John Feraca’s Stone Canyon HO scale layout is featured in the June 2021 issue of Model Railroader. Set in the transition era, motive power for the SCRR consists of a mix of steam and diesel. Steam engines range in size from 0-6-0 switchers to a 4-8-8-4 Union Pacific Big Boy. Most are first generation […]
Read More…
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, […]
Read More…
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. […]
Read More…
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. […]
Read More…
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 […]
Read More…
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. […]
Read More…
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, […]
Read More…
(From the article “Three track plans for one sheet of plywood” from the August 2008 Model Railroader) HO scale model railroads are often small layouts based on 4 x 8-foot sheets of plywood, for obvious reasons. A flat tabletop is a lot easier to build than L-girder benchwork, and almost any home has room for […]
Read More…
When I cut a hole in the living room wall in order to expand my N scale railroad into the hallway beyond, I thought that was as large a model railroad as I would ever own. I was just happy that my wife agreed to my bizarre suggestion (see “Harlowton, Montana, in N scale,” Model […]
Read More…
Gary Hoover models the Norfolk & Western Ry. in the late 1950s through Virginia and West Virginia. Many of the scenes on his 24 x 49 foot model railroad are inspired by the famed railroad photographer, O. Winston Link. Gary’s model train layout is also the cover story of the April 2020 Model Railroader. Enjoy […]
Read More…
Prototype operations weren’t the focus of many model railroaders when I started work on my HO scale layout in 1988. But I had a clear vision of an operations-oriented layout that would depict the Canadian Pacific Ry.’s Montreal Terminals Division in Canada’s second largest city in the late 1960s. That was when I spent […]
Read More…