Thin Branch Series: Powering turnout frogs

David installing turnouts.

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page You can improve the operation on most any railroad by installing turnouts with powered frogs. David shows you how we set up the Thin Branch project railroad with turnout frogs powered through switch motor contacts. […]

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Cass Scenic before it was a state park

  Shay No. 4 of the Cass, Greenbrier, Cheat and Bald Knob Scenic Railroad backs between switchbacks on the railroad in transition from logging railroad to tourist line. Today this is the Cass Scenic Railroad, and it celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2013. Check out more Cass and West Virginia coverage in the August 2013 […]

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Cass before it was Cass

  With Cass Shay No. 4 lettered for the scrapper that was dismantling the railroad, a governor’s special visits the wye located at Camp One on Bald Knob on April 23, 1961. Check out more Cass and West Virginia coverage in the August 2013 issue of Trains magazine. Photo by John P. Killoran […]

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Thin Branch Series: Making puffball trees

Neil Besougloff holding materials for puffball trees.

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Need a lot of tree-covered hills on your layout? In this video, MR’s editor Neil Besougloff shows you how to make common puffball trees. This technique models just the treetops, and it’s a great way to fill background hills with trees quickly. […]

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Thin Branch Series: Making puffball trees

Neil Besougloff holding materials for puffball trees.

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Need a lot of tree-covered hills on your layout? In this video, MR’s editor Neil Besougloff shows you how to make common puffball trees. This technique models just the treetops, and it’s a great way to fill background hills with trees quickly. […]

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Thin Branch Series Ballasting a 1950s main line track

Cody ballasting alongside a track.

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Cody Grivno, our one-man ballasting crew, shares his tips and techniques for ballasting a well-groomed 1950s mainline track. Cody takes you through the process start to finish on our HO scale Thin Branch project, but his techniques work just as well in other […]

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Thin Branch Series Ballasting a 1950s main line track

Cody ballasting alongside a track.

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Cody Grivno, our one-man ballasting crew, shares his tips and techniques for ballasting a well-groomed 1950s mainline track. Cody takes you through the process start to finish on our HO scale Thin Branch project, but his techniques work just as well in other […]

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Office car special

  Norfolk Southern’s prized F-units parade through the community of Glade Spring, Va., and past the classic signals at Washington, while on a eastbound inspection trip to Roanoke from Chattanooga, Tenn., on June 11, 2013. Photo by Samuel Phillips […]

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Thin Branch Series: Build a Bridge part 4 – installation

David building a bridge with foam scenery.

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page We close our four-part Build-a-bridge series by installing the model on our Thin Branch HO scale layout. In this video David shares some techniques for building foam scenery and working with plaster abutment castings to support our through-girder bridge. […]

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Railroads in West Virginia towns

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FULL SCREEN Kevin Scanlon Norfolk Southern hopper train on West Virginia Secondary passes through town of Gauley Bridge, W.Va., on March 23, 2006. FULL SCREEN Kevin Scanlon CSX helpers on eastbound train Q-316 on Mountain Subdivision crosses Tray Run Viaduct at Rowlesburg, W.Va., on Jan. 18, 1998. FULL SCREEN Kevin Scanlon CSX eastbound hopper train […]

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Thin Branch Series: Working with foam rocks

Hand placing foam "rocks" above a raw and unfinished tunnel portal on a model train layout.

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page If you want to try a different material to make rocks for your model railroad, try foam. In this video, David shows how he added Mountains in Minutes foam rocks to our Thin Branch HO scale project railroad. […]

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