10 tips for beginning layout builders

A translucent green track-planning stencil is surrounded by notes and diagrams

10 tips for beginning layout builders: Trains.com has thousands of articles, images, and videos. Here, we’ve collected ten links to some of the best stories for people just starting on their layout-building adventure.   1. Learning to use a track template Track planning is an essential step in the construction of a model railroad layout. […]

Read More…

Jason Shron’s HO scale Kingston Subdivision layout

Track plan of Kingston Subdivision

Facts & features Name: Kingston Subdivision Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 12 x 45 feet Prototype: VIA Rail Canada, Canadian National, GO Transit, and Canadian Pacific Locale: Toronto, Ont., to Brockville, Ont. Era: November/December 1980 Style: multi-deck around-the-walls Mainline run: 310 feet scenicked, plus 245 feet in helix Minimum radius: 36″ (main), 30″ (freight-only lines) Minimum […]

Read More…

Bill Clancy’s HO scale Rio Grande Pacific layout

Track plan of Rio Grande layout

Facts & features Name: The Rio Grande Pacific RR Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 26′-0″ x 44′-6″ Prototype: Denver & Rio Grande Western; Great Northern; Spokane, Portland & Seattle; Union Pacific; and Western Pacific Locale: Colorado, Utah, and California Era: June 1948 Style: walk-in Mainline run: 544 feet Minimum radius: 36″ Minimum turnout: no. 5 (industrial […]

Read More…

Sketching With Steve: Freight car brake details

A sketch of how three different brake systems look from underneath a freight car

When I started in this hobby, I chose to model the early 1900s. That was before I knew what models were commercially available in my chosen time frame. (The answer was “not much.”) Since my hobby budget was limited, there was only one manufacturer making car kits appropriate for my era that I could afford. […]

Read More…

Adding lighting and interior scenes to structures — State Line Route in N scale, Episode 21

Eric White shows how to add interior scenes to an N scale structure

Adding lighting and interior scenes structures on the N scale State Line Route layout is the focus of this episode. First, Eric White makes interiors for Gerry Leone’s and Seth Puffer’s structures using images he found on Google. Then, he adds realistic lighting inside the structures by installing LED lights from Woodland Scenics’ Just Plug […]

Read More…

A rural farmhouse for your garden railroad

garden railroad farmhouse front

When I started my garden railroad, around 1994 or 1995, I built structures from drawings printed in old Model Railroader issues. At the time, I was looking for something to build for the contest at the National Garden Railway Convention in Orlando, Fla. (mid 1996). I found drawings in the January 1992 issue (p. 124)  […]

Read More…

Model Conrail passenger trains: There’s a prototype for everything

Conrail passenger trains: A streamline electric locomotive hauls a passenger train through a stone tunnel.

Model Conrail passenger trains. You read that right. Yes, you can model Conrail passenger trains prototypically. You are limited to the area roughly between Chicago and Connecticut, north to Detroit south to Philadelphia with highlights in and around New York City, New Jersey, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. But oh, what a big box to dabble in. […]

Read More…

How to use PCB ties

The PCB tie is trimmed to length and gapped between the rails.

How to use PCB ties: Printed-circuit board (PCB) ties are pieces of printed-circuit board cut to railroad tie shape. They’re available for most popular scales and are great for areas where you need to ensure track stays in gauge. A common use is for scratchbuilding turnouts. They’re used around the frog to keep the closure […]

Read More…

Make a Lake, Part 1 | Back on Track, Episode 18

By popular demand! Back on Track host Gerry Leone jumps ahead in time to begin an effort to shape a common layout space into a unique place! In this episode, you’ll see the start of the lake scene takes the curved mainline into consideration. First, Gerry works to build up a plate girder bridge to […]

Read More…

Scratchbuild a coal company from plastic

front of a model coal company building

Scratchbuild a coal company: Before oil and electric became practical, coal was the fuel of choice for heating homes and businesses. Almost every city and town had one or more businesses that supplied coal. They received clean coal in large bulk, in various sizes, usually by railroad, and sold it in bags, buckets, and truck […]

Read More…

Milwaukee museum debuts HO scale layout

A photo of the Milwaukee Everett Street train station in HO scale.

Milwaukee museum debuts HO scale layout: “All Aboard” is the name of a 10 x 35-foot HO scale model railroad at Discovery World, a family-oriented science and technology museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Set in the steam-to-diesel transition era, the proto-freelanced layout opened Nov. 25, 2021. The exhibit supports Discovery World’s mission of Science, Technology, Engineering, […]

Read More…

Patchout equipment you can model for your layout

Photo of HO scale end-cab locomotive in weather-beaten orange-and-black paint scheme.

The colorful world of patchout equipment you can model   Patchout equipment you can model: I remember when I placed Milwaukee, Racine & Troy MP15AC no. 1505 on our HO scale staff layout for the first time. Andy Sperandeo looked at the model, shook his head, and said, “Cody, there was a time when the […]

Read More…