HO scale Boston Maine Bedford Division

Name: Boston & Maine Bedford Division Layout designer: Bill Moore Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 12′-0″ x 18′-6″ Prototype: freelanced, inspired by the Boston & Maine Locale: west-central New England Era: late 1940s to early 1950s Style: multilevel walk-in Mainline run: 174 feet Minimum radius: 36″ (upper level), 28″ (middle level), 21″ (lower level) Minimum turnout: […]

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HO scale Long Island & Lake Erie RR

Name: Long Island & Lake Erie RR Layout designer: Charlie Weinhofer Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 17 x 24 feet Prototype: Pennsylvania RR and Long Island RR Locale: New York Era: 1950s Style: walk-in Mainline run: 60 feet Minimum radius: 36″ Minimum turnout: no. 8 (main), no. 6 (yards), no. 4 (spurs) Maximum grade: 2 percent […]

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Build an 1880s oil refinery

Pioneer Refinery

Refineries are a fascinating industry to model, and they can add considerable switching activity to a model railroad operating session. Kits for contemporary refineries are available, but they weren’t much help on my 1895-era railroad where the principal retail petroleum product is kerosene instead of gasoline. Some time ago, I became aware of the remains […]

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The HO scale New England & North Coast

Name: New England & North Coast Layout designer: Sam Novello Scale: HO (1:87.1) Room size: 12 x 14 feet Prototype: freelanced Locale: New England seacoast Era: 1955 to 1965 Style: walkaround Minimum radius: 22″ Mainline run: 100 feet Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: 3 percent Originally appeared in the July 2012 issue of Model […]

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The N scale Oakville sub

The Oakville Sub

Name: The Oakville Sub Layout designer: Jim Reising Scale: N (1:160) Size: 26′-6″ x 52′-0″ Prototype: Union Pacific and BNSF Ry. Locale: Ex-Southern Pacific line between Bakersfield and Tehachapi, Calif. Style: walk-in, partial multilevel Era: present day Mainline run: 222 feet Minimum radius: 24″ Minimum turnout: no. 7 Maximum grade: 2 percent Originally appeared in […]

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The Operators video: Using Digital Command Control (DCC) sound realistically

Model locomotive approaches a crossing

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Model Railroader contributing editor Andy Sperandeo installed a SoundTraxx Micro-Tsunami Digital Command Control (DCC) sound decoder into his HO scale Atlas Alco S-2 switcher. Watch as Andy runs the HO scale diesel locomotive on our Beer Line model train layout. He’ll also show […]

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