Peter Waldraff’s Hidden Epoxy River Railroad Gallery

Peter Waldraff’s Epoxy River Railroad folded open.

  Peter Waldraff has always prioritized saving space when building a layout. His interest in this modeling niche first started when he was 27, when he built his first N scale layout in a custom built, glass-covered coffee table in order to maximize what minimal room he had in his 1,200 square foot house. However, […]

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A freight train at night, a diesel at the turntable, a steamer in the shop, and other model railroad photos

A steam locomotive is dramatically lit from the side as it crosses a wood trestle at night

Trackside Photos is a showcase for the work of Model Railroader readers. Send your photos (digital images 5 megapixels or larger) to: Model Railroader, Trackside Photos, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612; or upload them to http://fileupload.kalmbach.com/contribute. For our photo submission guidelines, contact associate editor Steven Otte at sotte@mrmag.com. […]

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Feraca Stone Canyon gallery volume 1

Wood structures frame a Santa Fe steam locomotive at the end of a gravel parking area

John Feraca started working on his Stone Canyon HO scale layout in 2003. After several expansions, it now fills a 28 x 40-foot space. The freelanced layout depicts the mountain west of the United States, but there are also town scenes and plenty of industries to keep operators busy. John used kits from Walthers Cornerstone, […]

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Ballast track easily

Applying Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement with pipette.]

On Model Railroader’s Beer Line project layout, which was set in 1947 Milwaukee, I ballasted the track on the entire layout using a favorite technique. I used a 50:50 blend of Highball Products Light Gray and Dark Gray limestone ballast, which looks similar to ballast used by the Milwaukee Road [Highball Products ballast is no […]

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Santa Fe Inspiration gallery volume 2

A Santa Fe steam locomotive and caboose are posed at Gary Hoover's HO Scale representation of "Summit", the top of the grade for the Santa Fe in California's Cajon Pass.

In this photo gallery, we encourage you to enjoy two fantastic Santa Fe layouts that are inspired. We hope they inspire you on your journey to creating a new model railroad layout, even one based on the Santa Fe! The first railroad is Gary Hoover’s interpretation of the Santa Fe Railway on Aug. 29, 1951. […]

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Make quick-and-easy junked cars for toy train layouts

Junkyard with painted aluminum foil auto shells.

Toy train layout operators foiled by the lack of inexpensive details can you aluminum foil as the raw materials for unlimited “junked cars.” Best of all, the project won’t strain your how-to skills and will add detail to your layout. You’ll need heavy-duty foil, gloss black paint, your choice of flat colors, a hobby knife, […]

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