Download plans for a wood trestle and truss bridge. Don’t miss Don Ball’s article in the August 2016 Model Railroader where he shares how he scratchbuilt a late-1800s wood trestle and truss bridge. […]
Prototype plans: Wood trestle and truss bridge
Section: Build a Model Railroad
Prototype drawings Pennsylvania RR class N5c cabin car
Click on the link to download a pdf copy of the drawings. Don’t miss Kevin Miller’s article in the July 2016 Model Railroader that provides a lettering guide and other information about the iconic Pennsylvania RR N5c cabin car. You can also download scale prototype drawings of a PRR train-phone version of the caboose. […]
Project plans: Steam era interlocking tower
This Lehigh Valley interlocking tower protected a wye and a small yard in New York state. You can read more about the prototype in the April 2016 Model Railroader. […]
Project plans: Build a railroad beam bridge
Download plans for a railroad beam bridge. Learn how modeler Jim Ferenc scratchbuilt this common railroad bridge for his HO scale Colorado & Southern Northern Division model train layout in the March 2016 Model Railroader. Jim used wooden ties and plastic girders on his bridge. […]
Project plans: Build a crossing guard’s shanty
Click on the image to download the plans. Before the invention of automatic crossing gates, railroad crossing guards protected grade crossings. Usually holding a flag, lantern, or stop sign or operating a manual crossing gate, the crossing guard would warn motorists of an approaching train. A simple wooden shanty provided shelter for the crossing guard. […]
Lehigh Valley RR Bloomsbury, N.J., depot drawings
I learned about the LV’s former Bloomsbury depot when researching the railroad’s other wooden depots in Upstate New York. Information came from the Lehigh Valley RR home page (www.lvrr.com). The appearance of the building interested me, and this warranted a special trip to measure and photograph it. When I visited, the building was an Agway […]
Scale model plans for an 1870s railroad water tower
Author Rob Foreman described how he scratchbuilt an 1870s-era railroad water tower from stripwood and styrene in the August 2015 Model Railroader. Get inspired to try a scratchbuilding project on your model railroad. […]
Plans for the rail-served Clay Spur bentonite plant
Vic Worthington built an impressive HO scale model of the Clay Spur bentonite plant that’s featured in the July 2015 Model Railroader. Bentonite is an absorbent clay that’s used in many industrial and consumer products and is often transported by rail. […]
Arch through-truss bridge model assembly diagram
Download plans to build this impressive arch through-truss bridge for a model railroad. Jim Richards Learn how author Jim Richards “scratchbashed” this arch through-truss bridge in the June Model Railroader. Click on the link below to download the assembly diagram that Jim used for the project. Arch through-truss bridge model assembly diagram […]
Keller Beverage Co. signs for a model railroad
Download signs for Keller Bier and Keller Beverage Co. to use on your model train layout. In the June 2015 Step by Step column, associate editor Cody Grivno shows how to model signs on large model railroad industries. He uses the Keller Beverage Co. on the Model Railroader staff’s club model train layout, the Milwaukee, […]
Prototype drawings: Railroad MOW sheds
Railroad MOW sheds make easy scratchbuilding projects for a model railroad. In the article “A tale of two sheds” author Harold W. Russell describes two prototype railroad maintenance-of-way (MOW) sheds and includes scale drawings. Use the drawings and the article as a basis for a scratchbuilding project on your model railroad. Prototype drawings: Railroad MOW […]
Follow a model train along the HO scale Maumee Route
Originally published in Great Model Railroads 2007, this article by Bill Darnaby follows a way freight as it works its way eastbound on Bill’s HO scale Maumee Route. You’ll find a track plan and description of the operation of each town along train No. 20’s route. Follow a model train along the HO scale Maumee […]
