Building Bay Junction part 1

Neil Besougloff next to layout

Beginning in the January 2011 issue you’ll see the latest Model Railroader project layout, the HO scale Bay Junction on the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy. We built this modern junction town as part of our MR&T club layout, but we’ll show you how you can build the railroad as a standalone island or shelf layout. […]

Read More…

Thin Branch Series: Making puffball trees

Neil Besougloff holding materials for puffball trees.

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Need a lot of tree-covered hills on your layout? In this video, MR’s editor Neil Besougloff shows you how to make common puffball trees. This technique models just the treetops, and it’s a great way to fill background hills with trees quickly. […]

Read More…

Thin Branch Series Ballasting a 1950s main line track

Cody ballasting alongside a track.

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Cody Grivno, our one-man ballasting crew, shares his tips and techniques for ballasting a well-groomed 1950s mainline track. Cody takes you through the process start to finish on our HO scale Thin Branch project, but his techniques work just as well in other […]

Read More…

A FasTrack scheme with a surprising secret

schematic of track plan

Layout designer: Peter Riddle Scale: O Layout size: 6 1/2 x 11 feet Track type: Lionel FasTrack Minimum curve: O-36 Originally appeared in the September 2013 issue of Classic Toy Trains. A FasTrack scheme with a surprising secret A FasTrack scheme with a surprising secret schematic A FasTrack scheme with a surprising secret components […]

Read More…

Build a faux stone bridge out of Styrofoam

styrofoam_bridge

Rod Eaton In the August 2013 issue, contributor Eric Schade demonstrates how to make “stone” structures from leftover composite decking material. Download this companion article, originally published in the October 2011 issue, about how to make “stone” bridges easily out of Styrofoam. Click here to download a PDF of the article. […]

Read More…

Thin Branch Series: Build a Bridge part 4 – Installation

David building a bridge with foam scenery.

We close our four-part Build-a-bridge series by installing the model on our Thin Branch HO scale layout. In this video David shares some techniques for building foam scenery and working with plaster abutment castings to support our through-girder bridge. […]

Read More…

Thin Branch Series: Working with foam rocks

Hand placing foam "rocks" above a raw and unfinished tunnel portal on a model train layout.

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page If you want to try a different material to make rocks for your model railroad, try foam. In this video, David shows how he added Mountains in Minutes foam rocks to our Thin Branch HO scale project railroad. […]

Read More…