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Some of the most interesting narrow-gauge equipment to come off production lines is that made for the East Broad Top Railroad & Coal Co., especially the locomotive and cars pictured on these pages. Mikado No. 16 (Baldwin 1916) was one of the heaviest engines owned by the EBT, tipping the scales at 160,500 pounds. Nos. […]
East Broad Top Railroad combine No. 18 has long fascinated the author. The opportunity to walk through the still existing, circa 1876 railroad car prompted him to build this 1:20.3-scale model of the car. Kevin Strong EBT combine No. 18 waits in the Rockhill Furnace yards for its next trip south to the mines at […]
Model Railroader magazine remains the leading source of information for our great hobby. You can get access to all of the more than 1,000 issues of Model Railroader from January 1934 to the present day by signing up for the exclusive online archive. Check out this classic story from the April 1988 issue. […]
Follow along and build the CT&T, a 4 x 8 logging-themed project layout. The staff will walk you through the process, including working with foam board, laying track, wiring, scenery, and much more. Track plans using Lionel FasTrack, Atlas O 21st Century track, and MTH RealTrax are included. This package contains 31 pages from six […]
This is a beginner’s guide to dwarf Alberta spruce trees. Across the country, hundreds of us rely on one, small scale, slow growing, almost perfectly conical evergreen to fill our miniature forests, towns, and mountains: dwarf Alberta spruce (Picea glauca ‘Conica’). How do you prune them, what kind of conditions do they really need, and […]
The Cold hard tracks Crystal Lake was once used for harvesting ice. Blocks of ice were cut from the lake in winter, then stored in warehouses along the shore. The ice was shipped in refrigerator cars to Chicago via the “Ice Track,” a 2-mile branch that ran from the C&NW main line through the west […]
Not everyone has a fabulous railroad library to work from, but the library at the Model Railroader offices didn’t get me as far as you’d think. Following is a short list of places I’ve found amazing stuff when looking for research: • Most railroads have a historical society, so it’s good to have an up-to-date […]
Prototype operations weren’t the focus of many model railroaders when I started work on my HO scale layout in 1988. But I had a clear vision of an operations-oriented layout that would depict the Canadian Pacific Ry.’s Montreal Terminals Division in Canada’s second largest city in the late 1960s. That was when I spent […]
The layout at a glance Name: Stockton & Copperopolis RR Layout designer: Don Ball Scale: HO (1:87) Size: 37′-0″ x 40′-3″ Prototype: Stockton & Copperopolis RR Locale: California Era: 1895 Style: linear walkaround Mainline run: 240 feet Branchline run: 100 feet Minimum radius: 30″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: 2 percent Train length: […]
Why would anyone model the Stockton & Copperopolis, an obscure short line with a name that sounds made up? Or model this little-known prototype in the 1890s? Most importantly, would it be practical to build it as a large, prototypically faithful model railroad capable of realistic operation and equip it with authentic locomotives and rolling […]
The author and several helpers modeled the Alhambra Trestle over the course of three years. A 7/8″ Fairymead pulls Dave Frediani cars past 22 Japanese maples, both dwarf and semi-dwarf, back to the caboose. Nancy Norris After decades of building and maintaining garden railways, I’ve built my own railway for low maintenance and live-steam access. […]
Nancy Norris Common name: Goji berry, wolfberry, Chinese boxthorn Latin name: Lycium barbarum, L. chinense Plant type: Perennial USDA Hardiness Zones: 6-9 for L. barbarum, 4-9 for L. chinense Cultural needs: Well-drained, high pH (alkaline) soil, full sun Plant size: 5-8′, easily pruned to stay 2-3′ as in photo Nurseries stock Goji berry plants more […]
