Name: Katy Kansas City Subdivision Layout designer: Mike McLain Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 26 x 56 feet Prototype: M-K-T, Northern Division Locale: Kansas City to Parsons, Kan. Period: 1981 Style: linear walkaround Mainline run: 220 feet Minimum radius: 30″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: 2 percent Originally appeared in the Great Model Railroads 2014. […]
Name: Lehigh & Susquehanna Layout designer: Wayne Sittner Scale: HO (1:87:1) Size: 9 x 41 feet Prototypes: Central of New Jersey; Delaware & Hudson; Delaware, Lackawanna & Western; Erie; Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley; Lehigh Valley; and Pennsylvania Locale: Northeastern Pennsylvania anthracite coal mining and cement-making regions Era: 1952-62 or 1978-85 Style: linear walkaround shelf Mainline […]
Name: Oregon Coast RR Layout designer: Mat Thompson Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 32′-0″ x 54′-6″ Prototype: freelanced Locale: Pacific Northwest Era: fall 1953 Style: walk-in Mainline run: 120 feet Minimum radius: 30″ (main), 24″ (branch) Minimum turnout: no. 6 (main), no. 4 (industries and yards) Maximum grade: 2.5 percent Originally appeared in the Great Model […]
Name: Pennsylvania RR Juniata Division Layout designer: Dave Vollmer Scale: N (1:160) Size: 6′-8″ x 8′-8″ Prototype: Pennsylvania RR Middle Division Locale: central Pennsylvania Period: 1956 Style: island Mainline run: 15.4 feet Minimum radius: 13.5″ Minimum turnout: no. 5 Maximum grade: none Originally appeared in the Great Model Railroads 2014. Click on the link to […]
Name: San Juan Extension Layout designer: John Short Scale: HOn3 (1:87.1, narrow gauge) Size: 13′-6″ x 22′-6″ plus 7′-0″ extension Prototype: Denver & Rio Grande Western (some Rio Grande Southern) Locale: southwestern Colorado Period: September 1948 Style: walk-in Mainline run: 161 feet Minimum radius: 24″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: 2.5 percent Originally appeared […]
Name: Virginian Ry. Deepwater District Layout designer: Gerry Albers Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 40 x 50 feet, plus 19 x 24½ feet for staging Prototype: Deepwater District, VGN New River Division Locale: southern West Virginia Period: summer 1959 Style: walk-in Mainline run: 600 feet Minimum radius: 32″, 28″ in yards Minimum turnout: no. 8, no. […]
Name: Wharf Street Layout designer: Art Fahie Scale: S (1:64:1) Size: 6 x 17 foot L Prototype: Maine two-foot gauge railroads Locale: Maine coast Era: 1925 Style: shelf diorama Mainline run: n/a Minimum radius: 22″ Maximum grade: none Originally appeared in the Great Model Railroads 2014. Click here to download a PDF of this track […]
Mat Thompson’s Swift meat-packing plant ships and receives enough freight car traffic to warrant a full-time dedicated switch job on his HO scale Oregon Coast RR. Refrigerator cars Inbound iced reefers to the cooling track Cooled reefers to plant Track 1 doors for loading Outbound loaded reefers Stockcars Inbound loaded 40- foot and 50-foot cars […]
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Broadway Limited’s new HO scale Y6b steam locomotive includes a lot of great features, including smoke, sound, Digital Command Control, and amazing pulling power. Watch it run on our HO scale layout in this video. […]
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Just in time for Halloween, Cody shows you two ways to strip paint from models in his latest visit to the “MR Laboratory.” He also shares some scary tips for preparing resin models, cutting coupler trip pins, and painting locomotive numberboards. And watchout […]
This is a “track-level” tour of my HO scale Rice Lake, Dallas & Menomonie RR. It was shot with a Midland “XTC” camera set in a gondola. Video shot by Bob Wundrock […]
This HO scale refrigerator car from Athearn Trains models a Fruit Growers Express (FGE) prototype. The model also includes a SoundTraxx decoder that reproduces the sounds of the refrigeration unit. Follow along as associate editor Cody Grivno shows how the car’s placement in a train affects the clarity of the sound. Cody also reviewed the […]
