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Code of railPrototype railroads use rail of varying heights and weights depending on the type and frequency of trains that run on it. On model railroads, code is the height of the rail measured in hundredths of an inch. See fig. 2. FlextrackWhile some modelers handlay their tracks by spiking the rail to individual wood […]
Linn H. Westcott Want to add a basic locomotive servicing area but don’t have room for the turntable, roundhouse, and other shop and warehouse buildings typical of a large facility? As this 1953 photo of a Missouri Pacific RR fueling facility in Little Rock, Ark., shows, a no-frills fueling area can easily be modeled in […]
A precast concrete bridge spans a small creek on the Florida Midland RR. Lance Mindheim describes how he modeled this bridge using anchor-bolt cement and styrene sheet molds. Replicating the color striations, texture, chips, and cracks of concrete with paint and styrene is tricky at best. On the flip side, the texture of most concrete […]
Running trains with Digital Com-mand Control (DCC) is a lot of fun, and it can make operating a model railroad an enjoyable experience. However, all those DCC electronic components and sound decoders don’t mean much if you can’t get a reliable signal to the tracks. When it comes down to it, nickel-silver rail is a […]
The first tank car. This replica of a Densmore-type tank car is on display at the ACF Industries plant in Milton, Pa. Photo courtesy of ACF Industries The invention of the tank car coincided with the discovery of oil in northwestern Pennsylvania in the 1860s. Oilmen quickly discovered that hauling oil to market in horse-drawn […]
Gravel-covered siding. Gravel from an adjacent lot can mix with ballast on a siding. Paul partially covered this siding (lower right) at the freight house on his home layout. He embedded the rails of the spur (at left) into the parking lot. On some secondary lines the space between the ties is filled with dirt […]
Feather-topped palm trees are a signature element for any model railroad set in a tropical climate. Author Joseph Kreiss scratchbuilt numerous coconut plams for his HO scale Big Island Rail layout, set in Hawaii in the 1970s. When you can’t live in a tropical paradise, perhaps the next best thing is to model it. That’s […]
Name: Järfälla Model Railroad Club Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 33 x 46 feet Theme: generic American Era: variable Style: walkaround Mainline run: 360 feet Minimum radius: 47″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: 2 percent (main), 3.5 percent (branch line) Originally appeared in the March 2010 issue of Model Railroader. Click on the link to […]
Name: Mount Royal Division of the Baltimore & Ohio RR Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 12 x 24 feet Prototype: freelanced based on Baltimore & Ohio RR Locale: Maryland and Pennsylvania Era: 1940 to 1948 Style: walk-in with liftout Mainline run: 65 feet Minimum radius: 20″ (34″ on main) Minimum turnout: no. 4 Maximum grade: 3 […]
For additional scenery tips, don’t miss Essential Model Railroad Scenery Techniques from Kalmbach Books. No muss! No fuss! Just add the ingredients, mix thoroughly, and pour yourself a hillside full of trees. Believe it or not, it really can be just about that simple. I came up with my scrambled-trees technique when I wanted to […]
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Learn how to find out the if your freight cars’ couplers are at the correct height and what to do if they’re not. Model Railroader Associate Editor Cody Grivno shows you how to use a Kadee coupler-height gauge and shows you how to […]
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Learn how to find out the if your freight cars’ couplers are at the correct height and what to do if they’re not. Model Railroader Associate Editor Cody Grivno shows you how to use a Kadee coupler-height gauge and shows you how to […]
