A signature N scale truck for Tehachapi: This photo of a cattle truck at Caliente, Calif., existed in my mind for perhaps 10 years before it finally came to fruition, and it was spurred by buying a Road Apples N scale stock trailer kit. The kit had two things going for it. First, I thought […]
N scale by the numbers: Scale model railroading couldn’t exist without numbers, some that are very important and some that are not important at all, but fun to play around with. This article is for those who model in N scale, so let’s look at N scale numbers, starting with the two most critical, 9mm […]
Q: I watch videos of model railroads on YouTube. On a video of a Boston & Maine layout, I saw a strange steamer. A 2-10-2 had a long tender, and on the rear truck of the tender, the wheels were ganged together with a connecting rod and the wheels had counterweights. Why? – Robert Beadle A: […]
Improving N scale engine performance: One of the most puzzling N scale locomotive performance problems I’ve encountered came with the two Atlas Electro-Motive Division (EMD) SD60s I purchased in 2014. The prototype locomotives were lease units from Oakway (an EMD subsidiary), and they were painted in the gorgeous blue-and-white scheme EMD had used for years […]
Five finds at model railroad swap meets. I always look forward to the fall and winter months. No, not because I enjoy raking leaves and shoveling snow. In this part of the country, October through March is peak model railroad swap meet season. These events are held at venues large and small, including county fairground […]
Modelers often compress industries to fit more of them on our model railroads. But doing the opposite – expanding a modeled industry to prototypical proportions – can create an intensely realistic operating experience that can’t be matched. Let’s explore that idea with a 4×8 HO scale paper mill layout. Some industries are just too large and […]
It’s been more than a decade since Lou Sassi photographed my HO scale White River Division for a feature in the March 2009 Model Railroader. A lot has changed since then. The track plan has been altered to better view and photograph scenes. I also eliminated the duckunder. Now a point-to-point layout, there’s a yard […]
Q: I’m building a new layout using Kato HO scale Unitrack. I have read many different opinions on whether to solder all track joints. What’s the best practice? Some say that using terminal joiners on Kato Unitrack for connection to the DCC bus is OK, while others say they’re unreliable. I use terminal joiners every […]
Choosing model rail sizes is one of the things modelers often spend time on when building their second layout. We often start with whatever came in the train set we began with, but then we start to hear about rail “codes,” and how they can differ. Regardless of scale, model rail sizes are specified […]
Whether you need more blue on your locomotive roster or want to add Conrail units in other paint schemes to your layout, this is a comprehensive list of Conrail models you can buy. This list just focuses on locomotives and cabooses. Mixing Conrail freight cars into your rolling stock roster will also add some colorful […]
Three types of staging yards: Staging serves the role of representing a model railroad’s connections to the rest of the world. Different kinds of staging, though, perform differently. Using staging yards to represent “beyond the layout” connections is widely accepted among model railroad operators. There’s no better way to foster the illusion that a model […]
Add depth to structures using mirrors: In working on the addition to my On30 Olympia & Sand Creek layout, I’d decided to add a building flat at one end to represent a warehouse. The flat is about 3” deep and angles away from the viewer slightly so it can sit 90-degrees to the track that […]
