Name: Downborough Junction Layout designer: Ian Smith Scale: OO (1:76.2 proportion, but on HO gauge track) Size: 8′-8″ x 12′-4″ Prototype: Midland & South West Junction Ry. (British Rys.) Locale: Wiltshire, England Period: 1959 Style: around the walls Mainline run: 31 feet Minimum radius: 23″ Minimum turnout: Peco large radius for main lines, others Peco […]
Section: How To
HO scale Lehigh Valley RR, Wyoming Division
Name: Lehigh Valley RR, Wyoming Division Layout designer: Chuck Davis Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 17 x 19 feet Prototype: Lehigh Valley RR Locale: Northeast Pennsylvania Era: 1950s Style: walkaround Mainline run: 140 feet Minimum radius: 30″ main line, 24″ yard (less on some connecting roads) Minimum turnout: no. 6 main line, no. 5 yard Maximum […]
S scale Penn Creek Valley
Name: Penn Creek Valley Layout designer: Sam Powell Scale: S (1:64) Size: 16 x 27 feet with a 10 x 10-foot extension Prototype: freelanced Locale: southwestern Pennsylvania Period: 1956 Style: walkaround Mainline run: 180 feet Minimum radius: 36″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: 2.5 percent Originally appeared in Great Model Railroads 2015. Click on […]
O scale Southern Pacific Tehachapi Subdivision
Name: Southern Pacific Tehachapi Subdivision Layout designer: Jerry Davis Scale: O (1:48) Size: 28 x 45 feet Prototype: Southern Pacific and Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Locale: Bakersfield to Mojave, Calif. Era: 1952-1954 Style: multiple-deck walk-in Mainline run: 450 feet Minimum radius: 72″ (main), 66″ (staging) Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: 2.5 percent Originally […]
HO scale Terminal of Toledo RR
Name: Terminal of Toledo RR Layout designer: Doug Tagsold Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 39 x 39 feet Prototype: Toledo Terminal RR, serving Amtrak, Ann Arbor, Chessie System, Conrail, Detroit & Toledo Shore Line, and Norfolk & Western Locale: Toledo, Ohio Period: summer 1979 Style: around the walls Mainline run: 250 feet Minimum radius: 30″ Minimum […]
HO scale Washington Northern, Port Andrews Tideflats District
Name: Washington Northern, Port Andrews Tideflats District Layout designer: Kevin Klettke Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 11′-0″ x 12′-6″ Prototype: freelanced Locale: Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula Era: mid-1990s Style: around the walls Mainline run: 29 feet Minimum radius: 22″ (main line), 18″ (industrial track) Minimum turnout: no. 5 Maximum grade: none Originally appeared in Great Model […]
HO scale Wheeling & Lake Erie Ry., Ohio River Division
Name: Wheeling & Lake Erie Ry., Ohio River Division Layout designer: Jim Talbott Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 27 x 44 feet (in three rooms) Prototype: Wheeling & Lake Erie Ry. Locale: southeastern Ohio, West Virginia Period: 2007 Style: linear walkaround Mainline run: 115 feet Minimum radius: 30″ (main), 24″ (industrial) Minimum turnout: no. 6, no. 4 in […]
Olympia Logging Series: Part 28 – Installing a steam sound decoder
We wanted our On30 Olympia Logging Co. display-style layout to sound as impressive as it looks, so David Popp decided to install a DCC sound decoder in our Bachmann Climax workhorse. Follow along as he shows how to disassemble the locomotive, solder the decoder and speaker wires, position and test the unit, and then re-assemble […]
Olympia Logging Series: Part 25 – Reworking the snowshed base
Nothing in model railroading is exempt from a do-over, including the scenery we roughed in around the base of the timber snowshed on our Olympia Logging Co. On30 layout. So rather than try to finesse the terrain to better support the structure, David Popp simply used a mulligan to rebuild the area with foam installation […]
HO scale Leadville & Red Cliff (LARC)
Name: Leadville & Red Cliff (LARC) Layout designer: Bill and Steve Brown Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 25 x 40 feet Prototype: Union Pacific (lower level), Rio Grande Southern and Denver & Rio Grande (upper) Locale: Central and Southern Colorado Era: Modern day (lower level), 1949 (upper) Style: walkaround Mainline run: 300 feet (standard gauge), 75 feet (narrow […]
N scale CSX Indianapolis Sub
Name: CSX Indianapolis Sub Layout designer: Robert W. Sprague Scale: N (1:160) Size: 9′-6″ x 13′-0″ Prototype: CSX Indianapolis Subdivision Locale: Indiana Era: present day (could be backdated to pre-2000) Style: walk-in Mainline run: 62 feet Minimum radius: 15″ (main), 12″ (branch) Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: none (main line), 2 to 3 percent […]
N scale Pennsylvania, Hudson & Potomac
Name: Pennsylvania, Hudson & Potomac Layout designer: Charles Klein Scale: N (1:160) Size: 12′-6″ x 12′-6″ Theme: freelanced, transition-era, freight and passenger trains Locale: Mid-Atlantic states Era: 1930 to 1948 Style: around the walls Mainline run: 200 feet Minimum radius: 16″ (hidden track), 20″ (visible track) Minimum turnout: no. 4 Maximum grade: 1 percent Originally […]