Vic’s Pizza Layout

Name: Tom Trigg Railroad name: Vic’s Pizza Layout Scale: G Theme: How small can G go? Location: 2008 Big Train Show in Ontario, California Description: This is Vic’s Pizza Railroad. At one point we pretty well considered this the smallest G scale layout ever. < […]

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Lionel diesel horns

Q: I’m having problems with my postwar Lionel diesel horns. One is in a no. 2343 Santa Fe F3 and the other is in a no. 2331 Virginian Train Master. Both locomotives are in like-new condition, and though I know I can buy a replacement horn, I’d like to keep them original and get the […]

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The Tuloumne County Narrow Gauge Garden Railroad

The Tuolumne County Narrow Gauge Garden Railroad

The Tuolumne County Narrow Gauge Garden Railroad Bob Brown Railway at a glance Name: Tuolumne County Narrow Gauge Size of railroad: 30′ x 60′ Scale: 1:20.3 Gauge: 45 mm Era: 1920-1930 Theme: A pleasant place to run trains in the garden Age: Six years Motive power: Small, live steam, geared and rod locomotives plus several […]

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Build a 1:24-scale coach PDF

Build a 1:24-scale coach

Download the PDF of this project here. This PDF is formatted to print on your home printer. Most pieces are formatted to fit on a 8.5″ x 11″ piece of paper. For larger parts of the plan, you will see “break lines.” Line up the break lines to create the larger piece. Despite our best […]

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Miniature landscape plants for warmer regions

blue angel pilea

In the center foreground is low-growing blue angel pilea; on the left is zinfandel oxalis in its green phase; the bluish, spiny thing at the top is cushion bush (Calocephelus brownii). Mark Langan The bushy “evergreen” tree in the center is a Boughton Dome hebe. This tough little customer will grow where true conifers fail. […]

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CP Slocan Lake Division

Name: CP Slocan Lake Division Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 9′-0″ x 11′-0″ Prototype: Canadian Pacific Era: 1970s Mainline run: 40 feet Minimum radius: 20″ Minimum turnouts: no. 4 Maximum grade: 2.3 percent Originally appeared in the April 2009 issue of Model Railroader. See a PDF version of this track plan by clicking here. […]

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Jones Island

Name: Jones Island Scale: 1:24 and 1:29 proportion Size: 28 x 28 feet Prototype: freelanced Locale: Jones Island and the south side of Milwaukee, Wis. Era: 1950s Style: walk-in Mainline run: 125 feet Minimum radius: 30″ (main line); 24″ (streetcar track) Minimum turnout: no. 4 Maximum grade: none Originally appeared in the April 2009 issue […]

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The New Haven’s Derby Junction

Name: New Haven’s Derby Junction Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 15′-6″ x 19′-6″ Prototype: New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Locale: Shelton/Derby, Conn., and Maybrook, N.Y. Era: late 1940s to mid-1950s Style: walk-in Mainline run: 80 feet Minimum radius: 32¼” (main), 24″ (sidings) Minimum turnout: no. 5 (main), no. 4 (sidings) Maximum grade: 1.5 percent […]

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Build a large-scale steel gondola car

This weathered, 40′ gondola is a new addition to the author’s Lower Paxton & Northern Railroad. It started life as a flat car. Bob Santos 1. This piggy-back flat car from Aristo-Craft provided the basis for the author’s gondola kitbash. Bob Santos 2. The disassembled car, ready to be converted into a gondola. The parts […]

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