Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Cody Grivno, our one-man ballasting crew, shares his tips and techniques for ballasting a well-groomed 1950s mainline track. Cody takes you through the process start to finish on our HO scale Thin Branch project, but his techniques work just as well in other […]
Type of Train: Freight
Night moves
Canadian Pacific train No. 493 meets opposing traffic at Reeseville, Wis., on June 14, 2014, as the last light disappears from the sky. Photo by Matt Krause […]
Uphill from here
Norfolk Southern local train P31 (Asheville-Canton, N.C.) passes the rock quarry at Enka, N.C., on Feb. 21, 2013. Photo by Grady McKinley […]
Flying high
Union Pacific SD70M No. 4312 leads a train across Redding Trestle in Redding, Calif., in June 2008. Some of the local wildlife seems to be following the train’s lead. Photo by John Roskoski […]
Roller-bearing stunt on the Western Maryland
In a stunt meant to demonstrate the free-rolling characteristics of freight cars equipped with Timken roller bearings, three women — Jackie White, Jean Crow, and Chris Roberts — heave on a new 55-ton hopper car at Western Maryland’s Port Covington yard in Baltimore in the 1950s. Classic Trains coll. […]
Thin Branch Series: Build a Bridge part 4 – installation
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page We close our four-part Build-a-bridge series by installing the model on our Thin Branch HO scale layout. In this video David shares some techniques for building foam scenery and working with plaster abutment castings to support our through-girder bridge. […]
B&O Q-4 Mikado in Indiana
Baltimore & Ohio class Q-4 2-8-2 No. 4479 steps along a manicured right of way with a westbound freight near Walkerton, Ind., in the early 1950s. Linn H. Westcott photo […]
Thin Branch Series: Build a Bridge part 4 – Installation
We close our four-part Build-a-bridge series by installing the model on our Thin Branch HO scale layout. In this video David shares some techniques for building foam scenery and working with plaster abutment castings to support our through-girder bridge. […]
Humping at North Platte
Union Pacific NW2 No. 1091, with extra ballast and low-speed gearing, shoves the last cars of a freight train up the hump. Behind the diesel is the new yard’s car-inspection station. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]
Thin Branch Series: Working with foam rocks
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page If you want to try a different material to make rocks for your model railroad, try foam. In this video, David shows how he added Mountains in Minutes foam rocks to our Thin Branch HO scale project railroad. […]
Thin Branch Series: Working with foam rocks
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page If you want to try a different material to make rocks for your model railroad, try foam. In this video, David shows how he added Mountains in Minutes foam rocks to our Thin Branch HO scale project railroad. […]
Thin Branch Series: Painting rocks
Now that the rocks for our Thin Branch project railroad are in place, it’s time to paint them. David shares an easy 3-step painting technique that produces realistic rock outcroppings. […]