Bill Clancy’s HO scale Rio Grande Pacific layout

Track plan of Rio Grande layout

Facts & features Name: The Rio Grande Pacific RR Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 26′-0″ x 44′-6″ Prototype: Denver & Rio Grande Western; Great Northern; Spokane, Portland & Seattle; Union Pacific; and Western Pacific Locale: Colorado, Utah, and California Era: June 1948 Style: walk-in Mainline run: 544 feet Minimum radius: 36″ Minimum turnout: no. 5 (industrial […]

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Issue preview: January 2022 Classic Toy Trains

Hal Miller with the cover of the 2022 January Classic Toy Trains issue preview

The January 2022 issue of Classic Toy Trains features advice on modelling winter from Dennis Brennan, a master of scenery and photography. You’ll also learn at least five other design and construction techniques from him that could improve your display! Plus there are multiple layout visits – including one in S gauge – filled with […]

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Building the HO scale Bay Junction layout

Bay Junction

Bay Junction was a project railroad for the editors of Model Railroaders in the early 2010s. Track plans and videos for that project are linked to below. Bay Junction track plans The Bay Junction track plan Industries and tracks and Williams Bay   Bay Junction overview article Read the first article about the second Milwaukee, […]

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Building the HO scale Bay Junction layout

Bay Junction

Bay Junction was a project railroad for the editors of Model Railroaders in the early 2010s. Track plans and videos for that project are linked to below. Bay Junction track plans The Bay Junction track plan Industries and tracks and Williams Bay   Bay Junction overview article Read the first article about the second Milwaukee, […]

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N scale Four Corners & Five Lakes Ry. track plan

NscaleFourCornersFiveLakesRy

Click on the image or link below to download a PDF of this track plan. The layout at a glance Name: The Four Corners & Five Lakes Ry. (a business unit of FCFL Transportation) Scale: N (1:160) Size: 20 x 30 feet Theme: freelanced Locale: Four Corners region of U.S. Era: modern Style: around the […]

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N scale Gauley Shavers Fork

NscaleGauleyShaversFork

The layout at a glance Name: Gauley & Shavers Fork Layout designer: Bob Ferguson Scale: N (1:160) Size: 16′-4″ x 33′-6″ Prototype: Baltimore & Ohio, Chesapeake & Ohio, Norfolk & Western, and Western Maryland Locale: Appalachia Era: mid- to late-1960s Style: shelf Mainline run: 75 feet Minimum radius: 9.75″ Minimum turnout: Peco medium radius Maximum […]

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Track plan for a port that fits on shelf

PortofBrunswick

See a PDF version of this by clicking here. This might be the simplest track plan ever to appear in Model Railroader. It includes just three turnouts, almost all the track is dead straight, and it’ll fit in office cubicles, studio apartments, dorm rooms, and other spaces traditionally considered too small for a model railroad. […]

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Four compact track plans

QuanaAcmePacific

Present and former members of the Model Railroader staff designed these four model railroads. Each can fit a 150-square-foot space. That space could be a 10 x 15-foot spare room, an 8-foot-wide stall in an 18-foot-long garage, a 5-foot-wide space along a 30-foot basement wall, or anything in between. What resulted was a variety of […]

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HO scale 59th and Rust

HOscale59thandrust

Click on the image to download a PDF of the track plan. Name: 59th and Rust Layout owner: Raymond O’Neill Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 18 x 96 inches Theme: freelanced urban switching Locale: northeast New Jersey and New York Era: 1965 to 1975 Style: Shelf Mainline run: 14 feet Minimum radius: 24″ Minimum turnout: no. […]

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HO scale Fox Hill & Metuchen RR and Fox Hill Traction Co.

HOscaleFoxHillMetuchenRRandFoxHillTractionCo

Name: Fox Hill & Metuchen RR and Fox Hill Traction Co. Layout owner: Fred Miller Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 18″ x 11′-8″ plus 9′ x 6′-9″ staging Theme: Generic steam and urban traction Locale: Northeastern United States Era: 1920 to 1930s Style: shelf Mainline Run: 12 feet (steam line), 18 feet (traction) Minimum Radius: 24″ (steam), […]

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HO scale New Woodstock

HOscaleNewWoodstockNY

Name: New Woodstock Layout owner: Phil Lord Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 8 x 14 feet Prototype: Lehigh Valley RR Locale: Madison County, N.Y. Era: 1945 Style: shelf Mainline run: 40 feet Minimum radius: 18″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: flat Benchwork: open grid Height: 481⁄2″ Roadbed: none Track: Atlas code 100 Scenery: extruded-foam insulation […]

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