Bigger and better: 7/8n2 in the garden

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The author and several helpers modeled the Alhambra Trestle over the course of three years. A 7/8″ Fairymead pulls Dave Frediani cars past 22 Japanese maples, both dwarf and semi-dwarf, back to the caboose. Nancy Norris After decades of building and maintaining garden railways, I’ve built my own railway for low maintenance and live-steam access. […]

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Goji berry

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Nancy Norris Common name: Goji berry, wolfberry, Chinese boxthorn Latin name: Lycium barbarum, L. chinense Plant type: Perennial USDA Hardiness Zones: 6-9 for L. barbarum, 4-9 for L. chinense Cultural needs: Well-drained, high pH (alkaline) soil, full sun Plant size: 5-8′, easily pruned to stay 2-3′ as in photo Nurseries stock Goji berry plants more […]

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Kitbashing strategies for a feed mill

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Tony describes how he kitbashed the feed mill, pictured on the left, of his portable O scale Wingate model railroad. Using parts from two Atlas O Ace Feed & Supply kits, Tony rearranged the side walls and added a second story turned sideways to create a more realistic footprint and to disguise the kit’s all-too-familiar […]

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HO scale St. Louis Junction RR Co.

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The layout at a glance Name: St. Louis Junction Layout designer: John Schindler Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 30 x 60 feet Prototype: BNSF Ry., CSX, Norfolk Southern, Terminal RR Association of St. Louis, and Union Pacific Locale: St. Louis area Era: 2010 Style: multi-deck walk-in Mainline run: 275 feet Minimum radius: 32″ Minimum turnout: no. […]

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HO scale Western Maryland Ry. Blue Ridge Division

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The layout at a glance Name: Western Maryland Ry. Blue Ridge Division Layout designer: Brian Wolfe Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 28 x 39 feet Prototype: Western Maryland Ry. Locale: Maryland/Pennsylvania border Era: 1970 Style: multilevel walk-in Mainline run: 200 feet Minimum radius: 29″ (main), 18″ (Hagerstown wye) Minimum turnout: no. 6 (main), no. 4 (yards) […]

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Olympia & Sand Creek: Benchwork, Episode 1

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page David is back to building out his O scale (1:48) Olympia Logging Co. On30 layout. But this time, he’s got a little bit of extra help from MRVP Contributing Editor Gerry Leone! Watch as the two team up to construct new benchwork for […]

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Basics of car cards and waybills for model railroad operation part 2

Basics of car cards and waybills for model railroad operation

To apply the car-card-and-waybill freight-car routing system I described in part 1 takes more than just the two basic forms. The first form is the car card identifying each freight car with a pocket to hold the other form, a 4-step waybill. The pocket and waybill are sized so that only one of the waybill’s […]

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Basics of car cards and waybills for model railroad operation part 3

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The switch crew in Woodsriver Yard on Paul Dolkos’ old Boston & Maine layout sorted cars according to waybill information to make up several different trains, pickups for trains passing through, and cuts for delivery to Woodsriver industries. Paul Dolkos The car-card-and-waybill freight-car routing system I’ve described in my ­previous two columns gives you all […]

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Linn Westcott remembers John Allen and his Gorre & Daphetid

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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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HO scale Piermont Division

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The layout at a glance Name: Piermont Division Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 60 x 70 feet Theme: freelanced Locale: Pennsylvania, New York State, northwestern New Jersey Era: early 1950s Style: walk-in Mainline run: more than 1,400 feet Minimum radius: 38″ Minimum turnout: no. 10 (main and sidings), no. 8 (yards) Maximum grade: 1.5 percent (main), […]

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