Neil Young’s O gauge railroad

Neil Young’s O gauge railroad

Neil Young’s O gauge railroad To begin, Neil created his layout, which covered approximately 1,000 square feet on his ranch in northern California, to run through an assortment of natural landscapes outside his home. That’s right – the unforgettable three-rail display was built not inside an immense train room but instead filled in space among […]

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Modeling from postcards

Black-and-white aerial view of Crookston, Minn., looking east in the late 1920s.

Welcome to the first of a three-part series where I’ll show you the various modeling information you can learn from postcards. The cards in this series are all from Crookston, Minn., my hometown and the focus of my modeling research. Similar postcards can be found for most communities. Online auction websites like eBay are a […]

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Cody’s Trackside Finds

Minnesota Northern RR Emergency Notification System sign attached to wood post.

If you’ve been trackside in the past five or six years, you’ve probably noticed blue metal signs at grade crossings. These are called Emergency Notification System signs, or ENS for short. The top two lines of the sign read “Report problem or emergency.” Hazard may be used in place of problem in some instances. Below […]

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Jon Balka’s American Flyer All Aboard S gauge layout

Overview of track plan

Facts & Features Name: Jon Balka’s S gauge layout Dimensions: 5 1/2 x 10 feet Track and switches: American Flyer All*Aboard panels Motive power: Gilbert American Flyer Rolling stock: Gilbert American Flyer Controls: Gilbert American Flyer nos. 8B and 22004 transformers Structures: Gilbert American Flyer, Littletown, Marx, Plasticville Vehicles: Marx, Renwal Figures: Marx Click here […]

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Cody’s Trackside Finds

Four red CN high-cube distributed braking cars in the middle of an intermodal train.

Welcome to Cody’s Trackside Finds, a new series on Trains.com, where we’ll look at interesting locomotives, freight cars, structures, or details that I’ve come across while railfanning. In these entries, I’ll provide some background information on the subject, give you some modeling tips, and most importantly, encourage comments from the Trains.com community. Do you have […]

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MR Insider: A Virtual Visit with Hal Miller and David Popp

Trains.com staff members Hal Miller and David Popp stand along CTT O gauge layout.

What’s better than hanging out with Hal Miller and David Popp in the Model Railroader / Classic Toy Trains Workshop? The chance to repeat the experience! Enjoy this full replay of their hour-long trackside/layout-side chat, which was originally presented as a livestream session during the World’s Greatest Hobby Virtual Show on Saturday, April 17, 2021. […]

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A little bit of the Pacific Northwest

Gary Pearsall’s compact O gauge layout

Gary Pearsall’s layout features Northern Pacific passenger and freight trains. The layout measures 5 x 10 feet and features spectacular mountain scenery as well as a town with buildings by Lionel, MTH, Walthers, and Woodland Scenics. Trains made up of equipment from K-Line, Lionel, MTH, Atlas O, and Williams run on two independent loops of […]

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Calculate toy train speeds

O gauge passenger train with cars coming around a curve

Have you ever been curious as to just how fast your locomotives can travel and what will happen if a speeding train encounters a sharp curve? With a stretch of straight track to accelerate on, and an O-27 curve at the end, you can usually find out. But the question remains: Just how fast can […]

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June 2001

Garden Railways has been the leading magazine devoted to the hobby of outdoor, large-scale model railroading for more than 30 years. Each issue brings you step-by-step modeling projects, fascinating photo tours of garden railroads, unbiased product reviews, new product announcements, tips from the experts, and much more! Plus, subscribers get exclusive online access to the […]

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August 2001

Garden Railways has been the leading magazine devoted to the hobby of outdoor, large-scale model railroading for more than 30 years. Each issue brings you step-by-step modeling projects, fascinating photo tours of garden railroads, unbiased product reviews, new product announcements, tips from the experts, and much more! Plus, subscribers get exclusive online access to the […]

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December 2015

Garden Railways has been the leading magazine devoted to the hobby of outdoor, large-scale model railroading for more than 30 years. Each issue brings you step-by-step modeling projects, fascinating photo tours of garden railroads, unbiased product reviews, new product announcements, tips from the experts, and much more! Plus, subscribers get exclusive online access to the […]

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October 2006

Garden Railways has been the leading magazine devoted to the hobby of outdoor, large-scale model railroading for more than 30 years. Each issue brings you step-by-step modeling projects, fascinating photo tours of garden railroads, unbiased product reviews, new product announcements, tips from the experts, and much more! Plus, subscribers get exclusive online access to the […]

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