The first trestle crossing of the season, but trouble may be ahead! […]
First trestle crossing
Section: Beginners
Computer desktop wallpaper from the May 2018 Model Railroader
Click on the links at left to download this image sized appropriately for your computer screen. On a late fall afternoon, a New York Central Niagara departs Ellison with an express while a Pennsylvania RR E6 Atlantic picks up a cut of cars. Paul Kahne shot the photo on Lee Gasparik’s O scale Pennsylvania & […]
Build a better layout
A decade ago, Dick Christianson, the founding editor of Classic Toy Trains, and I began work on what became the O gauge Lionel Lines/Santa Fe layout. With help from CTT staff members, who dutifully ventured to Dick’s suburban basement every Tuesday night, we spent countless hours planning, thinking, changing our minds, and making false starts […]
HO Train Layout Ideas
This booklet contains five National Train Show track plans, along with a bill of materials for constructing each one and some operational possibilities. The 4 x 8 dimensions are time-tested – that’s the size of a sheet of plywood, plenty of track and broad-enough curves can fit on it, and, most important, filling those 32 square […]
Computer desktop wallpaper from the April 2018 Model Railroader
Click on the links at left to download the image sized appropriately for your computer screen. The Nickel Plate Road’s first Berkshire, Alco-built no. 700, accelerates out of Frankfort, Ind., with fast freight No. 47 in tow on Model Railroader contributing editor Tony Koester’s HO scale NKP St. Louis Division layout. This month you can […]
Scale conversion chart for large-scale modelers
Use this handy chart to convert your drawings to another scale. Download our PDF and start building! […]
Computer desktop wallpaper from the March 2018 Model Railroader
Click on the links at left to download the image size appropriate for your computer screen. The eastbound and westbound Twin Cities Zephyrs, racing between Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul, pass each other as the Burlington Route’s main line runs along the Mississippi River on Bill Edgar’s N scale layout. The trackside photo from the March […]
10 Proven Lionel FasTrack Plans
Nearly all of us have dreamt of building a large toy train layout. The stark reality is that many of us lack the real estate, resources, or time for such an endeavor. But there’s no reason to be disappointed. This free guide from the experts at Classic Toy Trains includes a salute to the small layout, with […]
Introduction to Model Railroading
For those entering the hobby, this free guide from Model Railroader offers 14 pages of advice and inspiration. We provide tips on getting started, a guide on scales and gauges, and inspiration to build your own model railroad. […]
Computer desktop wallpaper from the February 2018 Model Railroader
Click on the links at left to download the image sized appropriately for your computer screen. Dave Bigge photographed this stunning shot of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe El Capitan on his HO scale Cajon Pass layout that’s set in 1956. Click on the links below to download the photo sized appropriately for your […]
Computer desktop wallpaper from the January 2018 Model Railroader
Click on the links at left to download the image sized appropriately for your computer screen. A manifest freight barrels through the crossing at York, Pa., on Brian Wolfe’s HO scale Western Maryland layout. Paul Dolkos shot the photo. Click on the links below to download the image to use as a background on your […]
A Beginners Guide to Toy Trains
Welcome to the enjoyable and exciting hobby of toy trains! Folks enter this hobby a number of ways. Perhaps you found your childhood train set after many years and want to relive the fun you had with those toys. Maybe you picked up a vintage toy locomotive and cars at a yard sale or an […]
