Born on July 2, 1913, John Allen was a model railroading pioneer renowned for his skill at scratchbuilding and scenery work, as well as his thoughts on model railroad operation. His original 3’-7” x 6’8” Gorre & Daphetid HO scale layout debuted in the January 1948 issue of Model Railroader. He built a larger version […]
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Railroading in Maine at 40 below zero
Five years after author Dow’s Bangor & Aroostook experience, in March 1955, a 103-car freight waits at snowy West Seboois, Maine, for a meet with the Aroostook Flyer. Allen A. Sharp The temperature on that February 1950 morning at Oakfield, Maine, was a savage 40 degrees below zero. The sky was clear, with little or […]
Office car special
Norfolk Southern’s prized F-units parade through the community of Glade Spring, Va., and past the classic signals at Washington, while on a eastbound inspection trip to Roanoke from Chattanooga, Tenn., on June 11, 2013. Photo by Samuel Phillips […]
Uphill from here
Norfolk Southern local train P31 (Asheville-Canton, N.C.) passes the rock quarry at Enka, N.C., on Feb. 21, 2013. Photo by Grady McKinley […]
A Day With The Des Moines “Tramp”
Follow Iowa Interstate Train NTSW-29, affectionately known as the Des Moines “Tramp”, as it delivers a carload to Beisser Lumber on the IAIS Grimes Line. Read about this modern-era model railroad and get a track plan in Model Railroad Planning 2014. Video shot by James McNab […]
Video: Broadway Limited Imports Paragon2 HO scale Pennsylvania RR T1
Broadway Limited Imports released a newly tooled version of an “as-built” Pennsylvania RR T1 in HO scale. The steam locomotive model also features a Paragon2 Digital Command Control (DCC) sound decoder. See and hear this locomotive in action hauling a passenger train along the Model Railroader staff’s club layout, the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy. […]
A Day With The Des Moines “Tramp”
Follow Iowa Interstate Train NTSW-29, affectionately known as the Des Moines “Tramp”, as it delivers a carload to Beisser Lumber on the IAIS Grimes Line. Read about this modern-era model railroad and get a track plan in Model Railroad Planning 2014. Video shot by James McNab […]
Video: Broadway Limited Imports Paragon2 HO scale Pennsylvania RR T1
Broadway Limited Imports released a newly tooled version of an “as-built” Pennsylvania RR T1 in HO scale. The steam locomotive model also features a Paragon2 Digital Command Control (DCC) sound decoder. See and hear this locomotive in action hauling a passenger train along the Model Railroader staff’s club layout, the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy. […]
Flying high
Union Pacific SD70M No. 4312 leads a train across Redding Trestle in Redding, Calif., in June 2008. Some of the local wildlife seems to be following the train’s lead. Photo by John Roskoski […]
Build a faux stone bridge out of Styrofoam
Rod Eaton In the August 2013 issue, contributor Eric Schade demonstrates how to make “stone” structures from leftover composite decking material. Download this companion article, originally published in the October 2011 issue, about how to make “stone” bridges easily out of Styrofoam. Click here to download a PDF of the article. […]
Build a track-cleaning vehicle
Download this free article on building a battery-powered track cleaning car! […]
Build a baggage cart in 1:29 scale
Download the PDF of this project here. This PDF is formatted to print on your home printer. Most pieces are formatted to fit on a 8.5″ x 11″ piece of paper. For larger parts of the plan, you will see “break lines.” Line up the break lines to create the larger piece. Please make sure […]
