Check out these realistic photos of steam locomotive models from 2023’s Trackside Photos
Steam locomotives are marvels of engineering that dominated the rails for more than 100 years. Check out this gallery of HO, S, and O scale steam locomotive model photos that were featured in Model Railroader’s Trackside Photos in 2023.
Rio Grande Southern K-27 No. 455 hauls a string of gondolas through the rugged San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado. John Vavra of Escondido, Calif., photographed the scene on his HO scale layout. The locomotive and gondola are from Blackstone. The rock faces were made with plaster cast in commercial latex rock molds with hand-carved plaster in between the castings.
A local freight headed by Galeton & Chestnut Lake RR 2-8-0 Consolidation No. 2 passes the Chestnut Lake freight house on its way to Galeton, Pa., with cars for the brewery and the oil dealer there. The photo and HO scale models are by Jerry Lauchle of State College, Pa. The Consolidation is an upgraded Sunset brass import. The structures are from Fine Scale Miniatures kits.
In a shot reminiscent of the work of famed Norfolk & Western photographer O. Winston Link, the tower operator gives the highball to a westbound N&W passenger train at Forest, Va. Gary Hoover of Florissant, Mo., photographed the night scene by “painting” the locomotive with a small light fixture during a two-minute camera exposure. The locomotive is a Key brass import that Gary painted and decaled. The operator’s lantern is a 1.5V micro-bulb attached to the figure’s hand. The depot is scratchbuilt.
Pennsylvania RR No. 9630, a USRA light Mikado, guides its freight train through dockside trackage in Port Trenton, N.J., on its way to switch the Franklin & Weiss Brewery in the background. The HO scale scene is the work of Mike Tricker, from Ashford, U.K. The locomotive is a Trix model that Mike lightly weathered. The brewery is a Heljan kit. Mike shot the photo.
It’s an overcast morning in Kingfield, Maine, and the enginehouse crew is up bright and early to make sure that Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Forney No. 6 is ready to roll for a day’s work. The scene takes place on Lou Sassi’s On30 scale SR&RL layout, which was the cover feature of
Great Model Railroads 2020 (and numerous how-to articles in MR). Lou shot the photo. His wife, Cheryl, scratchbuilt the layout’s many trees.
Laurium, Mohawk & Brockway trench locomotive No. 2 is switching Jeruzal Hardware at Laurium on a sunny summer day. Larry Burk of Holly, Mich., photographed the action on his freelanced On30 layout. The locomotive is a Bachmann model fitted with a cab from Lambert Locomotive Works. Larry’s layout was featured in the
November 2020 Model Railroader.
A Southern Pacific Cab-Forward with a reefer block in tow crosses Cripple Creek at the same time as an SP 2-8-2 steps onto the other bridge. Paul Sadler of Fallon, Nev., photographed the action on a pair of 2 x 4 HO scale modules built by Gary Evans of Fernley, Nev. Gary built the modules to connect with others belonging to members of the Sacramento Modular Railroad Club.
New York Central No. 2351, a 2-8-2 Mikado, leads a freight through 42nd Street. The scene takes place on the layout belonging to Mike Tricker, one of the few in the United Kingdom modeling the United States in S scale. The locomotive is a brass River Raisin Models import. The building to the left is a resin kit from Pine Canyon Scale Models. Cookse Inc. was scratchbuilt using Mike’s train club’s laser cutter.
An ore train arrives with a string of empties to be loaded at the Black Bear Mountain Mine. Brian Rudko of New Westminster, B.C., photographed the scene on a three-foot-square On30 “pizza box” micro-layout. The locomotive and gondola are both custom-painted Bachmann models. The figures are by Preiser and the auto is modified from a World War II staff car kit from Tamiya.
Alistair Road’s No. 32 pulls up to the Marlowe water tank as the line’s owner enjoys one of the fringe benefits of owning a scenic railroad from the rear of his private caboose. Peter Vassallo took the photo on his freelanced HOn3 railroad, which is set in California during the early 1950s. The sky in the background is painted cardboard; the hills on the horizon and the steam exhaust were added digitally.
It was worth getting up early to catch the sunrise glinting off the cab window of Otter Creek & Ripton No. 1 as it steamed over the Texas Falls trestle. Dave McLeod of Burlington, Vt., photographed the scene on his On30 OC&R layout, which appeared in
Great Model Railroads 2018. The Forney was cut in half and shortened to convert it to an 0-4-4, then backdated with fluted domes and a wood cab. Dave used a halogen spotlight to mimic the sunrise and layered multiple images in Helicon Focus to improve depth of field.
