The Wascana Canyon Railway

The Wascana Canyon Railway

The Wascana Canyon Railway at a glance Name: Wascana Canyon Railway, with operating rights for Canadian Pacific Railway Size of railway: About 30′ x 40′ Scale: 1:29 Gauge: Nº 1 (45 mm) Era: Past 30 years Theme: Mainline shipping of grain, containers, and petroleum Age: Six years Motive power: USA Trains SD-70, two GP 38-2s, […]

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Visit a 1970s branch line

Visit a 1970s branch line

UP/CB&Q at a glance Name: Union Pacific & CB&Q Size of railroad: 40′ x 40′ Scale: 1:29 Gauge: Nº 1 Era: 1970 Theme: Southern Nebraska branch line featuring joint UP & CB&Q operations Age: 9 years Motive power: USA Trains Alco S-4s, GP-30, GP-7, F-3 Length of mainline: 180′ Maximum gradient: 2.5% Type of track: […]

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Scratchbuild a White Tower graphics

white tower restaurant

Bob Santos describes how to scratchbuild a White Tower restaurant in the February 2014 issue. Here, he provides extra graphics to detail your structure. Download a PDF file of signs, and full-size drawings for 1:24 scale. For full instructions, see the February 2014 issue. This PDF is formatted to print on your home printer. Most […]

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How to train trees like topiaries

trees on a hillside

Our little scale trees really make or break the scale quality of our railway gardens. Did you know you could choose from several methods of keeping trees in scale? Here are three practices, but we’ll focus on the third. One approach, planting genetically miniature* plants, ensures almost no pruning for quite a long time but […]

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Winter on the Zavoronki Railroad

Winter on the Zavoronki Railroad

Name:  Ilya Krishtal Railroad Name:  Zavoronki Railroad Location: Russia, Zavoronki village Scale: 1:22.5 Theme: First winter day run! Description:    I installed special equipment in my Baldwin Forney 2-4-4 steam locomotive. Now I can run this locomotive on battery power with radio control even in winter! Russian winters are always very cold and snowy and this […]

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Russ and Barb Larson’s garden railroad

Russ and Barb Larson's garden railroad

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page In this video we visit Russ and Barb Larson’s large scale layout, the Pagosa Springs & Northern. Russ is a former MR publisher and editor, and he and his wife share their beautiful garden railroad, as well as offer some insight into what […]

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Russ and Barb Larson’s garden railroad

Russ and Barb Larson's garden railroad

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page In this video we visit Russ and Barb Larson’s large scale layout, the Pagosa Springs & Northern. Russ is a former MR publisher and editor, and he and his wife share their beautiful garden railroad, as well as offer some insight into what […]

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Sustainability for lasting enjoyment

train near rocks on garden railway

When we start out, we intend to make our dream come true. Our piqued imagination and the enthusiasm of fellow modelers are necessary to sustain us through the long construction process. Long-term and second-go-round railroad gardeners have used strong building materials for their walks, retaining walls, railroad and structures. They researched the plants to find […]

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Build a faux stone bridge out of Styrofoam

styrofoam_bridge

Rod Eaton In the August 2013 issue, contributor Eric Schade demonstrates how to make “stone” structures from leftover composite decking material. Download this companion article, originally published in the October 2011 issue, about how to make “stone” bridges easily out of Styrofoam. Click here to download a PDF of the article. […]

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How to landscape around your buildings

model building on garden railway

What do your buildings have to say for themselves? Each structure evokes a feeling for its purpose, the folks who might live or work there, and a bit about the history that transpired on the premises, as shown in photo 1. How the structure was built and maintained is “written on the walls.” All of […]

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The Nepenthes, Gestalt, & Delirium Railway

The Nepenthes, Gestalt, & Delirium Railway

Railway at a glance Name: Nepenthes, Gestalt, & Delirium Railway Size of railroad: 40′ x 25′ Scale: Individual trains to various scales Gauges: 45mm & 63.5mm Era: Today Theme: The garden, trains, and the gestalt that results Age: 9 years Motive power: On-board battery, diesel outline; live steam; a little clockwork Length of mainline: 96′ […]

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