Common name: Skeleton bush, wire-netting bush Latin name: Corokia cotoneaster ‘Little Prince’ Plant size: 3′ high x 18″ wide, easily kept smaller Plant type: Shrubs and small trees USDA Hardiness Zones: 7-10 Cultural needs: Sun or shade, medium water needs, good drainage, tolerates alkaline soil The dark, almost black, twisting stems of Corokia cotoneaster ‘Little […]
Mitchell Park Domes Large Scale Garden Display | Each year, from January to the end of March, the Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory in Milwaukee, Wis., hosts a beautiful G scale garden railroad inside one of its three uniquely-engineered domes. For one weekend only, in early February, a wide range of layouts and displays in different […]
Q: I’m working on adding lineside details to my freelance model railroad. I’d like to add station signs to help my operators identify various locations on the layout. Though I’m not modeling a specific prototype, I want the signs to look realistic. Where can I find information on prototype station signs? — Bobby T. A: […]
Locomotives, regardless of scale, have always been at the forefront of technological advancements in model railroading. Over the past decade, this trend has accelerated: bringing in innovative features and enhancements that redefine the hobby. Whether they’re seen as trailblazers for the future or as models featuring nothing but “all the bells and whistles,” let’s explore […]
I model the Western Maryland Ry. (WM) from the 1920s to before the start of World War II. Appropriate commercial models of coal hoppers for my modeling era are limited in large scale. I was using LGB two-bay and Bachmann three-bay hoppers as stand-ins, but I wanted accurate, period-specific coal hoppers for my rolling stock […]
I dabbled a great deal in narrow gauge modeling over the years, but found U.S. main line Class I railroads more to my taste. I like the operation potential of main lines, with many categories of trains from the peddler to the fast freight, the suburban local to the limiteds. A friend (Chris Ludlow, an […]
Q: What is the best adhesive to use for attaching cork roadbed to wood or extruded-foam insulation board? — Ronald Jaeger A: In Basic Trackwork for Model Railroaders — Second Edition (Kalmbach Books, 2014), Jeff Wilson wrote, “Cork can be nailed in place, but glue is a much neater option. I prefer white glue for […]
Common name: Ken Aslet crassula Latin name: Crassula sarcocaulis ‘Ken Aslet’ Plant size: 20″ high x 20″ wide Plant type: Shrubs and small trees USDA Hardiness Zones: 9-10 Cultural needs: Sandy soil, sun or part shade Native to South Africa, this close relative of the jade plant makes a showy trackside tree, especially when it […]
Unless your model railroad is at eye-level or higher, the first thing operators and visitors see when they look at your locomotives and freight cars is the roof (and on open-top cars, the interior). In recent years, some manufacturers have offered models with faded paint and light weathering. Other companies have released boxcars with paint […]
Original article published in Garden Railway’s Dec. 2019 issue by Bill Mefford; edited and updated for Trains.com by Lucas Iverson. For many model railroaders and garden railway enthusiasts, a trip to the Greater Cincinnati Tri-State area was on the bucket list. That’s because it was the home to EnterTRAINment Junction, which boasted the biggest indoor […]
Built by Others is an article series showcasing layouts constructed by modelers using plans and projects from the pages of Model Railroader and its related products. The HO scale Winston-Salem Southbound Tar Branch layout project layout first appeared in the pages of Model Railroader in January of 2018, as well as the 2017 issue of […]
If your garden railroad is set in the steam or steam-to-diesel transition era, it’s going to need a coal tower. When I started to gather rolling stock and build my railroad in 2013, there were no commercial coal towers on the market. The only existing product was from Pola, but I couldn’t find one on […]
