Olympia Logging Series: Part 41 – Lessons Learned

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page In this final episode of MRVP’s Olympia Logging Co. On30 display-style layout construction series, David Popp and Kent Johnson highlight the efforts, successes, and shortcomings over the last several months. Enjoy the quick tour, glean helpful insights from the candid conversation, and then […]

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Olympia Logging Series: Part 40 – Layout operation

David Popp show’s you that it really is possible to perform prototypical operations on a layout as simple as our Olympia Logging Co. On30 display. Follow along as he first explains the scheme, makes the essential preparations, and then demonstrates how fun and easy it is to get the layout working like a real railroad […]

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Follow a model train along the HO scale Maumee Route

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Originally published in Great Model Railroads 2007, this article by Bill Darnaby follows a way freight as it works its way eastbound on Bill’s HO scale Maumee Route. You’ll find a track plan and description of the operation of each town along train No. 20’s route. Follow a model train along the HO scale Maumee […]

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The big engine that couldn’t

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PRR J1 2-10-4 No. 6480 crests the hill in Irvington, heading east from downtown Indianapolis with a freight during the switchmen’s strike at Hawthorne Yard in the winter of 1951-52. Martin E. Biemer The winter of 1951–52 brought a new thrill for us railroad-crazy boys in the Indianapolis neighborhood of Irvington: Freight trains! Irvington, a […]

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Olympia Logging Series: Part 39 – Log car upgrades

Now that David Popp has the Olympia Logging Co. On30 steam locomotives looking good and weathered, he’s turning his focus to the log car fleet on the display-style layout. Follow along as he demonstrates how to use a can of spray paint, various modeling paints applied with a brush, pre-mixed stains, and weathering powders to […]

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Olympia Logging Series: Part 38 – Make a corrugated roof

MR associate editor Eric White shares his techniques for adding a corrugated roof to a wood structure on our Olympia Logging Co. On30 display-style layout. In this video, he shows how to work with styrene sheet material to form individual panels, paint and weather those panels, and then attach them to the building. […]

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Olympia Logging Series: Part 37 – Log pond scenery

In this video, David continues working on the log pond for our Olympia Logging Co. On30 layout. Here, he shows how to prep the layout for pouring the two-part epoxy resin water, tint the resin, and refine the log pond bank after the resin has set. David also shows how to add authentic subtle details […]

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Olympia Logging Series: Part 36 – Build a log pond

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page There’s a place to include realistic water effects on just about any model railroad, including our Olympia Logging Co. On30 layout. In this video, David Popp shows how to build a log pond, starting with the pond banks shaped from foam insulation board, […]

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Olympia Logging Series: Part 35 – Adding dirt ballast

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page In this video, Cody Grivno demonstrates how to add dirt ballast to the trackwork of our Olympia Logging Co. On30 layout. Cody walks you through the dry application of the real rock ballast, the prep for securing everything in place, and the easy […]

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On creating the world’s largest fusee

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Union Pacific’s City of Denver curves away from North Western Station in Chicago at the start of its run west. Sister streamliner City of Portland once made an unscheduled stop at Oak Park, 9 miles west. Wallace W. Abbey In spring 1955, I was working as a ticket clerk at Chicago & North Western’s Oak […]

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Olympia Logging Series: Part 34 – Adding trees

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Now that the rocks and basic ground covering is in place, MR’s Cody Grivno adds the tall timber to our Olympia Logging Co. On30 layout. In this video, he shows how to install and blend big commercial trees along the sloping mountainside terrain. […]

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W. Case Benham Elevator drawings

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W. Case Benham Elevator Feed mills, which often included a towering grain elevator, were once a common sight along the rails of small-town America. These utilitarian structures feature a variety of building materials as well as a mish-mash of add-on loading docks, sheds, and other outbuildings. This translates into a great modeling opportunity and a […]

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