Owner - John & Maida Bennett

Escape Junction was started in the spring of 2000 and consists of approximately 400 feet of track laid in 4 loops sited on a terrace 65 feet by 30 feet.

The first loop sets the theme of the railroad - the timber industry of the early 1900’s. This loop passes through a village and maintenance area before reaching a buffalo ranch, crossing a small river, passing through a tunnel and finishing at a saw mill and lumber yard on the outskirts of the village again.

The second year a larger outer loop was finished which encircles the entire layout and passes over two large curving trestles, passes through a rocky mountain tunnel, crosses a lift bridge, and circles around a country church and cemetery.

The following year the last two smaller loops were added. The shortest of these is a tourist train which circles a DRAGON preserve complete with a castle, knight, sorcerer, 11 resident dragons, and a pterodactyl. The last loop was converted to a point-to-point trolley line in 2005.

The New Orleans streetcar runs the length of the layout making several stops at the hotel, mansion and riverfront.

Escape Junction Railroad runs only LGB trains. The main village loop usually runs a Mogul pulling a Pennsy passenger train or a Forney pulling a logging train. The sweeping outer loop carries the Orient Express powered by an articulated Mallet engine. The New York Central F-7 diesel passenger train runs on this loop also. On special occasions, the Bennets run the LGB Rio Grande K-28 Mikado or the LGB Shay.

The railroad terrace is surrounded by woods consisting of dogwoods (in gorgeous bloom in Mid-April), oak, hickories, and a mimosa shading the church and village. Most of the plantings in the layout are dwarf Alberta Spruce, dwarf Crepe Myrtles, and groundcovers to continue the forest theme.