Name: Great Lakes & Western Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 37 x 48 feet Theme: freelanced Class 1 with standard gauge logging and narrow gauge branch lines Locale: Midwest to Western United States Era: 1940s to present day (depends on operating session) Style: walk-in Mainline run: approx. 800 feet Minimum radius: 30″ (main line), 26″ (narrow […]
Era: 1920 - 1945
West Side Heisler
West Side Lumber Co. two-truck Heisler No. 3 was one of about 600 geared locomotives produced by the Heisler Locomotive Works of Erie, Pa., between 1891 and 1941. Glenn W. Beier photo […]
On30 scale Torres & Prietas RR
On30 Torres & Prietas RR from the April 2015 Model Railroader Name: Torres & Prietas RR Scale: On30 (1:48 proportion, 30″ narrow gauge, also called On21⁄2) Size: 6′-9″ x 16′-0″ Theme: Southwest desert mining Locale: Arizona Era: Mid 20th century Style: Island Mainline run: 30 feet Minimum radius: 20″ Minimum turnout: no. 5 Maximum grade: […]
New York Central RR High Line
Long stretches of elevated main line gave the New York Central RR’s 30th Street Branch its High Line nickname. New York Central RR’s 30th Street Branch was known as the High Line because of its long stretch of elevated mainline track. Learn all about this interesting prototype railroad in the article below originally published in […]
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 […]
Pennsy’s “Big Engine” in the snow
The Pennsylvania’s one-of-a-kind class S1 6-4-4-6 duplex drive No. 6100 shrugs off an early Chicago winter snow storm as it pauses at Englewood Union Station with the eastbound Manhattan Limited in November 1939. Harold Stirton photo […]
Mail and express train operations
Head-end traffic helped cover some of the costs of America’s passenger trains for many years. Contracts with the United States Postal Service covered the transportation of mail, while the Railway Express Agency (REA) provided a nation- wide package delivery service. Small-to-medium-sized railroads forwarded most of the mail in Railway Post Office (RPO) cars and packages […]
HOn3 Glenwood & Black Creek
Name: Glenwood & Black Creek Scale: HOn3 (1:87.1) Size: 16′-6″ x 35′-0″ Locale: western United States Theme: western narrow gauge Period: 1930s – 1940s Turnout minimum: no. 6 Minimum curve radius: 24″ Maximum grade: 2 percent (main), or 3 percent (branches) Originally appeared in the May 2014 Model Railroader. Click on the link to download […]
HO scale New York Central Hudson Division
Name: New York Central Hudson Division Layout designer: Richard L. Stoving Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 23′-0″ x 23′-6″ Locale: New York State Hudson River Highlands Era: 1940s Style: walk in Minimum radius: 32″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: 1.3 percent Originally appeared in the January 2014 Model Railroader. Click on the link to download […]
O scale Norfolk & Western Ry.
Name: Norfolk & Western Layout designer: John Armstrong Scale: O (1:48) Size: 30 x 40 feet Prototype: Norfolk & Western Locale: Not specified Era: Steam Style: Walkaround Mainline run: 275 feet (loop to loop) Minimum radius: 54″ (main line) (44″ branch line) Minimum turnout: no. 8 (main), no. 6 (yard and secondary tracks) Maximum grade: […]
HO scale Rice Harbor
Name: Rice Harbor Layout designer: David Popp Scale: HO (1:87.1)Size: 5 x 8 feet, plus a 9″ x 40″ folding carfloat extension Prototype: freelanced short line Locale: coastal South Carolina Era: 1930s Style: island, portable Mainline run: 18 feet Minimum radius: 18″ Minimum turnout: no. 5 (main), Atlas 18″ radius Snap-Switch (spurs) Maximum grade: none […]
Wharf Street
Name: Wharf Street Layout designer: Art Fahie Scale: S (1:64:1) Size: 6 x 17 foot L Prototype: Maine two-foot gauge railroads Locale: Maine coast Era: 1925 Style: shelf diorama Mainline run: n/a Minimum radius: 22″ Maximum grade: none Originally appeared in the Great Model Railroads 2014. Click here to download a PDF of this track […]