Spaces to Places VII | Within yard limits, part 1

Host Gerry Leone returns to the lower level of his HO scale Bona Vista HO scale double-deck model railroad, with the intent to complete the yard adjacent to the scenes featured in Spaces to Places V. Follow along as he first plans, and then adds urban scenery and structures, plus plenty of gritty, attention-getting details, […]

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Ted Van Pelt’s Sn3 Rio Grande Southern

Title screen from layout visit video showing steam locomotive and passenger cars passing coal tower and businesses.

In the February 2025 issue of Model Railroader, readers got to learn more about Ted Van Pelt’s Sn3 Rio Grande Southern. The 22 x 22-foot layout, set in Colorado in 1930, features narrow gauge freight and passenger action, many scratchbuilt structures, and photo backdrops of prototype locations in the Centennial State. The walk-in layout has […]

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Ted Van Pelt’s Sn3 Rio Grande Southern

Title screen from layout visit video showing steam locomotive and passenger cars passing coal tower and businesses.

In the February 2025 issue of Model Railroader, readers got to learn more about Ted Van Pelt’s Sn3 Rio Grande Southern. The 22 x 22-foot layout, set in Colorado in 1930, features narrow gauge freight and passenger action, many scratchbuilt structures, and photo backdrops of prototype locations in the Centennial State. The walk-in layout has […]

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Building a T-Trak module | Basic Backdrop Painting

In this helpful, introductory effort, David Popp shares simple and easy techniques for adding a scene-extending background/view block to a model railroad. While the planning and painting steps are all demonstrated on his N scale (1:160) T-Trak module, David’s explanations and efforts can certainly be applied to other layouts or displays of any scale! If […]

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Trains.com Insider Exclusive | Tour of Firecrown Wisconsin Office

Tour of Firecrown Wisconsin Office | Trains.com Director David Popp leads this quick, walk-and-talk tour of the new office space hosting all of your favorite railroad and modeling magazines, including Model Railroader, Trains, Classic Trains, Classic Toy Trains, FineScale Modeler, and Astronomy too! Enjoy this first look at the work areas, library, studios, and other […]

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Fall 2024

The Fall 2024 cover of Classic Trains magazine, which features a yellow locomotive and a red locomotive running alongside one another against a blue background

Welcome – The intermodal revolution Head End – A potpourri of railroad history, then and now Fast Mail – Letters from readers on our Summer 2024 issue Mileposts – Commentary by Kevin P. Keefe True Color – Contrasts at LaGrange Sequence – Milwaukee Road mail train Short Rails – East Jordan & Southern Classics Today […]

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December 2024

The December 2024 cover of Trains magazine, which features a red and yellow locomotive moving towards the photographer in a forested setting with lush greenery on both sides of the train

In every issue News, p. 4 InnoTrans brings together the rail world’s new products Bill Stephens, p. 8 Amtrak flexes legal muscles vs. its host railroads John Hankey, p. 10 First day: You never know how things will turn out Great Railfan Roads, p. 44 Across the Canadian prairies Brian Solomon, p. 48 Cool train […]

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T-Trak Fun Run across the Colorado Plains

Trains.com staff set out to prove they could build out a layout one square foot at a time! Now that most of their T-Trak modules are completed, it’s due time to have some fun running trains around Model Railroader magazine’s latest project layout, the N scale (1:160) “Colorado Plains”, as featured in the January 2025 […]

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Enjoy Trainfest 2024 Highlights with Trains.com

Trainfest 2024  occurred November 23-24, 2024, at the Baird Center in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Over the two-day event, thousands of train enthusiasts made their way into the sold out exhibit spaces to enjoy visiting model manufacturers, hobby product/material vendors, model train retailers, operating layouts, and so much more! Watch this compilation video to catch a […]

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