Realistic weathering tips for freight car models

Pelle Soeborg freight car weathering tips

This view of the Daneville Yard on Pelle Søeborg’s HO scale Union Pacific layout shows a variety of equipment with weathered roofs. He completed all of the weathering with powdered pastels, hobby paints, and an airbrush Years ago, when I became interested in weathering model trains, I found it extremely difficult to find roof photos, […]

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HO scale Chester Branch

HOscaleChesterBranch

Name: The Chester Branch Prototype: Morristown & Erie Ry. Era: 2016 Scale: HO (1:87) Size: 10′-0″ x 12′-4″ Minimum radius: 24″ main line, 20″ branch Minimum turnout: Peco no. 5 Maximum grade: 3 percent This track plan originally appeared in Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide. Click on the link to download a PDF copy of […]

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O scale Olympia Logging Co. v.2

OscaleOlympiaLoggingCov2

Name: Olympia Logging Co. v.2 Scale: On30 (1:48 narrow gauge) Size: 1’-10” x 13’-0” Minimum radius: NA Minimum turnout: Peco On30 code 100 Maximum grade: 6.9 percent Height: 40” This track plan originally appeared in Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide. Click on the link  to download a PDF copy of this track plan. […]

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HO scale Piedmont & Western RR

HOscalePiedmontWesternRR1

Name: Piedmont & Western RR Layout owner: Jack Parker Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 20 x 20 feet plus 12 x 40 feet Prototype: freelanced, inspired by the Clinchfield RR Locale: North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia Era: early to mid-1950s Style: multilevel, walk-in Mainline run: 600 feet Minimum radius: 30″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 […]

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OO scale British Railways

HOscaleBritishRysSouthernRegion

Name: British Railways Layout owner: Chris White Scale: OO (1:76 on HO gauge track) Size: 15′-0″ x 19′-6″, plus 6′-0″ x 13′-0″ staging in adjacent room Prototype: British Railways – Southern Region Locale: southern England Era: 1960 Style: walkaround Mainline run: 120 feet Minimum radius: 24″ Minimum turnout: Peco large radius (main), small and medium […]

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Build a layout that highlights 1950 Lionel

CTTM0518_trackplan

Collectors concentrating on the outfits, locomotives, and accessories offered by Lionel during a single year in the post-World War II era will find inspiration in the compact O gauge layout developed by Robert Banks. He has designed an 11 x 11-foot three-rail display capable of letting three trains operate simultaneously. Build a layout that highlights […]

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Canadian Canyons Series: Part 32 – Carving rock strata

Kent Johnson next to layout scenery

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Now that the sloped mountainsides have an initial surface, Kent returns to the scenes to carve out realistic rock strata. In this segment you’ll quickly learn how to use an inexpensive steak knife, a thinned Sculptamold mixture, and a variety of Woodland Scenics […]

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Plans for a fertilizer blend plant

fertilizerblendplant

Click on the photo or link to download the prototype plans for this fertilizer blend plant. Rich Cobb Fertilizer blend plants have been common rail-served industries since the 1950s. Rich Cobb describes the prototype for his HO model of one of these trackside structures in the April 2018 Model Railroader. Click on the link below […]

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Scott Gould’s concrete roadbed

scott_gould

Scott Gould Scott Gould Cape Elizabeth, Maine, Zone 5 Concrete strong Sixteen years ago or so I built a layout that loops atop a mound of rock in the center of our backyard. I was agile then, but still had difficulty reaching tracks above a pond. Now, with my 75th birthday rapidly approaching, only my […]

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Rails in New England woods

model steam train on garden railway

Rails in New England: I lived in New England for 40 years. On a recent trip back to the northeast corner of the USA, I visited garden railways, mostly on the coast where trees often grow up to the shore. I also chanced upon some full-scale historic railways, which seemed to crop up everywhere. Predating […]

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