Toy train tables are a must-have for almost anyone looking to operate or display their collection — from Lionel and American Flyer to Thomas. Throughout the years, Classic Toy Trains has promoted building tables and Model Railroader has published fine plans for small layouts. But some toy train enthusiasts just want to buy a table […]
Layout Size: Small Layouts
Modeling the mighty Pennsy in a small space
A version of this article appeared in Model Railroader’s special issue from 2018: Build a Small Railroad. Pursuing my hobby concurrently with my military career meant I needed a portable model railroad that could still suggest the scale and intensity of a gigantic prototype in an impossibly small space. I found what I needed in […]
Modeling a narrow gauge railroad in a small space
Modeling a narrow gauge railroad in a small space: Modeling a logging camp requires a variety of structures, trackwork, scenery, figures, and activities. The camp includes not only loggers involved in different pursuits, but also woodchoppers, a laundress, checkers players, engineers and mechanics, stable hands and horses, bears, garbage cans, railroad materials, and more, surrounded […]
CSX switching layout in HO scale in 12 square feet
A version of this article appeared in Model Railroader’s special issue from 2018: Build a Small Railroad. In today’s world of trains, big 6-axle locomotives, and flashing red lights replacing cabooses, it’s comforting to know that spotting a single boxcar at a warehouse is still an integral part of railroading. Designing the module As I […]
Fun in small spaces
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Battery-powered 24″ N-scale model railroad with waterfall
In this video, I show how I built a 24″ diameter N-scale micro layout that is battery powered, and features steep mountain terrain and a waterfall. The layout uses Kato Unitrack and runs off of two 9V batteries. The layout was built for a store display, and features a push-button control on the front for […]
A track plan that fits under a bed
When you live in an apartment, as I did when I designed the Southern Ry. Spartanburg Subdivision, you might think you have no space for a layout. But where there’s a will, there’s a right-of-way. My N scale Spartanburg Subdivision is 3′-0″ x 5′-6″ and less than a foot in height. Rather than legs, the […]
Modeling an N scale Great Northern layout in less than 13 square feet
Although I’m really an HO scale modeler at heart, I’ve always been intrigued with N scale trains and have more than once thought how neat it would be to “have a few.” Being without any other outlet for modeling, those very thoughts soon translated into construction of the Havaphew Central, my first N scale layout. […]
Wintergreen Junction
Welcome to Wintergreen Junction, a fictional place located somewhere in the great north, snow covered nearly year round. In reality, this is a new 3 x 3-foot N scale layout built between Thanksgiving and Christmas this past year. Although unfinished (ran out of time), this layout will continue to evolve in the years ahead. Enjoy […]
Operating a small switching model train layout
In this video, I show how I set up operations on my small switching layouts, including making car cards, building car-card racks, and running through a short operating session. Video by Steven Strum […]
Track plan for a port that fits on shelf
See a PDF version of this by clicking here. This might be the simplest track plan ever to appear in Model Railroader. It includes just three turnouts, almost all the track is dead straight, and it’ll fit in office cubicles, studio apartments, dorm rooms, and other spaces traditionally considered too small for a model railroad. […]
Four compact track plans
Present and former members of the Model Railroader staff designed these four model railroads. Each can fit a 150-square-foot space. That space could be a 10 x 15-foot spare room, an 8-foot-wide stall in an 18-foot-long garage, a 5-foot-wide space along a 30-foot basement wall, or anything in between. What resulted was a variety of […]
