Name: Lakeside Lines RR Layout designer: Tom Harris Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 24 × 40 feet (plus staging) Prototype: freelanced, based on Chesapeake & Ohio and Norfolk & Western Locale: eastern West Virginia Period: early summer, 1980 Mainline run: 146 feet Minimum turnout: no. 6 (yard), no. 8 (main) Maximum grade: 1 percent Click on […]
Name: Reading Co. Layout designer: Sy Diamond Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 13′-6″ x 22′-0″ Prototype: Reading Co. Locale: eastern Pennsylvania Era: 1930s to early ’40s Style: walk-in with two liftout sections Mainline run: 80 feet Minimum radius: 36″ (main) Minimum turnout: no. 6 (main), no. 4 (yards and industries) Maximum grade: 2 percent Click on […]
Name: Central RR of New Jersey, Newark Branch Layout designer: Jonathan Jones Scale: N (1:160) Size: 6′-1¾” x 18′-9″ Prototype: Central RR of New Jersey Locale: Northern New Jersey Era: 1950s Style: shelf Mainline run: 15½ feet Minimum radius: 14″ (main), 12″ (industrial tracks) Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: none Click on the link […]
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Model Railroader managing editor David Popp shows how to make a Plexiglass safety fence for your train layout. […]
A house, a car, and a layout all have something in common: they turn out better when they’re built on a solid framework. This is especially true of a helix. A helix – a spiral ramp meant to lift a model train from one level of a layout to another – may not be prototypical, […]
What can you build with $3.5 million in donations, two professional model-building companies, and thousands of hours put in by more than 40 artists and modelers, and a score of volunteers? How about The Great Train Story, a 3,500-square-foot HO scale model railroad that includes key features of Chicago, Seattle, and an impressive representation of […]
A great prototype photo can often be a wonderful source of inspiration for a model. This was the case for my Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic 50-foot double-door boxcar. When I saw the black-and-white inset photo of a well-worn DSS&A boxcar, I immediately decided to paint the car’s discolorations and markings on an HO model. […]
Bill Hildebrand used scale drawings and inexpensive hardboard material to construct an O gauge model of the famous Hoboken Terminal. Ornate architecture, magnificent concourses, and a seemingly endless parade of people and trains are just a few of the characteristics that make large passenger train terminals just as captivating on toy train layouts as they […]
Richard Van de Kieft formed an impressive O gauge passenger terminal out of two MTH structures. Photos by Michael Raynor 2. A motor tool with a cutting disk quickly removes a tapered support along the interior ledge. 3. Use a razor saw to cut the ledge and separate the walls. 1. Use a Phillips-head screwdriver […]
1. A Southern Pacific 2-8-4 Berkshire with a Vanderbilt tender takes a freight train over the bridge. Nothing in the picture suggests that this garden line is actually built up on benchwork. Bill Hook 2. Full-size trees and the lake in the background can be seen in this dramatic view from behind the railroad. The […]
Name: Glenwood & Sierra RR. Layout designer: Sy Diamond Scale: N (1:160) Size: 7′-6″ x 13′-0″ feet Theme: freelanced Locale: various locations across North America Era: 1950s (steam to diesel transition) Style: around the walls with aisle Mainline run: 75 feet Minimum radius: 17″ Minimum turnout: no. 4 Maximum grade: 2.5 percent Click on the […]
Name: Milwaukee Road, Morton Branch Layout designer: Eric Williams Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 9 x 11 feet Prototype: Milwaukee Road Locale: Morton, Wash. Era: 1945 to 1950 Style: Around-the-walls Mainline run: 34 feet Minimum radius: 32″ (visible), 24″ (staging) Minimum turnout: Peco medium radius Maximum grade: 4 percent Click on the link to download the […]
