarecab run. Nonetheless inspired by an entire stint of seeing the 4042 throughout the Florida Business Unit. It was Miami's captive locomotive for two months. This train ran on Christmas Day to preserve the secret (no other ECHOES members; I volunteered to man the layout solo)
• 2022: FEC's 5AM (now 7PM) Medley industrial job. That year I got them at varying points of the day, handled often by relief crews due to the shakeups that happened with the railway. Two remarkable late afternoon catches stand out, though neither were reflected fully in this run; it was a more generic edition of the yard job. It was the first time my two FEC retro blue GP40-2s ran together, after frying 419's decoder and not wanting to touch it for a year. How superstitious I can be. Ran on New Year's Eve.

We finally reveal this year's TOTY:

• 2023: CSX Y322 Downtown Spur Switcher. The renewed legacy dates back to last December, when I got a rather late version of it switching Miami Iron in daylight, which can be arguably deemed a coveted shot. This year I had the honor of visiting Lance Mindheim's layout twice.  Also, the GP38-3 rebuild of CSXT 2009 was completed, its nose wrecked when trying to take it to Lance's layout, and ultimately repaired with improved LED placement. Add on a slightly upgraded GP39-2 model from Atlas Trainman, which was a South Florida mainstay for about a month (CSXT 4310). Two additional kitbashes of the Miami Iron and Metal scrap gondolas were completed this year. Lance Mindheim also interviewed on three podcast episodes showcasing this style. The Miami Industrial vibe is still "in" and will be for years to come. It goes without saying that the train therefore got my nomination for "Train of the Year" in 2023.

Video of this year's run is here:

Happy New Year.