David Parks’ Cumberland West in HO scale

David Parks’ Cumberland West in HO scale | In this Trains.com Video exclusive, modeler David Parks shares his large HO (1:87) scale layout built in Northern California. David has deftly combined elements of the Baltimore & Ohio and Western Maryland railroads as they operated in 1953 in and around Cumberland, Maryland. As narrated by 0ur […]

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Aunt Sandy’s train

Aunt Sandy's train: An N scale city scene at night with lighted skyscrapers

By Ari Sandel Ever since I was a little kid I’ve always loved miniatures, whether I was making models or painting toy soldiers. And though I always appreciated trains, I never had an actual train set because it seemed so intimidating. Flash forward to me in my 40s, when I convinced my best friend to […]

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Jerry Strangarity’s Reading Co. in HO scale

Title screen from Jerry Strangarity's HO scale Reading Co. layout visit video.

Jerry Strangarity’s Reading Co. in HO scale last appeared in the November 2010 issue of Model Railroader magazine. Since our last visit, he’s completed three more scenes on the layout: West Philadelphia, Reading/Hamburg, and Birdsboro. Enjoy this video showing a mix of steam and diesel locomotives running through eastern Pennsylvania in the 1930s and 1940s. […]

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Central Vermont Rwy. Southern Division in HO scale

Central Vermont Railway Southern Division in HO scale | In Northern California’s San Francisco Bay Area, a dedicated group led by Paul Weiss is passionately re-creating the Central Vermont Railway’s Southern Division as it existed in May 1956. This historically accurate project showcases meticulously replicated scenes from New London, Conn., to Palmer, Mass., portraying the […]

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Pacific Southern Railway in HO scale

With a mainline run of more than 1,000 feet, this freelanced HO scale (1:87.1) club layout is quite impressive! But the fact that the established Pacific Southern Railway Club 501(c)(3) nonprofit raises funds for a local emergency services definitely makes this model railroad a stand-out/stand-up amongst some of the finest in the hobby! To learn […]

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Playmobil in the garden railroad

two figures in front of black model steam engine

by Eric Mueller The Oberammergau, Ogden & Olomana Railroad (a.k.a. the Triple O) operates across eras and continents on a small piece of land on Oahu’s windward coast (see Garden railroading in Hawaii – Trains). We have employed the German toy line Playmobil to bring it to life in all its incarnations, whether European, Wild […]

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Modeling the Sierra RR in Japan

A black steam locomotive and a green one pull a log train across a wooden deck truss bridge

By Toyoji Sekine / Photos by Kaori Komatsu In the 1950s, when I was a small child, an O gauge train ran around the pond in my yard. It was a Japanese-style train made of tinplate, as nothing more realistic was available after the war. But I fell in love with American railroads, particularly the […]

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U.S. themed garden railroad in Australia

model locomotive crossing steel bridge

Garden railroad in Australia: I have been a model railroader in both N and HO scale, and then I discovered large scale. My other pastime is the sport of Cowboy Action Shooting, so I knew my theme would be the Wild West. Space was limited on my inner-city block, so I set up a basic […]

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Jack Burgess’ Yosemite Valley Railroad in HO scale

Jack Burgess’ Yosemite Valley Railroad in HO scale | Jack Burgess, a dedicated model railroad enthusiast, has masterfully recreated the Yosemite Valley Railroad, an iconic prototype railroad that operated in central California until 1947. Over the course of 31 years, Jack poured his heart into crafting an intricate and historically significant model railroad, capturing the […]

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