Adventures of a rookie brakeman

ApalachicolaNortherndoodlebug

An old GE doodlebug provided passenger services on the Apalachicola Northern in the 1940s. Classic Trains coll. I’m clutching the grab iron on the back of a steam locomotive cab, my feet on the apron between the engine and tender. I’m vibrating head to toe, with the heat from the boiler all over me. How […]

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Modeling realistic roads with decals

Streetdecalsmodelrailroads01

Surfaces with complicated textures and colors, like roads, can be difficult to reproduce convincingly on a layout. Lance Mindheim used a digital camera, photo-editing software, and blank decal paper to transfer images of real roads to streets on his layout. Fig. 1 Patchwork pavement. Years of weather, use, and repairs transform roads into a crazy […]

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How to model realistic modern-era structures

Modernmodelrailroadstructures_01

Adding mundane and non-revenue structures to your layout can enhance the authenticity of a scene, as demonstrated in these two scenes from the author’s Miami-based HO scale CSX Downtown Spur layout. The gray and salmon structure at the center of the top photo is 10th Avenue Tires in Miami. Structure building is one of the […]

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John Allen’s Gorre & Daphetid Online Extras

Johnallenonlineextras

The Port yard had its own control panel and box for car cards and waybills. Click on the links to get the online extras. John Allen’s HO scale Gorre & Daphetid remains one of the hobby’s most influential model railroads. Check out this collection of online extras about this model railroading pioneer and his layout. […]

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Vol. 334: “Stations”

Rounded, old-style passenger train station in low-angle sunlight at a track diamond.

  This “Trackside with Trains” photo contest result comes from August 2018. The theme was “Stations.” Trackside with Trackside was a regular, periodic contest among Trains website visitors from the earlier 2000s until October 2018. Anyone in the world who wanted to participate, could, and with rare exception, have their images judged by viewers with […]

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Eastbound and westbound trains

Burlington Northern & Spokane Portland Seattle Railroad

Name: Dave Condon Railroad Name: Burlington Northern & Spokane Portland Seattle Location: Kirkland, WA Scale: O scale Theme: Marshall Landing Washington Description: Heading West to Portland is a heavy BN freight train made up of GP30s and a GP9. My layout has a Portland Cement operation built by Model Structures. The cement rail cars are […]

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Cab ride on the Livingston Model Railroad Club layout

Cab view of locomotive on layout

Take a cab ride on the Livingston Model Railroad club layout, located in the old Northern Pacific depot in Livingston, Mont. The layout is generic with the exception of the town of Gardiner, Mont., which the train enters around 11:30. The Northern Pacific ran a train from Livingston, Mont., to Gardiner, Mont., until around 1955 […]

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Cab ride on the Livingston Model Railroad Club layout

Cab view of locomotive on layout

Take a cab ride on the Livingston Model Railroad club layout, located in the old Northern Pacific depot in Livingston, Mont. The layout is generic with the exception of the town of Gardiner, Mont., which the train enters around 11:30. The Northern Pacific ran a train from Livingston, Mont., to Gardiner, Mont., until around 1955 […]

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