Spaces to Places IV | Installing the Streets, part 3

It’s time to hit the streets of Westcott, the developing new town on Gerry Leone’s HO scale model railroad. After adding lights to structure interiors, adjusting city blocks, and then building, painting, and weathering sidewalks, our host shows his technique for paving roads made from medium-grit sandpaper! Want to see more of Gerry’s work in […]

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Broadway Limited Imports HO scale EMD GP20

Screen shot of Product Review video.

The Broadway Limited Imports HO scale EMD GP20 is back in more than a dozen paint schemes, including Wisconsin & Southern (WSOR). Join Model Railroader editor Eric White and senior editor Cody Grivno as they talk about the features on the four-axle road locomotive and switch cars on MR’s WSOR staff layout. In addition to […]

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Tips for successful ballasting

Color photo of HO scale figure by turnout with locomotive and boxcars in the frame.

OK, time for a show of hands. How many of you enjoy ballasting? That’s what I expected. Ballasting isn’t an aspect of the hobby most modelers enjoy. However, I’ve ballasted parts or all of several Model Railroader project layouts over the years, and I’ve come to enjoy adding those tiny granules to layouts. When I […]

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News & Products for the week of May 1st 2023

News & Products for the week of May 1st 2023: An image of a model locomotive

News & Products for the week of May 1st 2023 Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of May 1st 2023. […]

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Passenger car lighting with a decoder

A closeup of a model train decoder with a button being pressed with a small wooden rod

Passenger car lighting with a decoder: People have been installing light-emitting diodes (LEDs) inside passenger cars for years. It’s nothing new. There are plenty of articles written about it, but I wanted to go further. When operating my trains in the yard, I want the lights in my passenger car to be off, but when […]

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The Buffalo & Susquehanna Railroad

A model steam locomotive pulls a passenger car over a bridge.

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 […]

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News & Products for the week of April 24th 2023

News & Products for the week of April 24th 2023 Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of April 24th 2023. […]

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Model Train Décor using Coffee Table Layouts

Black coffee table on white carpet. Table has small model layout inside under glass top

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 […]

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