A mix of older wood reefers and new steel cars mingle on the cleanout and ready tracks at Swift’s Sioux City (Iowa) plant in 1954. A lone car in the old yellow scheme stands out among a sea of cars in the red 1950 paint scheme. George Berkstresser photo […]
Name: Pennsylvania RR Nassau Division Layout owner: John Sethian Scale: O (1:48) Size: 21 x 31 feet Prototype: Pennsylvania RR electrified lines Locale: New Jersey and Pennsylvania Era: 1955 to 1957 Style: walk-in with duckunder Mainline run: 110 feet Minimum radius: 57″ (visible), 44″ (hidden) Minimum turnout: no. 71⁄2 Maximum grade: 1.8 percent Benchwork: open-grid […]
Name: Cale, Bear Mountain & Harrisonville Layout owner: Vern Sargent Scale: Z (1:220) Size: 2′-0″ x 3′-2″ Prototype: Milwaukee Road and Monon Locale: southern Indiana Era: 1945 to 1955 Mainline run: 15 feet Minimum radius: 811⁄16″ Minimum turnout: no. 41⁄2 Maximum grade: 4 percent Benchwork: extruded-foam insulation board Height: varies Roadbed: cork on 1⁄4″ plywood […]
Large layouts are cool, no doubt, but we thought that something smaller that combined postwar trains with modern materials also sounded like fun. We told Classic Toy Trains Editor Carl Swanson what we were thinking, and he challenged us to actually follow through. Uh-oh. This special 13-page magazine supplement contains step-by-step instructions for creating a 4 […]
Wagners Point (Updated from the December 2015 issue) Carroll Street on the Baltimore Harbor District (Update from the October 2017 issue) Name: Baltimore Harbor District Layout designer: Paul Dolkos Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 17 x 29 feet (in two rooms) Prototypes: Baltimore & Ohio, Canton RR, Pennsylvania RR, and Western Maryland Locale: Baltimore Period: 1955 […]
Louisville & Nashville adopted Alcos by the 1950s on lines in eastern Kentucky. The railroad first painted RS3s, FA2s, and FB2s in black, cream, and orange, but later opted for simpler schemes. R.D. Sharpless, Louisville & Nashville Historical Society collection Q My family moved from Texas to southeastern Kentucky in the mid-1950s, and I remember […]
Name: Central Maine RR Layout owner: Paul Boehlert Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 39 x 80 inches Locale: inspired by Portland, Maine Era: late 1960s Style: island Mainline run: 15 feet Minimum radius: 15″ Minimum turnout: no. 5 Maximum grade: none This track plan originally appeared in the September 2016 Model Railroader. Click on the link […]
“I once found a 60-year-old train in the loft of a farmer’s barn, where it had spent more cold northern winters and hot summers than anyone could remember. A family of mice had even made a nest in the box and left behind over a pound of petrified ‘evidence.’ “I thought the engine was […]
Name: Hoosac Valley RR Layout owner: Dick Elwell Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 32 x 62 feet Prototype: freelanced, inspired by New York Central and Boston & Albany Locale: Northeast Era: 1940s to 1960s Style: walk-in Mainline run: 365 feet Minimum radius: 42″ (main line) Minimum turnout: no. 6 (one no. 4 turnout) Maximum grade: 1.5 […]
Click the image to download a copy of the track plan. Name: Gulf, Illinois & Rocky Mountains RR Layout owner: John-Baptiste Merillot Scale: Z (1:220) Size: 7 x 15 feet Prototype: none; includes locomotives from Union Pacific, CSX, Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, among others Locale: Northwestern United States Era: late 1960s to present Style: walk-in, […]
Name: Grand Street & Three Rivers RR Layout owner: Rod Stewart Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 23′-0″ x 124′-4″ Prototype: New York Central and Pennsylvania RR Locale: Pennsylvania Era: mid-1940s Style: walk-in Mainline run: 900 feet Minimum radius: 40″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: 3.5 percent Benchwork: box grid Height: 391⁄2″ Roadbed: Homasote Track: code […]
Name: Oregon Middle Division Layout owner: Gary Randall Scale: N (1:160) Size: 15 x 17 feet Prototype: freelance, based on Union Pacific Locale: Pacific Northwest Era: none specified Style: walk-in Mainline run: 150 feet Minimum radius: 16″ Minimum turnout: no. 5 Maximum grade: 3 percent Benchwork: L-girder with spline subroadbed Layout Height: 39″ to 42″ […]
