Jorge Martinez’ photo of Gabriel Martinez’s 3 x 3-foot O scale diorama is this month’s wallpaper. Click on the links below to download the image sized appropriately for your computer screen. Download the 1600 x 900 image Download the 1600 x 1000 image Download the 1600 x 1200 image […]
Enter your e-mail below and instantly receive a FREE 15-page download containing tips for easy 4 x 8 layouts that you can build. In this supplement, you will receive: 6 different track plans in HO, N and O scales Industries your trains can serve How to build simple table benchwork for your layout Scenery tips […]
Toy train tables are a must-have for almost anyone looking to operate or display their collection — from Lionel and American Flyer to Thomas. Throughout the years, Classic Toy Trains has promoted building tables and Model Railroader has published fine plans for small layouts. But some toy train enthusiasts just want to buy a table […]
A version of this article appeared in Model Railroader’s special issue from 2018: Build a Small Railroad. Pursuing my hobby concurrently with my military career meant I needed a portable model railroad that could still suggest the scale and intensity of a gigantic prototype in an impossibly small space. I found what I needed in […]
Modeling a narrow gauge railroad in a small space: Modeling a logging camp requires a variety of structures, trackwork, scenery, figures, and activities. The camp includes not only loggers involved in different pursuits, but also woodchoppers, a laundress, checkers players, engineers and mechanics, stable hands and horses, bears, garbage cans, railroad materials, and more, surrounded […]
A version of this article appeared in Model Railroader’s special issue from 2018: Build a Small Railroad. In today’s world of trains, big 6-axle locomotives, and flashing red lights replacing cabooses, it’s comforting to know that spotting a single boxcar at a warehouse is still an integral part of railroading. Designing the module As I […]
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In this video, I show how I built a 24″ diameter N-scale micro layout that is battery powered, and features steep mountain terrain and a waterfall. The layout uses Kato Unitrack and runs off of two 9V batteries. The layout was built for a store display, and features a push-button control on the front for […]
When you live in an apartment, as I did when I designed the Southern Ry. Spartanburg Subdivision, you might think you have no space for a layout. But where there’s a will, there’s a right-of-way. My N scale Spartanburg Subdivision is 3′-0″ x 5′-6″ and less than a foot in height. Rather than legs, the […]
Although I’m really an HO scale modeler at heart, I’ve always been intrigued with N scale trains and have more than once thought how neat it would be to “have a few.” Being without any other outlet for modeling, those very thoughts soon translated into construction of the Havaphew Central, my first N scale layout. […]
Welcome to Wintergreen Junction, a fictional place located somewhere in the great north, snow covered nearly year round. In reality, this is a new 3 x 3-foot N scale layout built between Thanksgiving and Christmas this past year. Although unfinished (ran out of time), this layout will continue to evolve in the years ahead. Enjoy […]
In this video, I show how I set up operations on my small switching layouts, including making car cards, building car-card racks, and running through a short operating session. Video by Steven Strum […]
