A visit to John Staschak’s O gauge layout

Overview of John Staschak's toy train layout with superimposed cover of September 2021 Classic Toy Trains

John’s layout appears in the September 2021 issue of Classic Toy Trains. It features tremendous trackwork and wonderful scenery (see the plan here), in addition to some spectacular modern trains. Watch and hear freight and passenger consists work their way around it. […]

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Frank Sinatra’s O gauge railroad

View of Frank Sinatra O gauge layout

Frank Sinatra’s O gauge railroad included many collectible pieces as well as everyday items. They were all colorful and fun to the legendary singer and his family. As noted in the November 2015 Classic Toy Trains, members of the Sinatra family believe he was introduced to the hobby by visiting the home of big-band leader […]

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Neil Young’s O gauge railroad

Neil Young’s O gauge railroad

Neil Young’s O gauge railroad To begin, Neil created his layout, which covered approximately 1,000 square feet on his ranch in northern California, to run through an assortment of natural landscapes outside his home. That’s right – the unforgettable three-rail display was built not inside an immense train room but instead filled in space among […]

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A fun way to operate your garden railroad

A hand holding two, handmade, four-sided dice.

We enjoy operations on our Weona (we-own-a) Railroad, but we wanted something different for our operating sessions. Here’s how we do it. I made a pair of four-sided dice, one with sides labeled 1, 2, 3, and 4, and the other 1, 2, 3, and blank, giving a possible outcome of 1 to 7, to […]

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Scale It Down: Making big plans fit into less space, Episode 1

Scale It Down logo over image of unfinished benchwork and track work.

Steve Brown, host of It’s My Railroad, launches into an all-new, Trains.com exclusive series! Follow along as he walks through his plans and strategies for building a reduced-scope, N scale version of his favorite HO scale layout, the Winston-Salem Southbound Railway (The Tar Branch), previously featured in Model Railroader magazine and MRVideoPlus.com. […]

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Layout Visit: Ted Pamperin’s C&O Hinton Division in HO scale

A Chesapeake & Ohio steam locomotive pulls a train of freight cars along on Ted Pamperin's HO scale C&O Hinton Division model railroad

Layout builder Ted Pamperin hosts an exclusive video tour of his HO scale (1:87) layout capturing Chesapeake & Ohio Railway’s steam and diesel-powered Appalachian operations during the early days of winter in 1951. Even in this unique scenery motif, you’ll find Ted’s depiction of West Virginia’s New River Gorge is quite impressive. […]

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Layout Visit: Ted Pamperin’s C&O Hinton Division in HO scale

A Chesapeake & Ohio steam locomotive pulls a train of freight cars along on Ted Pamperin's HO scale C&O Hinton Division model railroad

Layout builder Ted Pamperin hosts an exclusive video tour of his HO scale (1:87) layout capturing Chesapeake & Ohio Railway’s steam and diesel-powered Appalachian operations during the early days of winter in 1951. Even in this unique scenery motif, you’ll find Ted’s depiction of West Virginia’s New River Gorge is quite impressive. […]

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Taking it easy in O gauge

Fred Laubie’s O gauge Buckeye Central RR

This 35 x 56-foot layout features postwar and modern Lionel power pulling impressive trains made up of Atlas O, Golden Gate Depot, Lionel, and MTH cars. It’s constructed with GarGraves track and Ross Custom Switches controlled by Circuitron and NJ International machines. Scenic highlights include a number of bridges and tunnels, a roundhouse, yard, coal […]

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