The Lake Town & Shire is located in Middle Earth, a fantasy world created by J.R.R. Tolkien. in his book "The Hobbit" and in his trilogy "The Lord of the Rings". After the war described in "The Lord of the Rings", a railroad was build from Lake Town, once terrorized by the dragon Smaug, to Hobbiton, a village of little people called "hobbits", in a region of Middle Earth called the Shire.

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LAKE TOWN

Orignally, Lake Town was built on piles in the lake to protect the town from the dragon Smaug. After the War of the Rings, it was moved to the shore. It sits inside a return loop at the western end of the Lake Town & Shire. One siding serves both the station and Green Fish Cannery, the main industry in Lake Town.

There is a water tower at the edge of town.

Just outside Lake Town is a small farm beside Long Lake.

DALE

On the way from Lake Town to Dale, the railroad passes Mirkwood Lumber Company.

After the lumber is sawn, it is dried in a storage building and then loaded onto flat cars for delivery to other towns on the railroad.

The Hobbit tells us that the town of Dale was attacked by the dragon Smaug. After Smaug's death, men from Lake Town returned to the original site of Dale and rebuilt the town. Now it is a pleasant stop on the Lake Town & Shire.

The train station is on the track side of the main square. On the hill behind the town is another smaller station on the short line to Lonely Mountain.

After a new, larger engine house was built at Rivendell, the one-stall engine house at Dale was abandoned and has fallen into disrepair.

One of the main industries in Dale is the toy and chair factory. In this photo, the employees are taking a lunch break together on the front porch.

Here is a view looking back at Dale as we leave on our way to Gridley.

LONELY MOUNTAIN

To get to the region of the dwarves, the Lonely Mountain branch line of the Lake Town & Shire leaves Dale and then enters a long tunnel.

Lonely Mountain station is on the other side of the tunnel. The station has a small warehouse and a passenger platform. A few dwarves are usually waiting around the station for the train, but most will be at work or in their homes Under the Mountain.

Here is a panaramic view of the station and gorge at Lonely Mountain. After leaving the station, trains cross the bridge over the gorge and go through another tunnel to return to Dale.

GRIDLEY

Most of the towns and other areas on the Lake Town & Shire are named after places in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. But Gridley is named for our good friend Krista Gridley who helped us expand the layout in 2004. Gridley Station has a water tower, a passenger station, and a warehouse.

Gridley is double-tracked with a team siding which also serves it's main industry, J. Gilly Meat Co.

Trains leaving Gridley headed toward Mirkwood Forest and Rivendell pass over the Forest River bridge.

MIRKWOOD

The railroad runs along the old forest path through Mirkwood Forest.

A few elves remain in a small village in Mirkwood Forest.

RIVENDELL

The Brandywine River bridge takes the railroad into Rivendell. The elves abandoned Rivendell after the War of the Rings. Men moved into the town and it has become the Lake Town & Shire interchange with the Middle Earth Railroad, the Rivendell and Midlands, and the Dunland and Rohan Great Western.

A one-stall wooden engine house at Dale was replaced by a fine brick two-stall engine house at Rivendell.

In front of the engine house stand a water tower and coaling platform to service locomotives at Rivendell.

The Lake Town & Shire is double-tracked from Rivendell to Bree. At Rivendell, three sidings serve Elf Distributing, Misty Mountain Textile Mill, and the interchange.

Rivendell station lies between the tracks and the East Road connecting Rivendell to the Shire. Behind the station are three mill houses occupied by workers at the textile mill.

The mill houses are modeled after real mill houses in Athens, Georgia.

MORIA

Just past Rivendell on the way to Bree is a stamp mill for the Mines of Moria. The shed attached to the stamp mill houses the boiler and steam engine to operate the stamps. Another shed and loading dock behind the stamp mill are served by a mining short line which carries supplies to the mines.

Mithril ore is brought from one of the mines across a trestle to an ore tipple. The ore is held in the tipple until it can be loaded into ore cars headed back to the stamp mill.

BREE

Outside Bree there is a stock pen between the tracks and the East Road. Cattle and sheep are shipped by rail from here to Gridley. Across the road is a farm with an advertisement for Mount Doom painted on its roof. Mount Doom is where Frodo took the "one ring to bind them all" to be destroyed. It became a tourist attraction after the War of the Rings.

The area around Bree is the only area in Middle Earth where men and hobbits live side by side. Near the double-track we see a couple of cottages, a passenger platform, the Prancing Pony (an inn where Frodo and his companions stay in The Lord of the Rings,) and Stoutfoot Brewery.

A man and a hobbit are busy on the docks at Stoutfoot Brewery.

Heading out of Bree toward Hobbiton, the railroad crosses Hoarwell Bridge before crossing a 65'-long trestle.

HOBBITON

Hobbiton is built inside a return loop on a raised platform.

Farmer Maggot, mentioned in "The Lord of the Rings", started a produce company in Hobbiton. He built a warehouse, then added an ice house to store ice for the refrigerated cars that carry fruits and vegetables from farms in the Shire to all the other towns on the Lake Town & Shire. The Hobbits of the Shire also built a grain elevator and began shipping their surplus grain to other towns.

Hobbiton has a passenger depot, a freight depot, and a loading platform beside its team track.

Hobbiton is thriving with a large number of businesses and shops.

Many hobbits still live in holes like this one at Bag End.