People, cars, buildings, and trees are part of everyday life. We’ll add all of these important details to our HO scale project railroad. Model trains are a lot of fun, and having a layout to run them on is even better. However, trains and track in isolation don’t look very realistic. While the scenery we […]
Good looking scenery includes a variety of layered textures and colors. We’ll take a look at how to build some of those first scenic layers on our HO scale project railroad, including this hillside. Bill Zuback photo You may be surprised to find that the biggest part of building our HO Black River Junction project […]
A Baltimore & Ohio Fairbanks-Morse switcher clatters over the crossing at Black River Junction. Bill Zuback photo A key part of building a successful model railroad is that the project keeps your interest. One way to stay “hooked” when building a layout is to make sure you can run some trains as quickly as possible. […]
A New York Central freight passes the depot at the town of Black River, Ohio. This 1950s HO scale layout depicts a junction where the NYC crosses the Baltimore & Ohio. The Black River Junction was built as part of Model Railroader magazine’s Layout in a Week project in early February 2006. The construction crew […]
Track plan at a glance Name: Black River Junction Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 4 x 8 feet with an 18″ x 72″ staging extension Prototype: New York Central and Baltimore & Ohio RRs Locale: Ohio Era: 1950s Style: freestanding Mainline run: 24 feet Minimum radius: 19-1/4″ Minimum turnout: no. 4 Maximum grade: none Originally appeared […]
I have always liked narrow gauge. In my early 20s I tried my hand at modeling a bit of the South Pacific Coast RR in HOn3. But truthfully, I didn’t have the skills or the time. Frankly, my first love was the 2-foot gauge Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes. I remember talking to Bob Brown, […]
Delaware & Raritan River Railroad FARMINGDALE, N.J. — The Delaware & Raritan River Railroad has completed its “F&S Connection,” a 5-mile track rehabilitation project between Freehold and Farmingdale, through Howell, N.J. The project was finished nine months ahead of schedule. DRR ran a test train over the rebuilt track on Sept. 15, 2023, marking the […]
The Black River and Western Railroad, which also hauls freight, hosts 90-minute passenger excursions (operated by the nonprofit Black River Railroad Historical Trust) over a short segment of the former Pennsylvania Railroad’s Flemington Branch between Flemington and Ringoes, and the shorter Browne Station local from Ringoes over 2.5 miles of recently reopened track. Choices In […]
History of the Lehigh & Hudson River Railway The Lehigh & Hudson River Railway was a bridge route in the most literal sense. For much of its lifetime, New England freight moving via the 6,747-foot-long (including approaches), 212-foot-high Poughkeepsie Bridge over the Hudson River at that New York town was L&HR’s essential lifeblood and key […]
Oklahoma Gas & Electric empties approach the four loading silos as the Belle Ayr Mine, then owned by Amax, on Dec. 21, 1976. Hol Wagner GILLETTE, Wyo. – Wyoming’s pioneering Belle Ayr mine southeast of Gillette has closed abruptly this week, following the bankruptcy filing of parent Blackjewel LLC in West Virginia. The company has […]
A Reading I-8sb 2-8-0, standard freight power on the road’s Wilmington & Northern branch, is a long way from that bucolic line as it heads a local freight at Newtown Junction in Philadelphia on November 22, 1947. Leslie R. Ross When I was a teenager, some 60 years ago, I spent much time exploring, watching, […]
Kirk Reddie, Editor and Publisher of N Scale Railroading magazine, passed away on April 8, 2024. Kirk grew up and resided in Shoreline, Wash. When he was 4 years old, he received an American Flyer train set. His modeling focus shifted to HO scale when he was in eighth grade. In 1975 Kirk switched to […]
