Modeler Dave Abeles shares insights on the signal installations and operations on his HO scale Conrail-inspired layout. In this narrated trackside tour of the layout, Dave shares how to interpret signal indications. Also explore additional signaling info in the Kalmbach book, Guide to Signals & Interlockings, available from KalmbachHobbyStore.com. […]
Modeling Topic: Model Railroad Operations
Modeling from postcards
In last month’s installment, we took a look at two postcards that showed aerial views of Crookston, Minn., my hometown. This time we’ll examine two ground-level scenes, one in the city and the other in the country. The heart of downtown. The intersection of Broadway (the north-south street the photographer is standing in) and Robert […]
Modeling from postcards
Welcome to the first of a three-part series where I’ll show you the various modeling information you can learn from postcards. The cards in this series are all from Crookston, Minn., my hometown and the focus of my modeling research. Similar postcards can be found for most communities. Online auction websites like eBay are a […]
Nighttime Operations on Dave Abeles’ Conrail Onondaga Cutoff
Railroading is an industry that operates around the clock, and modeler Dave Abeles proves that model railroads can roll just fine in the dark too! Watch the night moves from a trackside position on Dave’s Conrail-inspired HO scale layout, and then look for additional coverage of the model railroad in the September 2019 and February […]
Nighttime Operations on Dave Abeles’ Conrail Onondaga Cutoff
Railroading is an industry that operates around the clock, and modeler Dave Abeles proves that model railroads can roll just fine in the dark too! Watch the night moves from a trackside position on Dave’s Conrail-inspired HO scale layout, and then look for additional coverage of the model railroad in the September 2019 and February […]
Cody’s Trackside Finds
Welcome to Cody’s Trackside Finds, a new series on Trains.com, where we’ll look at interesting locomotives, freight cars, structures, or details that I’ve come across while railfanning. In these entries, I’ll provide some background information on the subject, give you some modeling tips, and most importantly, encourage comments from the Trains.com community. Do you have […]
A fun way to operate your garden railroad
We enjoy operations on our Weona (we-own-a) Railroad, but we wanted something different for our operating sessions. Here’s how we do it. I made a pair of four-sided dice, one with sides labeled 1, 2, 3, and 4, and the other 1, 2, 3, and blank, giving a possible outcome of 1 to 7, to […]
Adjusting coupler height on passenger cars
It’s important to mount couplers at the correct height and to do so consistently on all cars. Because of their length, passenger cars magnify the chance for unwanted uncouplings when track isn’t perfectly level. Of course, having made the car height accurate, I don’t want to change that, so to adjust coupler height I move […]
Operating the N scale Bachmann 4-6-4 Hudson with sound; SD80MAC; iron ore book review
In this installment, Cody test-runs Bachmann’s new sound-equipped N scale New York Central 4-6-4 Hudson, as well as Athearn’s Genesis 2.0 HO scale SD80MAC. He also looks at Jeff Wilson’s latest book, The Model Railroader’s Guide to Iron Ore Railroads. In addition, Cody shares tips about using Rails Unlimited reproduction railroad industry directories to improve […]
Operating the N scale Bachmann 4-6-4 Hudson with sound; SD80MAC; iron ore book review
In this installment, Cody test-runs Bachmann’s new sound-equipped N scale New York Central 4-6-4 Hudson, as well as Athearn’s Genesis 2.0 HO scale SD80MAC. He also looks at Jeff Wilson’s latest book, The Model Railroader’s Guide to Iron Ore Railroads. In addition, Cody shares tips about using Rails Unlimited reproduction railroad industry directories to improve […]
The Hills Line with James McNab: Modeling prototype operating procedures, Episode 10
Shall we play a game? Host James McNab is up for a round of Operations on his HO scale Hills Line layout! In this episode, he works from a perspective inside the cab of a locomotive to explain some of the prototype procedures crews follow to make running his small model railroad so interesting. […]
The Hills Line with James McNab: Modeling prototype operating procedures, Episode 10
Shall we play a game? Host James McNab is up for a round of Operations on his HO scale Hills Line layout! In this episode, he works from a perspective inside the cab of a locomotive to explain some of the prototype procedures crews follow to make running his small model railroad so interesting. […]