Rice Harbor Series: Installing benchwork alignment pins

David Popp holding pins.

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Are you building a sectional or modular layout that requires precise alignment of adjoining sections? If so, then you’ll want to see how David installed benchwork alignment dowels, also called pattern maker pins, on MR’s HO scale Rice Harbor. These steel dowels make […]

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Video: Broadway Limited Imports Paragon2 HO scale PRR K4s

Broadway Limited Imports upgraded its HO scale Pennsylvania RR K4s with its Paragon2 Digital Command Control sound decoder and electronics. The model also features lighting effects and puffing smoke. Watch the HO scale steam locomotive as it hauls a PRR passenger consist around the Model Railroader staff’s club layout, the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy. […]

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Basic Training: Modeling damaged trees

Kent Johnson in front of layout

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Add a touch of realism to your modeled forest or wooded grove by including decaying or damaged trees. Kent Johnson demonstrates a quick and easy technique for making plague pines using plastic tree kits available for layouts of any size or scale. […]

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Building a 5 x 8 harbor railroad part 7

Neil Besougloff and Hal Miller next to a layout

In this episode editor Neil Besougloff continues scenery work on the Model Railroader staff’s Rice Harbor project. You’ll learn about the ground cover used for the South Carolina setting as well as Neil’s tips for planting trees on a model railroad. Meanwhile senior editor Dana Kawala works on a retail oil depot. Because of the […]

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Walthers HO scale SW1 diesel locomotive

WalthersHOscaleSW1diesellocomotive

Walthers HO scale SW1 diesel locomotive After a lengthy hiatus, the HO scale Electro-Motive Division SW1 has returned to the Walthers product lineup. The WalthersMainline model features upgrades from the original 1993 version, including a new drive mechanism with 14:1 helical-cut gears, factory-installed plastic and wire handrails, and an eight-pin plug for a Digital Command […]

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Trip on the GM&O in May 1951 Trains

Read the article, “Travel . . . Family Style,” from the May 1951 issue of Trains magazine, in which Bill Akin and his wife and daughter, identified as the “Andrews” family, ride the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio between Chicago and St. Louis. Download the story by clicking here. […]

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Realistic model railroading with Pelle Søeborg

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Pelle Søeborg is a model railroader known for his ability to create ultra-realistic scenes. His main modeling focus is modern-era railroading in the California desert, but his techniques are useful whatever your modeling subject. This article collection includes two track plans: one for a shelf layout and another for Pelle’s 11′-6″ x 22′-0″ Union Pacific […]

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Handcar shed drawings

Handcarshed

Check out these plans for a handcar shed from Model Railroader magazine. Every railroad needs myriad small storage sheds along the right-of-way and in engine terminals and yards. When I required a small trackside shed for my freelanced On30 (also known as On21⁄2) North Cariboo Ry., I decided it should show its age. I figured the shed would […]

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HO scale Sebring Model RR Club

SebringModelRRClub

Name: Sebring Model RR Club Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 25 x 75 feet Prototype: freelanced Locale: eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania Era: late 1940s to late 1950s Style: walk-in Mainline run: 1,100 feet Minimum radius: 42″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: 1.5 percent Originally appeared in the March 2014 Model Railroader. Click on the […]

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