My garden railway is like a 4 x 8-foot layout, only it’s scaled up to around 12 x 32 feet and built outdoors. I’ve added a small garden retaining wall to raise the railway to knee height, which is comfortable for viewing and placing trains on the track. Originally, the patio had no roof or […]
If you’ve read Model Railroader or many of our books and special issues, you’ve probably seen references to timetable-and-train-order operation, or TTTO for short. Employee timetables (ETT) that governed TTTO operation listed station names, mileposts, train numbers and classes, departure and arrival times, and operating instructions, among other items, to govern train movements. So why […]
Joe Algozzini, perhaps the preeminent expert on Lionel trains and accessories manufactured during the post-World War II era (1945-69) has been contributing deeply researched and thoughtfully written articles to Classic Toy Trains since its second issue hit newsstands in the spring of 1988. To be honest, Joe was laying the groundwork for what became the […]
Fake steam gauges I’ve made my own fake gauges before I thought of this. I found some pictures of gauges by doing an Internet image search. I then sized them to fit my old kitbashed Pacific’s backhead, which I plan to use in a Challenger. I put shiny, clear tape over them to give the […]
Verlyn Noring received his first train set when he was 5 years old. Today, he still admires that Marx No. 999 set, which is proudly displayed on his fireplace mantle. In 1982, Verlyn and Louise attended the LCCA convention in Dearborn, Mich. They spotted a custom painted postwar Christmas train set for sale. Like many […]
A rail-themed restaurant is a concept familiar to many rail enthusiasts. Perhaps you’ve dined at one yourself. Often located in a converted passenger station, the décor is themed, unsurprisingly, after railroads. Sometimes, these restaurants will feature authentic dining car plates from one or several railroads, and other such memorabilia. Sometimes, though, these rail-themed restaurants will […]
Facts and features Name: Owl Cove Lumber Co.Scale: On30 (1:48, 30″ narrow gauge)Size: 6 x 40 feetPrototype: freelancedLocale: Washington’s Northern CascadesEra: 1930sStyle: around-the-wallsMainline run: 26 feetMinimum radius: 18″Minimum turnout: No. 4Maximum grade: 6%Benchwork: L-girderHeight: 40″Roadbed: corkTrack: code 83 handlaid and flextrackScenery: hardshellBackdrop: hand-painted on wallsControl: NCE Digital Command Control Click the link to download a […]
Facts and features Name: Long Island Rail RoadScale: HO (1:87.1)Size: 27′-7″ x 48′-9″ Prototype: Long Island Rail Road Locale: Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and north shore of Long Island (to Greenlawn)Era: 1964 (diesel) or 1954 (steam)Mainline run: approximately 300 feet Minimum radius: 24″Minimum turnout: No. 4 (yards), No. 6 (main and crossovers) Maximum grade: 3%Benchwork: […]
“Less is more,” as the saying goes from the article How to lubricate your O and S gauge trains. The same applies to lubricating modern O scale steam locomotives, big and small. Though much like their real-life counterparts, there will be a few more components to attend to in contrast to lubricating diesels and rolling […]
Q: I have heard of some of the uses for alcohol in model railroading, such as cleaning parts, removing paint, and track cleaning. Are there other uses I’m not aware of? And at what strengths would be used? — Ron Buddemeier A: Isopropyl alcohol is a fairly strong solvent, and as such, there are a […]
When people think about building a model train layout on a hollow core door, they most often envision an N scale layout, like our Red Oak project (which was published starting in MR’s January 2015 issue). Admittedly, hollow core doors are a convenient size for small N scale layouts, since nested 9.5” and 11” radius […]
Harold W. Russell’s illustrations have been appearing in Model Railroader magazine since the mid-1960s. He has more than 150 bylines to his credit. In the July 2024 issue he shared plans for a masonry depot on the Lehigh Valley in Gorham, N.Y. Click on the link below to download Harold’s plans. Use this link to […]
