After making a cardboard mock-up of a timber snowshed for our Olympia Logging Co. On30 layout, MR staffer Eric White starts to build the structure kit. Eric demonstrates the complete kitbashing process, ranging from how he stains, measures, and cuts the stripwood to fitting the final structure into position on the layout where it will […]
At frosty Higgins, Texas, on the Santa Fe, author Metzger’s crane parts sit sidetracked as SD40-2s pass with a freight. Bill Metzger While my hometown Pittsburgh Steelers were playing the Seattle Seahawks in the 2007 Super Bowl, I got to thinking about where I was the last time the Steelers won football’s biggest game. It […]
The Rochester and Genesee Valley Railroad Museum near Rochester, N.Y., took delivery of an Erie-Lackawanna RR steel-bodied milk car, no. 6603, in 1987. It was built by the Greenville Steel Car Co. for the Erie RR in June 1935. At first glance, the car looks like a standard steel refrigerator car. But since it was […]
Model Railroader magazine’s new staff member Eric White will kitbash a timber snowshed for our Olympia Logging Co. On30 layout. But before construction begins, he’ll first share how to make a useful cardboard structure mock-up. Along the way, Eric shows how a mock-up can immediately reveal issues to address, without needlessly sacrificing kit parts. […]
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page The scenery work keeps rockin’ on the Olympia Logging Co. On30 layout as David Popp demonstrates another technique for making simple, yet realistic rock outcroppings using Sculptamold. David walks you through all of the steps, from mixing up the material to forming the […]
Scenery projects resume on MRVP’s On30 Olympia Logging Co. display-style layout with Kent Johnson adding a large rock face. Kent keeps it simple by using a single rubber casting to form a sheer rock wall along the layout’s elevated line. Don’t miss his quick and easy installation tips for making authentic formations — even in […]
After installing the fascia and cabinet, David had the bright idea to keep progress rolling on MRVP’s On30 Olympia Logging Co. layout. In this episode, he assembles, installs, and wires the LED strips used to illuminate our display-style layout. This is our first attempt at using LEDs, so David also shares several helpful installation tips […]
Illinois Central 2-8-2 Mikado 1544 is eastbound at Villa Park, Ill., on a cold day in 1951. Henry M. Stange Some years ago, after a reunion of my old 10th Engineer Battalion at Springfield, Ill., I boarded Amtrak’s Statehouse for Chicago. I’d never ridden the former Chicago & Alton before, but I was eager to […]
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Before Kent and Jenny start on the messy scenery work, David first installs the fascia and a handy display cabinet on MRVP’s On30 Olympia Logging Co. display-style layout. David gets the dust flying when he demonstrates how to make precise, clean cuts in […]
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page MRVP’s Kent Johnson demonstrates two methods for adding a sturdy scenery hardshell over the mountainside terrain of our On30 Olympia Logging Co. display-style layout. In this video, Kent shares helpful tips and techniques for working with rolls of plaster cloth and all-new Shaper […]
Near Conklin, Alberta, NAR mixed train 77 ambles toward Fort McMurray on June 26, 1972, the second day of author Armstrong’s four-day adventure. James B. Armstrong At 5 o’clock every Sunday and Wednesday evening, mixed train No. 75 would trundle slowly out of Dunvegan Yards (Edmonton), headquarters and southern terminus of the Northern Alberta Railways, […]
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page In this video, Kent Johnson shares techniques he uses to transform the stacks of flexible foam blocks into a more natural, gradually sloping mountainside on MRVP’s On30 Olympia Logging Co. display-style layout. You’ll see how to work with a handy hot wire cutting […]
