Spaces to Places VI | Fixing a wayward waterway, part 2

Host Gerry Leone left us with a bit of a cliffhanger in his quest to remake a wider, curved river for his Bona Vista HO scale double-deck model railroad. In this episode, he shares the plan and his efforts to move forward with the required deconstruction and reconstruction (…and even re-reconstruction — don’t ask, you’ll […]

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Trains.com Insider Exclusive | To hoard, or not to hoard

Should it stay or should it go? Model Railroader magazine editors Eric White and Bryson Sleppy talk about the reasons to keep or discard rare, unique, special, irreplaceable model railroad “treasures”. From rolling stock to tools to modeling supplies, if you question whether or not you should keep something in your collection, they have answers! […]

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Spaces to Places VI | Fixing a wayward waterway, part 1

In this ongoing mini-series, host Gerry Leone works on a fixer-upper-decker! In simpler terms, he’s looking to correct a mistake he made when initially constructing the top tier of his all-new Bona Vista HO scale model railroad. There’s no doubt–Gerry has amazing vision and power to re-route a wayward river into something more impressive than […]

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10 household items for model railroading

Color photo showing six clothespins with modified tips attached to wood block.

Though the hobby has evolved throughout the decades, one theme has remained constant: Model railroaders are a resourceful bunch. There are many in the hobby community who have a knack for looking items not for what they are, but for what they might become. In this article, we’ll take a look at 10 household items […]

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5 layout improvement tips

Color photo of airbrush being used to weather HO scale track.

Regardless the size, model railroads require regular maintenance. Cleaning track, dusting scenery and structures, and maintaining equipment are just some of the things that require attention. Not keeping up on these tasks will lead to a layout that runs poorly, looks tired, and potentially cause you (and/or members of your operating crew) to lose interest. […]

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Building a T-Trak module | Installing signs and poles

David Popp’s scenery work is whittling down to assembling and placing various road signs and line poles on the N scale (1:160) T-Trak module. Progress is moving closer to completion, so be sure to catch up with all of David’s efforts and helpful insights throughout the entire T-Trak series…exclusively on Trains.com Video! […]

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Spaces to Places V | Highway construction, part 5

Host Gerry Leone sets his sights on highway construction for his HO scale Bona Vista model railroad. Catch up with his off-camera preliminary efforts, before following his technique for making authentic roads and streets using medium-grit sandpaper. As he notes, even more insights regarding this technique can be viewed in a prior Trains.com video series, […]

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T-TRAK Project Part 8: Ballast, backdrops, and a riverbed

Black, gray, and silver model railroad track showing examples of track with finished surrounding scenery including grass, bushes, and gravel ballast next to plain track by itself on tan painted wood.

Modelers David Popp, Brian Schmidt, and Bryson Sleppy continue the scenery process on their T-TRAK modules in an attempt to make them look more like the prairies of Colorado. T-TRAK is a modular N scale railroading system that uses foot-wide boxes plugged together to build tabletop layouts. In this eighth installment of the T-TRAK series, […]

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What are you working on?

Color photo of two-story brick railroad office on model railroad.

Through our Trains.com website and the pages of Model Railroader magazine, you get a pretty good idea of what some of the hobby’s well-known names are working on. But not everything they do becomes an article for the website or magazine. In “What are you working on?” I surveyed some of our regular contributors to […]

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T-TRAK Project Part 6: Roads, rails, and housepaint

Small black and gold artist paintbrush painting white plaster model train scenery tan.

Modelers David Popp, Brian Schmidt, and Bryson Sleppy continue the scenery process on their T-TRAK modules in an attempt to make them look more like the prairies of Colorado. T-TRAK is a modular N scale railroading system that uses foot-wide boxes plugged together to build tabletop layouts. In this sixth installment, the three modelers explain […]

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