Naugatuck Valley RR 2.0

Naugatuck Valley RR 2.0

Name: Naugatuck Valley RR 2.0Layout designer: David PoppScale: N (1:160)Size: 16 x 17 feetPrototype: New York, New Haven & Hartford RRLocale: Naugatuck River Valley in ConnecticutEra: fall 1948Style: walkaroundMainline run: Waterbury/south 53 feet, Waterbury/north 13 feetMinimum radius: 15″Minimum turnout: no. 5 Originally appeared in the Great Model Railroads 2008. Click on the link to download […]

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Panhandle & Santa Fe Ry.

Name: Panhandle & Santa Fe Ry. Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 12′-7″ x 33′-0″ Prototype: Third District of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe’s Plains Division Locale: Texas Panhandle, Amarillo to Clovis, N.M. Era: September 1955 Style: linear walkaround Mainline run: 102 feet Minimum radius: 29″ Minimum turnout: no. 6, no. 4 in Amarillo Switching District […]

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Southern Ry.

Southern Ry

Name: Southern Ry. Layout designer: Bob Lawson Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 24 x 30 feet Prototype: Southern Ry. Locale: central and eastern Kentucky Era: 1945 through the early 1950s Style: walk-in with one duckunder Mainline run: 425 feet Minimum radius: 30″ Minimum turnout: no. 8 with some no. 6 Maximum grade: 1.5 percent Originally appeared […]

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Ida Valley Ry.

Ida Valley Ry

Name: Ida Valley Ry. Layout designer: Bob Allen Scale: Large scale narrow gauge (1:35) Size: 21 x 51 feet Prototype: New Zealand Rys. Locale: Otago Province, South Island, New Zealand Era: 1955 to 1965 Style: walk-in Mainline run: 240 feet Minimum radius: 72″ Minimum turnout: Peco medium radius Maximum grade: 1.1 percent Originally appeared in […]

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New Mexico Division

Atchison Topeka Santa Fe

Name: New Mexico Division Layout designer: Bob Foltz Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 45′-7″ x 47′-8″ Prototype: Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Ry. Locale: Northern New Mexico Era: 1951 Style: walkaround Mainline run: 350 feet Minimum radius: 36″ (main), 30″ (all others), 26″ (narrow gauge) Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: 1.5 percent (main), 3.2 percent […]

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Green Mountain Division of the Boston Maine

Track plan at a glance Name: Green Mountain Division of the Boston & Maine Layout designer: Don Janes Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 12′-8″ x 20′-0″ plus 12′-0″ x 30′-0″ addition Prototype: Boston & Maine, Central Vermont, and Rutland Locale: Vermont Era: 1950 to 1958 Style: Around the walls Mainline run: 120 feet (original), 70 feet […]

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Rock Island Lines

Rock Island Lines

Track plan at a glance Name: Rock Island Lines Layout designer: Tony Bowen Scale: N (1:160) Size: 15 x 21 feet Prototype: Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Locale: western Illinois and eastern Iowa Era: 1955-1965 Style: walkaround Mainline run: 126 feet Minimum radius: 11″ Originally appeared in the How To Model Railroads of the 1950s […]

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Lionel’s postwar freight-car numbers

Freight-car-numbering

The Lionel Corp. used a four-digit number to identify its postwar rolling stock. In some cases cars also carried a one, two, or three-digit suffix. Though many times cars with the same number exhibit slight differences, or variations, Lionel usually assigned a new number if a car received major changes. While Lionel’s numbering appears haphazard, […]

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Lionel 2353 Santa Fe diesels were a Greatest Find

Lionel 2353 Santa Fe diesels on a Southwestern layout

Lionel 2353 Santa Fe diesels and two streamlined passenger cars purchased through a Dutch website caused Daniel Biessels gave up HO scale modeling for O gauge and  focus on postwar and modern-era models. Then he built a layout set in the Rocky Mountains that he calls the Glenwood Springs & Colorado RR. The arid scenery […]

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Santa Alicia, Harrytown & Pacific RR

Name: Santa Alicia, Harrytown & Pacific RR Layout designer: Mike Blumensaadt Scale: N (1:160) Size: 7′-3″ x 36′-4″ Prototype: Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, and Union Pacific Locale: western United States Era: 1950s Style: along-the-wall Mainline run: 75 feet Minimum radius: 19″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: 2 percent Originally appeared in the May 2011 […]

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Red Rock Green River

Red Rock Green River

Name: Red Rock Green River Layout designer: Bill Iwan Scale: On21⁄2 (1:48, 30″ gauge) Size: 10 x 20 feet Theme: Freelanced Denver & Rio Grande Western and Rio Grande Southern Locale: New Mexico and Colorado Era: 1940s Style: walk-in Mainline run: 80 feet Minimum radius: 28″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: 0.95 percent Originally […]

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Soo Line

Soo-Line

Track plan at a glance Name: Soo Line Scale: HO (1:87) Size: 14 x 34 feet Theme: Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie (Soo Line) granger railroad Era: 1954 Style: portable oval Minimum radius: 48″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 yards, no. 8 main line Maximum grade: 1 percent Originally appeared in the April 1998 […]

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