In his article “Nine Decades in the Service of Steam” in the Summer 2004 issue of Classic Trains magazine, James A. Brown looks at the final, glorious years of Stratford Big Shop, Canadian National’s last steam-locomotive overhaul facility. Below is a PDF that includes the layout of the Canadian National Stratford Shop. Please note that […]
FINALLY, ALL OF THOSE grand, O gauge passenger trains have an equally grand destination: Ace Trains station canopy. Ace Trains is a British company that makes tinplate reproductions of classic Hornby-style O gauge locomotives and rolling stock. Ace’s station canopy kit, distributed in the United States by Weaver Models, is its first structure. And what […]
Kevin Strong 1:24-scale water towerKamloops Junction Wood Products850 Ida LaneKamloops, British Columbia V2B 6V1 CanadaPrice: $119.99 Can.Note: Manufacturer is no longer in business Craftsman-level kit; pre-cut cedar stripwood; Sonotube section for the tank substructure; corrugated plastic sub-roof material; sandpaper roofing material; resin castings for the water spout, counterweights, and nut-bolt-washers; steel wire for the tank […]
EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE, a manufacturer has a brilliant idea for a product that should have been obvious – but wasn’t – to everyone in the toy train hobby. The latest to accomplish this feat is Pride Lines. It did so by thinking small! Specifically, Pride Lines realized that a classic Lionel Standard gauge […]
Scrap wood, like that pictured here, is readily available and free for the asking. Rene Schweitzer Trestles! Bridges! Cribbing! Wooden rolling stock! There are many applications of unpainted wood for an outdoor pike to challenge the beginner and veteran alike, all requiring tools, time, money, and skill. The most common choices of wood for outdoor […]
This structure on the Greenbriar Cheat & Elk railway was made out of blue foam insulation board. Randy Mower I have been scratch building structures for my Greenbriar Cheat & Elk garden railroad since 1993. Although I have commercial structures on my railway, I wanted to have buildings that were unique to my railroad, so […]
Walther’s HO modular structure system A clever modular structure-building system is now available from Walthers that makes it easy to produce good-looking brick buildings of nearly any size. Its components are cleanly molded, have excellent detail, and fit together in innumerable combinations. Cornerstone Modulars are sold in planned structure kits and as packages of individual […]
Walthers’ N scale passenger station A traditional big city passenger terminal has been released in N scale, and the model’s clean lines, cut-stone exterior, and impressive columns make it one big and beautiful structure. It definitely fits the image former Trains magazine editor David P. Morgan described as a “temple of transportation.” The architecture of […]
City Classics HO scale company house HO company house is a common design Here’s a company house that’ll fit perfectly on the gritty blue-collar side of the tracks on most model railroads. Made by City Classics, this easy styrene structure kit follows the form and function of numerous dwellings commonly found around industrial centers from […]
Nu-line N scale modern concrete warehouse If you’re looking for a mid-sized modern industrial building that dwarfs the railroad cars and semi-trucks serving it, then this Nu-Line Structures kit is for you. Standing a scale 40 feet high, the 120 x 168-foot concrete-panel structure has the right look and feel for many present-day businesses. Nu-Line’s […]
Downtown Deco O scale hotel and bar The Atlantic Hotel is one of the fine limited-run plaster structure kits produced by Downtown Deco in O scale. Its rectangular design is typical of older masonry structures found in cities nearly anywhere in the country. The kit consists of well-detailed and textured plaster wall castings that had […]
Miller Engineering HO, N, and Z scale Starlite Drive-in Theater Miller Engineering’s drive-in movie theater incorporates animation, sound, and lighting effects to make the finished model come alive. Modelers in HO, N, and Z scales can build and enjoy the magic of a miniature drive-in theater that shows actual movies. With the addition of a […]
