By Toyoji Sekine / Photos by Kaori Komatsu In the 1950s, when I was a small child, an O gauge train ran around the pond in my yard. It was a Japanese-style train made of tinplate, as nothing more realistic was available after the war. But I fell in love with American railroads, particularly the […]
Keep scenery looking its best: There are two main issues with aging scenery – dust build-up and fading. Battling dust is an inevitability and an uphill battle if scenery work is continuing elsewhere in the room. Both dust and fading occur gradually over the years and can be hard to spot. Water and rolling stock […]
Thanks to these model railroad fascia fixtures, your layout’s fascia can do more than give the edge of your layout a finished look. That stretch of tempered hardboard, medium density fiberboard, plywood, or linoleum can also serve a practical purpose. Consider adding some of these model railroad fascia fixtures to make life easier for your […]
Built by Others is an article series showcasing layouts constructed by modelers using plans and projects from the pages of Model Railroader and its associated products. The Olympia series started on MR Video Plus as an On30 logging railroad video series. Jean Levasseur converted the layout to HO scale and made some modifications to the […]
Built by Others is an article series showcasing layouts constructed by modelers using plans and projects from the pages of Model Railroader and its associated magazines. The Alkali Central was an HO scale project railroad built by the MR staff and featured in the December 1995 issue. Robert Mountenay adapted the track plan to fit […]
Built by Others is an article series showcasing layouts constructed by modelers using plans and projects from the pages of Model Railroader and its associated magazines. The Olympia project was an On30 layout built by the MR Video Plus team for a series of videos that can be found on Trains.com Video. A “what if” […]
Built by Others is an article series showcasing layouts constructed by modelers using plans and projects from the pages of Model Railroader magazine. The Gold Hills Central was a layout built live by staff and MR contributors at Model Railroader’s 50th Anniversary Conference, held in Milwaukee in 1983. The original story and plan ran in […]
The basic tools to start building your train table: If you’re interested in building a train table for your layout, you’ll need a few basic tools to get started. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced model railroader, having the right tools can make all the difference in the success of your project. Safety Gear […]
Built by Others is an article series showcasing layouts constructed by modelers using plans and projects from the pages of Model Railroader magazine. Neil Maldeis built the small N scale layout here to be able to take it to shows. It is based upon the Whiskey Barrel & Grimy Gotham N scale plan that appeared […]
For most of my 70 plus years I have been interested in trains. Wherever I lived, I built a number of layouts in basements and attics. It was not until I became interested in the life of the Buffalo & Susquehanna Railroad that I thought it would be a railroad to model. It could not […]
Built by Others is an article series showcasing layouts constructed by modelers using plans and projects from the pages of Model Railroader magazine. The Bedford Valley RR appeared in the November 1986 issue of MR. David Foxx built his own version, making an assortment of additions to it using pieces of other MR projects as well. – […]
Model train décor using coffee table layouts: I always love the idea of a model railroad “hidden in plain sight.” Although a shelf layout is an effective and efficient way to integrate a model railroad into a living space, it is also very obvious where the layout is when you enter the room – particularly […]
