Driving south along Route 1 in Van Buren, Maine today, a visitor glancing to the right probably wouldn’t know that they were looking at the remains of the northern yard of the former Bangor and Aroostook Railroad. The tracks are gone, and buildings, at least those still standing, peek out from the trees.

Keeping the past alive, William Dumond has been modeling that rail yard.

We’ve featured his work before, but in addition to building incredible locomotives and rolling stock, Bill is a proficient scenery modeler, as can be seen in his comparison shot of the real Van Buren yard, next to his brick-built version on the left.

Looking at a Google Maps image of the area, it’s easy to find the buildings featured on the layout, and to get a sense of the tracks that used to run between them. The layout has a nice organic look, matching the prototype, and staying away from the rigid blockiness of some LEGO layouts.

One of the most interesting things about the model Van Buren yard is the use of a custom switch, documented on Bill’s Flickr account. This switch flows nicely, and really adds to the realism of the scene.

For more of William Dumond’s Van Buren yard, as well as more of his Bangor and Aroostoock work, check out his stream on Flickr. We’ll be looking forward to watching the progress on this one!