Track plan at a glance Name: Bay Point & DiabloScale: On2.5 (1:48 proportion, 2.5-foot gauge)Size: 11 x 12 feetPrototype: Bay Point & Clayton RREra: Early 20th centuryStyle: around the wallsMainline run: 33.5 feetMinimum radius: 24″Minimum turnout: no. 5(main line), no. 4 (yard)Maximum grade: 5 percentOriginally appeared in the May 2005 issue of Model Railroader. Also […]
Track plan at a glance Name: Central New Mexico Ry.Scale: O scale (1:48 proportion), narrow gauge (On3 and On2.5)Size: 11′-3″ x 17’2″Theme: narrow gauge miningEra: 1905Style: island with an open centerMainline run: 34 feetMinimum radius: 28″Minimum turnout: no. 6Maximum grade: 8 percent on the On2.5 tram lineOriginally appeared in the July 2006 issue of Model […]
Track plan at a glanceName: Oil Creek RRScale: HO (1:87.1)Size: 12 x 30 feetEra: 1866-1899Style: free-standingMainline run: 75 feetMinimum radius: 24″Minimum turnout: no. 4Maximum grade: 3 percentOriginally appeared in the January 2007 issue of Model Railroader. Click on the link to download a PDF of this track plan […]
Track plan at a glance Name: Pacific & Idaho Northern Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 12′-0″ x 15′-0″ with 3′-6″ x 7′-0″ extension Theme: turn-of-the-past-century branch line Period: 1900 to 1908 Style: walkaround Mainline run: 105 feet Minimum radius: 18″ Minimum turnout: no. 4 Maximum grade: 5 percent Originally appeared in the April 2005 issue of […]
In 1931, a propeller-driven German railcar built by Franz Kruckenberg ran between Hamburg and Berlin. The Rail Zeppelin reached a speed of 142 mph, a record that stood for 20 years. The Rail Zeppelin, with a body similar to the Zeppelin airships, never went into production. Perhaps the idea of an open propeller operating so […]
Lillian “Curly” Lawrence and the history of live-steam locomotives Lillian “Curly” Lawrence was a British model engineer who lived from 1882 to 1967. He built his first live-steam locomotive at the age of 13 on a used treadle lathe. A curious and reclusive fellow, he wrote live-steam columns for British model-engineering magazines under the pen […]
