As the author of Model Railroader’s “Ask MR” column, I get a lot of questions from readers. Usually I either know the answers or at least where I can find the answers for them. Sometimes, though, I get a question that stirs my imagination and prompts me to compose a more involved response. Such was […]
Facts & features Name: The Rio Grande Pacific RR Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 26′-0″ x 44′-6″ Prototype: Denver & Rio Grande Western; Great Northern; Spokane, Portland & Seattle; Union Pacific; and Western Pacific Locale: Colorado, Utah, and California Era: June 1948 Style: walk-in Mainline run: 544 feet Minimum radius: 36″ Minimum turnout: no. 5 (industrial […]
The January 2022 issue of Classic Toy Trains features advice on modelling winter from Dennis Brennan, a master of scenery and photography. You’ll also learn at least five other design and construction techniques from him that could improve your display! Plus there are multiple layout visits – including one in S gauge – filled with […]
The latest special issue from Classic Toy Trains! If you’re looking to build your first toy train layout, or maybe just something more manageable, Toy Train Layouts for Small Spaces has you covered! It’s full of plans for layouts under 100 square feet that will fit in a spare room, including island and around the […]
Bay Junction was a project railroad for the editors of Model Railroaders in the early 2010s. Track plans and videos for that project are linked to below. Bay Junction track plans The Bay Junction track plan Industries and tracks and Williams Bay Bay Junction overview article Read the first article about the second Milwaukee, […]
Bay Junction was a project railroad for the editors of Model Railroaders in the early 2010s. Track plans and videos for that project are linked to below. Bay Junction track plans The Bay Junction track plan Industries and tracks and Williams Bay Bay Junction overview article Read the first article about the second Milwaukee, […]
Click on the image or link below to download a PDF of this track plan. The layout at a glance Name: The Four Corners & Five Lakes Ry. (a business unit of FCFL Transportation) Scale: N (1:160) Size: 20 x 30 feet Theme: freelanced Locale: Four Corners region of U.S. Era: modern Style: around the […]
The layout at a glance Name: Gauley & Shavers Fork Layout designer: Bob Ferguson Scale: N (1:160) Size: 16′-4″ x 33′-6″ Prototype: Baltimore & Ohio, Chesapeake & Ohio, Norfolk & Western, and Western Maryland Locale: Appalachia Era: mid- to late-1960s Style: shelf Mainline run: 75 feet Minimum radius: 9.75″ Minimum turnout: Peco medium radius Maximum […]
See a PDF version of this by clicking here. This might be the simplest track plan ever to appear in Model Railroader. It includes just three turnouts, almost all the track is dead straight, and it’ll fit in office cubicles, studio apartments, dorm rooms, and other spaces traditionally considered too small for a model railroad. […]
Present and former members of the Model Railroader staff designed these four model railroads. Each can fit a 150-square-foot space. That space could be a 10 x 15-foot spare room, an 8-foot-wide stall in an 18-foot-long garage, a 5-foot-wide space along a 30-foot basement wall, or anything in between. What resulted was a variety of […]
Click on the image to download a PDF of the track plan. Name: 59th and Rust Layout owner: Raymond O’Neill Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 18 x 96 inches Theme: freelanced urban switching Locale: northeast New Jersey and New York Era: 1965 to 1975 Style: Shelf Mainline run: 14 feet Minimum radius: 24″ Minimum turnout: no. […]
Name: Fox Hill & Metuchen RR and Fox Hill Traction Co. Layout owner: Fred Miller Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 18″ x 11′-8″ plus 9′ x 6′-9″ staging Theme: Generic steam and urban traction Locale: Northeastern United States Era: 1920 to 1930s Style: shelf Mainline Run: 12 feet (steam line), 18 feet (traction) Minimum Radius: 24″ (steam), […]
