John Armstrong (model Railroader) - Writing and Memberships

Writing and Memberships

Armstrong wrote many books and articles on the subject of railroading and model railroading. And his own model railroad, the Canandaigua Southern, was the subject of many newspaper and magazine articles by other writers.

In the late 1940s, Armstrong submitted a track plan to a contest sponsored by the magazine Model Railroader. His plan was so successful that it led to an invitation to contribute an article to the magazine on the Canandaigua Southern, which appeared in 1946. He remained a regular writer for the magazine, contributing 76 articles, including his last article 'Main line through the mountains', which was published posthumously in the April 2005 issue.

He also served for ten years as an associate editor of Railway Age magazine.

Armstrong's HO scale track plan books served as the introduction for generations of model railroaders to the principles of layout design.

He also held at least four patents.

Armstrong was well known in the model railroad community in part through his memberships in the National Model Railroad Association, the Capital Area O Scalers and the Lexington Group. He was named to the O Scale Hall of Fame in 1998. He was a two-time recipient of the National Model Railroad Association's Distinguished Service Award, in 1968 and 1997, and was named an NMRA Pioneer of Model Railroading in 2001.