Ride along with me as the conductor of the Freight House Job to see how I get the work done. We start running south out of Humboldt Yard, and don’t stop until we’re just past the scale track switch south of Commerce Street. We open the switch and signal the engineer to back the train […]
Modeling Topic: Model Railroad Operations
Operating on the Readers’ Choice RR
Watch Kent Johnson operate on the Readers’ Choice RR. Don’t miss Part two of this video! […]
Operating on the Readers’ Choice RR
Watch Kent Johnson operate on the Readers’ Choice RR. Don’t miss Part two of this video! […]
How to operate your model railroad online extras
Click to see what’s inside this special issue Click the links to see all the online extras from How to Operate Your Model Railroad. Order How to Operate Your Model Railroad today! Switching Watch the video: Operations on the N scale Waterbury Industrial District. Car routing Download David’s industry lists and switch lists on his […]
Operating paperwork for David Popp’s New York, New Haven & Hartford layout
Model Railroader managing editor David Popp developed an operating scheme for his N scale New Haven layout. Adopting the idea of operating trains with a purpose will make your layout more interactive and realistic. Click on the links below to download the industry lists and switch lists David uses on his layout. Switch list front […]
Waybills for your model railroad
Ted Pamperin borrowed ideas from many sources to develop more realistic looking waybills for his new HO Chesapeake & Ohio Ry. In the February 2012 issue of Model Railroader, Ted Pamperin explains how he used prototype paperwork to create a waybill system for his Chesapeake & Ohio Ry. layout. Click on the links below to […]
Operating paperwork for the Virginian Ry.
Using a Boulder Creek Engineering digital scale, Kalmbach Publishing designer Drew Halverson records the weights of loaded coal hoppers on a mine-block sheet. Model Railroader‘s HO scale project layout is based on the Virginian Ry. in Spring of 1955. It’s a 4 x 8 operating layout with a number of places that it can be […]
Model train set video demonstrations
Most model railroaders get started in the hobby with a ready-to-run train set. These sets include a locomotive, cars, track, and a power pack. In these videos you’ll see members of the Model Railroader magazine staff showing you how to set up and run some recently released model train sets. Are you new to the […]
Railroad timeline, 1950-1989
1950: Dieselization – Ten Class 1 railroads had already dieselized before this year, including the Atlanta & St. Andrews Bay; Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville (Monon); Columbus & Greenville; Detroit & Mackinac; Elgin, Joliet & Eastern; Gulf, Mobile & Ohio; Lehigh & New England; New York, Ontario & Western; New York, Susquehanna & Western; and Texas-Mexican. […]
Design procedure for yard ladder control using slow-motion switch motors
Introduction In an article in the August 2011 Model Railroader, I described a method to control yard ladders with a single rotary switch. By simply turning the rotary switch, all turnouts would automatically line up for the selected yard track. The method was based on using a bipolar power supply, Tortoise switch machines, and one […]
Adding operations to a model railroad
Read how Brooks Stover made a three-hour operating session for a 6- to 8-member crew with what seemed like so little action. Adding operations to a model railroad […]
Freight station operations for the model railroader
Many of our model railroads have freight stations, but we don’t always make the most of their operational possibilities. Especially for cities from medium to larger size, freight stations can be among the busiest industries on our layouts. Freight stations provide rail service to businesses that don’t have their own rail sidings. You can think […]
