Facts & features Name: Reading Co. Scale: HO (1:87.1)Size: 13′-6″ x 22′-0″ plus 2′-6″ x 5′-3″ West Philadelphia additionPrototype: Reading Co.Locale: eastern PennsylvaniaEra: 1930s to 1940sStyle: walk-inMainline run: 80 feetMinimum radius: 36″ (main)Minimum turnout: No. 6 (main), No. 4 (yards and industries)Maximum grade: 2%Benchwork: modified L-girderHeight: 50″ to 58″Roadbed: cork on plywood (main), Homasote on […]
Facts & features Name: Conway Scenic RRScale: N (1:160)Size: 6 x 12 feetPrototype: freelancedLocale: New Hampshire’s White Mountain regionEra: modernStyle: islandMainline run: 45 feetMinimum radius: 36″Minimum turnout: No. 8Maximum grade: 3.5%Benchwork: open gridHeight: 36″Roadbed: CorkTrack: Peco code 80 flextrackScenery: extruded-foam insulation boardBackdrop: painted on wallsControl: SCADA automation system Download this trackplan! Buy the […]
Facts & features Name: Wolf Creek Central RRScale: HO (1:87.1)Size: 8′-1″ x 13′-1″ Prototype: freelancedLocale: southeast North CarolinaEra: 1990sStyle: peninsulaMainline run: 81 feetMinimum radius: 24″Minimum turnout: no. 4Maximum grade: 2.7%Benchwork: L-girderHeight: 48″Roadbed: HomasoteTrack: code 70, 83, and 100 flextrackScenery: Woodland Scenics ground foamBackdrop: Painted tempered hardboardControl: Digitrax DB150 DCC Download a PDF of this […]
Ask Trains.com November 2023 compilation | Host Cody Grivno answers viewer questions concerning pricing of hand-crafted brass versus injection-molded plastic freight cars; how to decipher stenciled freight car data; the steam locomotive classification system; where to learn about U.S. Department of Transportation rail equipment; and insights into the numerous locomotive paint schemes of the MR&T, Model […]
Facts & features Name: Soo Line Central Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 8 x 20 feet Prototype: Soo Line, Wisconsin Central, and Canadian National Locale: Chicago Era: 1980 to present Style: island Mainline run: 98 feet (double tracked) Minimum radius: 24″ Minimum turnout: Atlas No. 8 Maximum grade: flat Benchwork: open grid Height: 38″ Roadbed: cork […]
Facts & features Name: Penn Central at Bellefonte, Pa.Scale: HO (1:87.1)Size: 9’-8″ x 11’-6″Prototype: Penn CentralLocale: Bellefonte, Pa.Mainline run: 36 feetMinimum radius: 24″ (main), 18″ (siding)Minimum turnout: No. 6Maximum grade: 4% Download a PDF of this trackplan! Buy the December 2023 issue of Model Railroader! […]
Facts & features Name: Western Pennsylvania Model Railroad MuseumScale: HO (1:87.1)Size: 40 x 100 feetPrototype: Baltimore & Ohio and freelancedLocale: Pittsburgh, Pa., to Cumberland, Md.Era: 1953Style: walkaroundMainline run: Mon Valley, 443 feet; B&O, 357 feetMinimum radius: 36″ (main)Minimum turnout: No. 8 (main), No. 6 (branch lines and yards), No. 4 (industrial)Maximum grade: 2%Benchwork: L-girderHeight: Mon […]
[…]
Jerry Strangarity’s Reading Co. in HO scale last appeared in the November 2010 issue of Model Railroader magazine. Since our last visit, he’s completed three more scenes on the layout: West Philadelphia, Reading/Hamburg, and Birdsboro. Enjoy this video showing a mix of steam and diesel locomotives running through eastern Pennsylvania in the 1930s and 1940s. […]
Jerry Strangarity’s Reading Co. in HO scale last appeared in the November 2010 issue of Model Railroader magazine. Since our last visit, he’s completed three more scenes on the layout: West Philadelphia, Reading/Hamburg, and Birdsboro. Enjoy this video showing a mix of steam and diesel locomotives running through eastern Pennsylvania in the 1930s and 1940s. […]
Take a ride along the rails of Lou Sassi’s On30 Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes model railroad, as SR&L No. 15 shoves an extra train hauling a GoPro Hero 6 Black action-camera. To learn more about how Lou scratch built the camera car used to capture these stellar low-angle views, be sure to read the […]
Take a ride along the rails of Lou Sassi’s On30 Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes model railroad, as SR&L No. 15 shoves an extra train hauling a GoPro Hero 6 Black action-camera. To learn more about how Lou scratch built the camera car used to capture these stellar low-angle views, be sure to read the […]
