21st century great train layouts part 3 is the third installment of tm's new layout series anther great video of this series there are three layout stories in this one while the other two had four stories but it's three in this one due to the spectacular layout that captures the state of Montana another great video of this series

Additional remarks by chris collins:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? Definitely!
Image quality: Excellent!
DVD Value: Excellent Value!
Recommend to others? A "Must Have"!

In part 3 of this series from 2018, it starts with the layout of Karl Andrews which is narrated by Joe Stachler. Karl lives in South haven Michigan. For power, he uses lionel train master command control, several post-war transformers, 135 watt power bricks, and a remote control that came with an MTH started set. For accessories, there is a mi-jack intermodal crane, multiple billboards, the lionel ice loading depot from the MPC era, the diesel refueling station, oil refineries from shell, the welcome to lionelville water tower, the nifty 50s diner that uses a southern coach, several glass made buildings, the custom made rotary dumper which Besides real lionel coal, he uses Kellogg's cocoa krispies On other custom made accessories in the industrial part of the layout, couple of modern era buildings by menard, animatronic trucks, wind turbines, a k-line speeder shed, the lionel animated freight station from 1992, a helicopter shed, the 164 log loader, custom made log cabins, a tower crane, more special sounds that were forced on special micro-chips, the lionel 282R gantry crane, storefront buildings, a gas station, the pedestrian bridge, a sand tower, the 132 station with the 157 platform, the water tower, the switch tower, a track gang, & a custom made turntable. On the 2 level dog bone layout, The trains on Karl's layout includes a Santa Fe warbonet on a freight, the Amtrak ACS 64, an articulated Pennsylvania 2-8-8-2, a blue Baltimore & Ohio Pacific, a miniature Pennsylvania GP7, the GP9 railscope, a trolley on the K-Line super streets, the Jersey central blue comet, the Pennsylvania turbine, a Santa Fe warbonet F3, and a couple of other identified steam engines in the turntable area. There are specialty marked switches at various points around the layout. You won't believe how many figurines there are on Karl's layout. For track, he uses gargraves and would only run 2 trains at a time on the independent loops. There are also scratched built wooden bridges on the layout.

Halfway between the 14 minute & 15 minute marks of this program, the TMBV crew heads to prewar standard gauge layout of Larry Poland which is narrated by producer Tom McComas. Before getting into standard gauge as a kid, he always wanted set number 1089 on his 8th Christmas. And since then Larry collected not only lionel trains, but also catalogs. A vintage photograph of Larry's wedding is included as well as joining the TCA in 1979 which started in post-war, later prewar O gauge, and now he is a full standard gauge collector. The standard gauge layout includes a pair of trolleys, a 4-4-0 Pennsylvania steamer, the Milwaukee road Hiawatha hudson from 2001, an electric red and black 408E on the black diamond with custom made coaches from John Daniels & JAD lines, a mine train, the green state set, the ives 4-4-2 on a freight, an NYC&HRRR 4-4-0 which has since been restored, note the front bogey derailed as it rolls down the track, & a brown state set. The basement is measured at 1000 square feet, as the layout itself is measured 35 feet long, one end at 16 feet, and one more end is at 10 feet. Accessories includes the hell gate bridges, the 1045 switch man, the 840 powerhouse, a billboard, tunnels, and tinplate made buildings with troops on the layout. Plus there is a carnival, a military camp, and a downtown district, the remote control airfield, streetlamps, and signals. For power, Larry uses the lionel ZW, a pair of Lionel Z transformers, a modern CW-80 watt transformer, the MTH DCS, and a few power bricks, with an iPad mini. There is also some riding footage on the layout. The benchwork on the layout was customized by Mianne. There are also some building photos of the layout. Like the previous segment, there are a lot of people on the layout. Larry used to work at Hollywood for a consultant at nearly 40 years of his life. Some of the special effects on the layout includes a tinplate building on fire, a water fountain, and a hobo campfire. On the bonus segment, there is the freight yard with electrics, a Marx litho station, the Dorfan crane, the bell telephone yard, the fort elwayne US army base during the first world war, the carnival with a Ferris wheel and a carousel, plus game booths, & a children's ride, plus a Ringling brothers billboard, a church by lemax, the diner, a lionel double union station, central park with a water fountain by lemax, the down town district with buildings made out of fiber board, and the 840 power station in its original shape.

Halfway between the 28 and 29 minute mark of this program, there is one more layout to visit: John & Connie Coy's glacier line themed layout in Montana. This is the longest segment in part 3 of this series. A photo sign of The izaak Walton Inn is shown. For track, they used gargraves. One of the crew members that worked for the layout is Gregg Burks, plus Christopher Toncheff, and Roderick Weinschenk. There is also some riding footage as well. Connie used to learn from Bob Ross on PBS to learn how to apply paint to the layout, as well as The backdrops on The walls. The trains on the husband and wife's layout includes an MTH BNSF 9375, great northern 4-8-4 number 2584 which is over $1100, GN 0-4-0 number 192 with a slopeback tender hauling hoppers with coal, GN 4-6-2 number 1355, Burlington northern U-Boat 1776 in red white and blue, Amtrak B40-8W 510 in Pepsi can colors which these real engines were commonly used on the coast starlight, GN 400 which the real diesel is at the lake superior railroad museum in Duluth Minnesota, BNSF Dash 9-44 CW 896, CB&Q 940 in the winter portion of the layout, a GN motor car, 2 Rotary snowplows, MTH 2-8-0 1757, blue GN FP40s 427 & 430, an MTH Asbeuseh-busch brewery set, a diesel powered toner on an ore train, and plenty of others that are parked on sidings. This layout has turning loops. Accessories includes some scratched built bridges, switch towers, a snow shed, the weathered coal tower from plasticville by Bachmann, stations, a water tower, and special crossings and signals. The east end of the layout starts as an inspiration of Shelby, then it heads to the small businesses area of McCarthyville, through the oil refinery of Baltic where it was inspired by a postcard during the great depression, over the snow capped mountains of windy point, passes by a statue of John Frank Stevens who discovers Marias pass, and the monuments of slippery Bill Morrison, & Theodore Roosevelt at skyland, visit a little town of the actual marias pass known as rising wolf which is created by John & Connie, going in and out of the 3 foot tunnel of cataract with grain elevators and a small yard, rolls through the disappointment camp national historic site which is also one of the spots that Lewis and Clark discovered, around the corners into rock hill with moonshine shantys, passes the custom made turntable that comes from a cake pan & an HO scale girder bridge, over combined trestles with 188 pieces that represents the goat lick bridge which It's measured at 400 scale feet long, and 60 to 70 scale feet high, entering piegan on the other side of the bridge with a native American camp, through the replica of Essex with the Izaak Walton, and a yard with 3 cabooses: Penn central, Rio Grande, & of course the GN, rolling by the spur with a siding for stationing helper engines, and a John Deere tractor in a field, curving into Garry which no longer exists in real life, although there is a scratched built 21 bent wooden curves trestle that enters the tunnel, through Columbia falls which On John's layout is called Monaco, although it does feature a town with an industrial power plant by Menards, and enters the storage yard of whitefish on the west end of the layout. Nearby there is a service area, and a backshop to store their locomotives and rolling stock. Over the years, John has built 11 layouts, and wrote a book: model railroad custom designer. There are also people and animals on this big layout.

In the closing credits, Tom McComas talks about the 8 minute bonus on Larry's detailed layout that is coming up after The trailers of other TMBV items, while during the credit roll, the producer's son Jeff McComas worked as an assistant editor.

Overall, part 3 of this series is really good to enjoy. But it's on DVD only as parts 1, 2, & 4 are also on Amazon instant prime video.

Additional remarks by Steamboy:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? Yes.
Image quality: Excellent!
DVD Value: Good Value
Recommend to others? Definitely.