Name: Milwaukee & Northwestern Wisconsin Division Layout designer: Chuck Sable Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 13’-8” x 24’-0” Prototype: Chicago & North Western Madison and Lancaster Subdivisions Locale: Southern Wisconsin Era: 1955-1980 Style: Around the walls Mainline run: 100 feet Minimum radius: 24” (main), 22” (branch) Minimum turnout: no. 6 (main), no. 4 (industries) Maximum grade: […]
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Now that the rocks and basic ground covering is in place, MR’s Cody Grivno adds the tall timber to our Olympia Logging Co. On30 layout. In this video, he shows how to install and blend big commercial trees along the sloping mountainside terrain. […]
Name: Red Oak Layout designer: staff of Model Railroader Scale: N (1:160) Size: 3′-0″ x 6′-8″ Prototype: Chicago, Burlington & Quincy RR Locale: Red Oak, Iowa Era: early 1960s Style: island, portable Mainline run: 15 feet Minimum radius: 13″ Minimum turnout: Peco no. 6 medium Maximum grade: none Originally appeared in the January 2015 Model […]
Name: Aksarben Road/ATSF Wishbone Division Layout designer: John Armstrong Scale: O (1:48) Size: 26 x 32 feet Theme: freelanced short line and Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe branch line Locale: Colorado and New Mexico Era: Sunday, May 27, 1951 Style: walk-in Mainline run: 202 feet Minimum radius: 42″ (Aksarben), 48″ (Santa Fe) Minimum turnout: no. […]
Name: Fernwood Lumber Co. RR Layout designer: Pete Birdsong Scale: On30 (1:48 proportion, 30″ narrow gauge) Size: 12 x 24 feet Theme: narrow gauge Southern logging Locale: Southern Mississippi Era: 1910 Style: walkaround Mainline run: 64 feet Minimum radius: 22″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: 2 percent Originally appeared in the January 2015 Model […]
Model Railroader readers first encountered a track plan designed by John Armstrong in 1952. John became popular, and dozens of his designs were published in magazines and books, earning him the title “dean of track planners.” He died in 2004. John’s style was fully “out of the box” for the time. You might wonder if […]
Interlocking machine The intricacies of interlocking plants have fascinated me since I read Model Railroader’s “Mechanical interlocking and signaling” series in 1961. In that series, MR’s Gordon Odegard and Paul Larson explained how they scratchbuilt a miniature interlocking machine that included operating finger-size levers for Paul’s HO layout. It took me almost 50 years to […]
W. Case Benham Elevator Feed mills, which often included a towering grain elevator, were once a common sight along the rails of small-town America. These utilitarian structures feature a variety of building materials as well as a mish-mash of add-on loading docks, sheds, and other outbuildings. This translates into a great modeling opportunity and a […]
MRVP’s David Popp takes a casual approach to installing a Digital Command Control (DCC) system on our Olympia Logging Co. display-style layout. Follow along as David guides you from opening the NCE starter system box to adding a wiring bus to watching trains run on the On30 layout! […]
Don’t miss the updated track buyer’s guide in the January 2015 issue! Download this companion article on how to select the best track for your layout. How to select the best track for your layout […]
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Uh-oh! We worked ourselves right into a corner this time. After modifying the snowshed and the adjacent terrain on our Olympia Logging Co. On30 layout, we had to go a bit off script to pull the last section of the hillside together. We […]
Mark and Vince Buccini’s series of articles titled “Build your own wireless DCC system” ran in the April, June, and August issues of Garden Railways. It’s been the most-talked about series we’ve done in many years, but it’s also had the most questions. We’re providing the complete set of articles, along with a correction, and […]
