Scratchbuild an operating coal tower

model coaling tower

If your garden railroad is set in the steam or steam-to-diesel transition era, it’s going to need a coal tower. When I started to gather rolling stock and build my railroad in 2013, there were no commercial coal towers on the market. The only existing product was from Pola, but I couldn’t find one on […]

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Menards HO Cripple Creek Seed & Feed

Color image of weathered gray HO scale building with scenicked base on white background.

Price: $24.99 Manufacturer Menards 5106 Menard Dr. Eau Claire, WI 54703 menards.com/trains Era: 1930s to present Comments: Cripple Creek Seed & Feed joins the ever-growing lineup of HO scale structures from Menards. The factory-assembled model, which measures 4-⅜” wide x 3-¼” deep x 2-7/16” high, uses medium density fiberboard (MDF) construction and has a scenicked […]

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Model trains for the 19th century

Color photo of steam locomotive and train passing over wood trestle and truss bridge.

Q: Many of Model Railroader’s articles, reviews, and advertisements focus on products representing the “modern” era, say the 1940s to the present. That’s OK, and much of your audience obviously enjoys modeling contemporary railroading. However, I’m interested in modeling the railroad industry as it was in the 19th century. Can you suggest the names of […]

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Spaces to Places VII | Within yard limits, part 1

Host Gerry Leone returns to the lower level of his HO scale Bona Vista HO scale double-deck model railroad, with the intent to complete the yard adjacent to the scenes featured in Spaces to Places V. Follow along as he first plans, and then adds urban scenery and structures, plus plenty of gritty, attention-getting details, […]

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Finding the right freight cars

Color photo of three HO scale freight cars.

As many of you know, my primary modeling interest is the early days of the Burlington Northern (1970-1974) in Crookston, Minn., my hometown. One of the rail-served industries that has long intrigued me is the Otter Tail Power Co. (OTPCO) power plant. The 10,000 kilowatt plant, which hugged the banks of the Red Lake River […]

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The story of Joyful Junction — Micah’s Christmas train

An N scale Norfolk & Western steam locomotive in a snowy scene

A Christmas train adds to the Christmas spirit It’s not often that you hear words like “locomotive” or “uncoupled” in a 3-year-old’s vocabulary, but that’s exactly where my wife and I found ourselves Christmas morning in 2022. Our son Micah had always had a fascination with all trains, so much that we often joked that […]

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