Brass buttons, creeping gold buttons

A ground cover on a garden railway

  Common name: Brass buttons, creeping gold buttons Latin name: Cotula fallax, C. hispida, or C. lineariloba Plant type: Perennial Plant size: 2″ high x 10″ wide USDA Hardiness Zones: 5-10 Cultural needs: Somewhat xeric, sun or part shade Renamed Cotula fallax, this semi-evergreen groundcover is not to be confused with other popular fern-like Cotulas, […]

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ScaleTrains.com N scale GE Dash 9-40C

ScaleTrains.com N scale Dash 9 locomotive

In 1995, Norfolk Southern was in the market for a modern, high-horsepower diesel to add to its roster. If you run an N scale railroad, you can do as NS did and pick up the General Electric Dash 9-40C, the latest offering from ScaleTrains.com’s high-detail Rivet Counter line. This modern six-axle workhorse is available as […]

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Budget work train for the garden

Large-scale MOW train

Budget work train for DIY’ers A budget work train made its way into my life since I needed a project to work on to de-stress from the rigors of graduate school — for a price a grad student can afford. Wrecking crane I wanted my budget work train to center around two main cars, a 250- […]

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Convert a large-scale LGB passenger car into a dining car

Model figures in a dining car

By Frederic Williams Rohm and Brian Michelson I grew up in central Pennsylvania where my family had been long-time residents. My garden railroad is based on the Pennsylvania Railroad circa 1900; my grandfather and uncles worked on the PRR. The premier Pennsy passenger train of this era was the Pennsylvania Limited, which began making the […]

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Weeping Norway spruce

A spruce on a garden railroad

Common name: Weeping Norway spruce 
Latin name: Picea abies ‘Pendula’ Plant type: dwarf conifer USDA Hardiness Zones: 2-8 Cultural needs: Moist, well drained, slightly acidic soil; sun to part shade Plant height: 18″ if prostrate; 10-12′ if staked Dark, evergreen needles on drooping soft branches make weeping Norway spruce an attractive specimen tree. Garden railroaders […]

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Meet the modeler: Eric Schade

Two live-steam engines on a garden railway

How did you get started in the hobby?  I received an HO scale model kit of a steam locomotive for Christmas when I was 14 years old. I had fun following the instructions, then building a railway to run it on. I also liked building outdoor villages with buildings and roads with toy cars and real […]

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A fun, large-scale Halloween display

A Halloween display layout on a truck

I love collecting and displaying large-scale trains. I also love showing off my 1956 GMC pick up at car shows, or even at the front of my driveway at home. I decided to combine the two and make a mobile display layout! The layout is an easy build. My truck has slots on the truck […]

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News & products for the week of October 14, 2021

Austrian Federal Rys. Taurus Railjet locomotive.

Large scale locomotives Austrian Federal Rys. Taurus Railjet locomotive. Digital Command Control sound decoder; molded and separate, factory-applied parts, including lights, windshield wipers, handrails, horn, vents, fans, bumpers, and exhaust stack; hook-and-loop couplers; and can-type ball-bearing motor. $779.99. November 2021. PIKO America, 619-280-2800, piko-america.com Large scale passenger equipment Austrian Federal Rys. Railjet first-class coach. Plastic wheelsets, molded […]

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