Lighting your garden railroad for nighttime running

Nighttime trackside scene with lit station

I’ve enjoyed some of the most peaceful times on my railroad after the sun has set. Most of us likely have a porch light we can turn on to offer some light in the back yard. If yours is anything like my light, it gives off enough light to make sure your dog does his […]

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Scene and scale lighting options for your garden railroad

Solar powered lighting

Scene lighting allows you to shine a spotlight on your favorite railroad scenes. Again, the idea is to draw the viewer’s eye toward something you want to emphasize, like ridges, waterfalls, and pathways. You can be as creative as you want. You’ll want to hit the landscape lighting section at your local home improvement store. […]

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Final days of steam in western China

A steam locomotive billows smoke and steam under a twilight sky in an industrial rail yard.

Editors’ note: The author and photographers are graduates of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s rail engineering program. This is their first Trains byline. In North America, the days of steam railroading are a distant memory, and coal traffic is slowly headed the way of steam. In Europe and Japan, steam enthusiasts eagerly attend steam […]

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