Two more ways to wye

Louisville Nashville freight 864 from Norton Va to Corbin Ky meets Southern First 88

Louisville & Nashville freight 864 from Norton, Va., to Corbin, Ky., meets Southern First 88, a coal turn from Andover to Yuma, Va., on the wye at Appalachia on May 23, 1969. Although wyes are commonplace on prototype railroads, they can be challenging to model. Ron Flanary A “wye” describes an area where three turnouts […]

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Ma & Pa standard-gauge bobber in 1:29 scale

Ma & Pa standard-gauge bobber in 1:29 scale

Download the PDF of this project here. This PDF is formatted to print on your home printer. Most pieces are formatted to fit on a 8.5″ x 11″ piece of paper. For larger parts of the plan, you will see “break lines.” Line up the break lines to create the larger piece. Please make sure […]

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A catalog of useful plants for railroad gardens

catalog3

What appear to be small apple trees in bloom are really Mexican false heather, a.k.a. elfin herb (Cuphea hyssopifolia, Zones 8-11). These are easy to grow in full to partial sun and average soil and watering. They flower almost continually with white, pink, red, or purple blossoms, outdoors year round in the south or over-wintered […]

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How to use cardboard strips for model railroad scenery

Side of model train layout with cardboard strips

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Model Railroader associate editor Cody Grivno shows you how to use a web of cardboard strips and plaster cloth to make a sturdy model railroad scenery base. Cody used this technique for a stretch of scenery on the Model Railroader HO scale club […]

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Dave Frary’s Pennsylvania RR Middle Division

Dave Frarys Pennsylvania RR Middle Division

Name: Pennsylvania RR Middle Division Layout designer: Dave Frary Scale: HO scale (1:87.1) Size: 11′-6″ x 16′-3″ Prototype: Pennsylvania RR Locale: eastern Pennsylvania Era: September 1950 Style: walk in Mainline run: 90 feet Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: 3 percent Originally appeared in the January 1993 issue of Model Railroader. Click on the link […]

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N scale Great Northern Ry.

Great Northern Ry

Name: Great Northern Ry. Layout designer: James Bauer Scale: N (160.1) Size: 13 x 24 feet Prototype: freelanced Locale: Montana Era: none Style: around-the-walls Mainline run: 169 feet Minimum radius: 15″ Minimum turnout: no. 4 Maximum grade: 2 percent Originally appeared in the February 2013 Model Railroader. Click on the link to download the PDF […]

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N scale Maryland Midland RR

Maryland Midland RR

Name: Maryland Midland RR Layout designer: Bob Sprague Scale: N (1:160.1) Size: 11′-2″ x 18′-6″ Prototype: Maryland Midland RR Locale: Maryland Era: 1980s to present Style: around-the-walls Mainline run: 136 feet (104 visible) Minimum radius: 15″ (main), 12″ (branch) Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: 2 percent Originally appeared in the February 2013 Model Railroader. […]

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Pennsylvania RR Middle Division

Pennsylvania RR Middle Division

Name: Pennsylvania RR Middle Division Layout designer: Jimmy Deignan Scale: HO scale (1:87.1) Size: 22 x 28 feet Prototype: freelanced, inspired by Pennsylvania RR Locale: eastern Pennsylvania Era: 1950s to 1970s Style: walk in Mainline run: 144 feet Minimum radius: 20″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: 3 percent Originally appeared in the February 2013 […]

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A Rocky Mountain railroad for your rec room

track plan drawing

Layout designer: Michael Tylick Scale: O Layout size: 14 x 19 feet Track type: Atlas O Minimum curve: O-27 Originally appeared in the February 2013 issue of Classic Toy Trains. A Rocky Mountain railroad for your rec room A Rocky Mountain railroad for your rec room components […]

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