Industries in northern Ohio: The track and buildings are relatively level, but the walking area follows the contour of the ground. The entrance at the east is the highest, with the track and buildings being about one foot higher than the path. As you proceed to the west end, the path descends a little, so […]
Growing up in northwestern Minnesota, the two railroads I was most familiar with were Burlington Northern and Soo Line. Sure, I would see Conrail freight cars now and then. Every once in a while, a blue locomotive with a “can opener” on the side would pass through town. But as I was going through my […]
If you read our online News & Products for the week of February 20, 2023, you saw an announcement for the Micro-Trains Line Co. N scale Department of Defense (DODX) flatcar with “mystery balloon” load. The model was made in response to the balloon that was shot down by an F-22 off the South Carolina […]
As modelers we take pride in our work, especially our layouts, whether they be a shelf layout, or a sprawling rail empire. One thing that we may not spend enough time doing, however, is taking care of said layout, especially cleaning it. We may run a track cleaning car around the mainline a few times […]
Operating the layout | In the previous Episode 25 (Car routing with JMRI OperationsPro), you saw the crew prepare the State Line Route N scale model railroad for an operating session. Now, host David Popp walks you through the prototypical actions as they transpire over the simple, yet engaging layout! Enjoying this coverage of our […]
Q: I have a 5’-6” x 6’-0” HO scale layout modeling south-central Oregon in the years 1950 to 1979. I want to model the industries that I grew up around in that area – potatoes, wheat farming, cattle ranching, and logging. The members of the train club I’m in say that the railroads quit hauling […]
Locomotives short lines like to use: Shortline railroads have long fascinated me. Perhaps it’s because I had a front-row seat to the startup of one in my hometown in December 1996. Maybe it’s because some are real underdog stories. Seeing a railroad turn a line or lines plagued by years of deferred maintenance into a […]
In model railroad snow plow rolling stock round-up, we thought it would be fun to take a look at models of snow fighting equipment available in N, HO, and O scales. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list. Rather, it’s a look at some of the ready-to-run models and a few kits that […]
Work on the HO scale Milwaukee, Racine & Troy (MR&T) Jones Island project has come to a close, so it’s prime time for David Popp and Eric White to survey the 14 x 3-foot finished layout section! Follow along as the two hosts, along with Cody Grivno and Ben Lake, point out specific scenes and […]
Work on the HO scale Milwaukee, Racine & Troy (MR&T) Jones Island project has come to a close, so it’s prime time for David Popp and Eric White to survey the 14 x 3-foot finished layout section! Follow along as the two hosts, along with Cody Grivno and Ben Lake, point out specific scenes and […]
In this visit to the Colorado Model Railroad Museum’s 10,000 square-foot building, you’ll get to explore the HO scale (1:87) model railroad that’s open to the public year-round (visit CMRM.org)! Based on an obscure prototype railroad routing about the Pacific Northwest in 1975, the main display features long trains, museum-quality scenery, captivating animations, and a […]
Seven ways to uncouple model railroad train cars on tracks: Automatic knuckle couplers look great, and they make coupling cars extremely easy – you simply push them together. However, when it comes to uncoupling, far too many of us rely on the hand from the sky method (also known as the 0-5-0 switcher), reaching in […]
