Building a model railroad can be a fun and rewarding hobby. It can also be messy and time-consuming, especially when it comes to a wood-built surface for the layout. One has to ask, “Does my model railroad’s layout surface need to be wood-built, or are there other methods that don’t make such a mess?” Foam […]
Admit it: Do you know what railroad signals mean? Do you panic when you shown up for an operating session at a strange layout and see it has working signals? Railroad signal aspects aren’t as simple as traffic lights. In addition to stop, caution, and go, railroad signals can mean stop and then go, keep […]
OK, time for a show of hands. How many of you enjoy ballasting? That’s what I expected. Ballasting isn’t an aspect of the hobby most modelers enjoy. However, I’ve ballasted parts or all of several Model Railroader project layouts over the years, and I’ve come to enjoy adding those tiny granules to layouts. When I […]
Sometimes a discussion about prototype railroading can lead to a modeling project. A few years back I was talking with my longtime friend William Phalen in Crookston, Minn. During our conversation, I mentioned seeing a photo of a pile of grain doors by the Crookston Farmers Co-op Elevator. He said the doors were stored on […]
I love Lego, and I love trains. When I first saw the SoundTraxx Blunami decoder being demonstrated inside a Lego locomotive at Trainfest, I knew that I had to install my own decoder in a Lego locomotive. What you’ll need Obviously, you will need a locomotive. Trains.com producer Ben Lake donated his Lego Creator No. […]
Model railroad layout photography tips: Taking great shots of your layout has never been easier. Digital single lens reflex cameras or even the camera in your cell phone take a lot of the guesswork out of photography, if you know what you’re doing. This article will focus on the basics of photography, so that you […]
Malcolm Furlow’s waterfall modeling technique: Malcolm Furlow’s article presented here originally ran in the August 1980 issue of Model Railroader magazine. While many of the brands Malcolm used in the article are no longer available, most all the products have modern substitutes, allowing a modeler to still complete similar projects. As a case in point, […]
You can use old transformers with modern O and S gauge locomotives and keep the former from gathering dust under the bed. Many of us still have A.C. power packs from Lionel, American Flyer, and other manufacturers. They are still viable for good reason: durability and plenty of wattage. In addition to supplying juice to […]
If you’ve ever tried to run a big locomotive around a small radius curve of track, you probably realized that the minimum recommended track radius is still too small for a lot of rolling stock. Long-wheelbase steam locomotives, in particular, have trouble staying on the rails when the curve is too sharp. Model railroad manufacturers […]
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 […]
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 […]
