Trackside Photos is a showcase for the work of Model Railroader readers. Send your photos (digital images 5 megapixels or larger) to: Model Railroader, Trackside Photos, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612; or upload them to http://fileupload.kalmbach.com/contribute. For our photo submission guidelines, contact associate editor Steven Otte at sotte@mrmag.com. […]
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On Model Railroader’s Beer Line project layout, which was set in 1947 Milwaukee, I ballasted the track on the entire layout using a favorite technique. I used a 50:50 blend of Highball Products Light Gray and Dark Gray limestone ballast, which looks similar to ballast used by the Milwaukee Road [Highball Products ballast is no […]
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In this photo gallery, we encourage you to enjoy two fantastic Santa Fe layouts that are inspired. We hope they inspire you on your journey to creating a new model railroad layout, even one based on the Santa Fe! The first railroad is Gary Hoover’s interpretation of the Santa Fe Railway on Aug. 29, 1951. […]
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Toy train layout operators foiled by the lack of inexpensive details can you aluminum foil as the raw materials for unlimited “junked cars.” Best of all, the project won’t strain your how-to skills and will add detail to your layout. You’ll need heavy-duty foil, gloss black paint, your choice of flat colors, a hobby knife, […]
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(From the article “Three track plans for one sheet of plywood” from the August 2008 Model Railroader) HO scale model railroads are often small layouts based on 4 x 8-foot sheets of plywood, for obvious reasons. A flat tabletop is a lot easier to build than L-girder benchwork, and almost any home has room for […]
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Gary Hoover models the Norfolk & Western Ry. in the late 1950s through Virginia and West Virginia. Many of the scenes on his 24 x 49 foot model railroad are inspired by the famed railroad photographer, O. Winston Link. Gary’s model train layout is also the cover story of the April 2020 Model Railroader. Enjoy […]
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Prototype operations weren’t the focus of many model railroaders when I started work on my HO scale layout in 1988. But I had a clear vision of an operations-oriented layout that would depict the Canadian Pacific Ry.’s Montreal Terminals Division in Canada’s second largest city in the late 1960s. That was when I spent […]
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Why would anyone model the Stockton & Copperopolis, an obscure short line with a name that sounds made up? Or model this little-known prototype in the 1890s? Most importantly, would it be practical to build it as a large, prototypically faithful model railroad capable of realistic operation and equip it with authentic locomotives and rolling […]
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Click on the image to download the article. In the February 2020 Model Railroader, Charlie Getz describes how a damaged locomotive from John Allen’s famed Gorre & Daphetid layout was recently restored to running condition. For an overview of model railroad pioneer John Allen and his spectacular model railroads, registered members can download a copy […]
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DOWNLOAD THE ARTICLE Gary Schaff’s HO scale Hudson, Delaware & Lehigh is a freelanced Central Railroad of New Jersey and Pennsylvania Railroad line operating between Jersey City, N.J., and Mauch Chunk Pa., in the early 1950s. Gary wrote about how he added his own personal touches to this professionally built model train layout in Great […]
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Featured in Great Model Railroads 2020, Ron Abramson’s HO scale New York, New Haven & Hartford layout finally reaches completion. The layout models the New Haven’s electrified zone through southwestern Connecticut in the 1950s and 1960s. Click on the link to read Ron’s original story about his exceptional model train layout from the August 2004 […]
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