HO scale Port Thomas & Southern and Timber Ridge Logging Co.

Name: Port Thomas & Southern and Timber Ridge Logging Co. Layout designer: Tom Hawkins Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 10 x 20 feet Prototype: freelanced, based on the Port Townsend & Southern RR Locale: Pacific Northwest Era: early 1900s Style: walk-in Minimum radius: 24″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 (main), no. 4 (yards and sidings) Maximum grade: […]

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Mount Coffin & Columbia

Name: Mount Coffin & Columbia Layout designer: M.C. Fujiwara Scale: N (1:160) Size: 231⁄2″ x 411⁄4″, 3″ x 18″ Prototype: freelanced Locale: Pacific Northwest Era: early 1900s Style: island or shelf Mainline run: 9 feet Minimum radius: 9″ Minimum turnout: no. 4 Maximum grade: none Originally appeared in the September 2012 issue of Model Railroader. […]

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Wordsworth Township

Wordsworth Township

Name: Wordsworth Township Layout designer: M.C. Fujiwara Scale: N (1:160) Size: 2 x 4 feet Prototype: freelanced Locale: urban industrial district Era: 1900 to 1970s Style: island or shelf Mainline run: 9 feet Minimum radius: 9″ Minimum turnout: no. 4 Maximum grade: none Originally appeared in the September 2012 issue of Model Railroader. Click here […]

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HO scale Liberty Street

Liberty Street

Name: Liberty Street Layout designer: Tom Teeple Scale: HO Size: 6′-0″ x 12′-9″ Prototype: Missouri Pacific Locale: Kansas City, Mo. Era: 1895 Style: Shelf Minimum radius: 15″ Minimum turnout: no. 4 Maximum grade: none Originally appeared Great Model Railroads 2012. Click on the link to download the PDF of this track plan. […]

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History of the Orange Line

TRN-AT0111_Map

Orange Belt Railway President and GM Peter Demens (far right) stand near No. 7, a National Locomotive Works engine, in Pinellas County, Fla. Donald R. Hensley Jr. collection Q I recently heard about a railroad called the Orange Belt that ran through some of central Florida in the late 19th century. Who owned it? Where […]

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Mineral Point & Northern

MRR-B0511_A plan

Name: Mineral Point & Northern Layout designer: Steve Worack and the Progressive Model Design staff Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 5 x 12 feet Prototype: MP&N Locale: Mineral Point, Wis. Era: 1917 Style: island Mainline run: 12 feet Minimum radius: 40″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: level Originally appeared in the May 2011 issue of […]

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Remembering Civil War rails

TRN-A0311_04

In addition to everything else the American Civil War might have been, it was also the first reliably documented major conflict. A combination of well-kept “Official Records” and preserved photographs give us a unique view into the first modern, industrialized, documented war. These images are only a sample of the rich documentary resources available from […]

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Monson RR

Monson RR

Name: Monson RR Layout designer: Steven Otte Scale: HOn2 (1:87.1, 2-foot gauge) Size: 4 x 8 feet Prototype: Monson RR Locale: Maine Era: 1916-1919 Style: tabletop Mainline run: 19 feet Minimum radius: 15″ Minimum turnout: no. 4 stub Maximum grade: none Click on the link to download the PDF of this track plan. […]

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Goldfield & Hangtown RR

MRR-A0111_A plan

Name: Goldfield & Hangtown RR Layout designer: Allan Wallace Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 20 x 25 feet Theme: mining and logging Locale: Sierra Nevada Era: 1890-1915 Style: walk-in Mainline run: 250 feet Minimum radius: 30″ Minimum turnout: no. 4 Maximum grade: 11⁄2 percent Originally appeared in the January 2011 issue of Model Railroader. Click on […]

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Lost Island Bluffs Ry.

Name: Lost Island Bluffs Ry. Layout designer: Robert P. Foster Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 9 x 11 feet Prototype: freelanced, inspired by the Philadelphia & Long Branch RR and the Island Heights Branch of the Pennsylvania RR Locale: Barnegat Bay shorelinein central New Jersey Era: 1884 to 1934 Style: walkaround Mainline run: 50 feet Minimum […]

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Development of the railroad tank car

The first tank car. This replica of a Densmore-type tank car is on display at the ACF Industries plant in Milton, Pa.

The invention of the tank car coincided with the discovery of oil in northwestern Pennsylvania in the 1860s. Oilmen quickly discovered that hauling oil to market in horse-drawn wagons or floating barrels down local streams wasn’t going to do the job as oil production ramped up. The oil industry needed to find a way to […]

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