March 2025

The March 2025 issue of Model Railroader

Featured

In this Issue

Kitbash a rail bus

A Ford Model A rail stake-bed truck served as the starting point for this On30 model

Animate a garage door

Use DCC and a microcontroller to bring a scene to life

Transition to operations

Adding an operating scheme to the Cascade Division

From Chicago to Champaign

This 24 x 40-foot HO scale layout depicts the Illinois Central Gulf in October 1976

From plywood to Colorado

Part 3: Creating scenery, installing structures, and adding details to our Colorado Plains T-Trak layout

Scratchbuild realistic wood pellets

Stripwood and printed paper make the process easy and inexpensive

Also in this issue:

ON TRAINS.COM, pg. 6
The latest features on our website

FROM THE EDITOR, pg. 8
What is the ‘play value’ in model railroading?

NEWS AND REVIEWS, pg. 10
Hobby industry news

ASK MR, pg. 16
MR&T paint scheme history

STEP BY STEP, pg. 19
Do-it-yourself photo backdrops

ON OPERATION, pg. 60
Electric staff systems

TRACKSIDE PHOTOS, pg. 62

INDEX OF ADVERTISERS AND CARTOON  pg. 73

TRAINS OF THOUGHT, pg. 74
Looking under the hood