The Salt Lake Route, Part 5 – Easy-to-build desert scenery

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Union Pacific road diesels lead a stack train along the Meadow Valley Wash. Dick Christianson explains how he scenicked this side of our N scale project layout. photo by Bill Zuback Fig. 1 Cutting foam. Dick’s friend Stener Harildstad used a serrated kitchen knife to cut the extruded-foam insulation board. The sloping contour of the […]

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Diesel locomotive pooling

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Two Canadian Pacific trains, with motive power from CP, CSX Transportation, and Norfolk Southern, meet near Oconomowoc, Wis., in November 2014. Brian Schmidt Q It is common to see a train from one railroad which is powered, partially or fully, by locomotives from another railroad. Why does this happen so frequently and how is the […]

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Ask MRVP: Episode 26

David Popp wearing a Hawaiian shirt and standing next to a model railroad.

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Thanks to an abundance of inquiries last month, host David Popp had plenty to address in this extended-length June 2017 episode of Ask MRVP! David, along with help from Cody Grivno, Kent Johnson, and Ben Lake, tackles hobby questions regarding layout operation, turnouts, […]

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Ask MRVP: Episode 26

David Popp wearing a Hawaiian shirt and standing next to a model railroad.

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Thanks to an abundance of inquiries last month, host David Popp had plenty to address in this extended-length June 2017 episode of Ask MRVP! David, along with help from Cody Grivno, Kent Johnson, and Ben Lake, tackles hobby questions regarding layout operation, turnouts, […]

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The Salt Lake Route, Part 4 – Wiring a small layout for DCC

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Dick Christianson explains how to wire the Salt Lake Route for Digital Command Control. He concealed the system’s command station in a drawer built beneath the layout’s intermodal yard. Bill Zuback photo Fig. 1 Power feeders. Last month Dick explained how to install Kato Unitrack power feeders during tracklaying. He used plug-in sections on the […]

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Cabooses, not cabeese

A line of colorful cabooses sits behind a gravel loading platform

Volunteers at the Whitewater Valley Railroad in Connersville, Ind., prepare a string of cabooses (not cabeese) for an excursion in December 2013. Steve Sweeney Q If the plural of “goose” is “geese,” then is the plural of “caboose,” “cabeese?” What is the proper plural form of “caboose?” – William James, Manchester, N.H. A Our collected […]

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The Salt Lake Route, Part 3: Laying realistic sectional track

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A pair of Union Pacific freights bank into the superelevated curves on the N scale Salt Lake Route. Dick Christianson explains how he installed Kato Unitrack, including the firm’s new double-track sections with superelevated curves (inset), on our project layout. One of the parameters Model Railroader gave me regarding the N scale project layout was […]

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Model railroad track manufacturers

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Looking for model railroad track-related products? Here’s a partial list of suppliers. Track manufacturers Here is a partial list of suppliers of track and related products. Atlas Model RR Co. www.atlasrr.com Z, N, HO, and O scale sectional and flextrack Bachmann Trains www.bachmanntrains.com N and HO sectional track BK Enterprises (Trout Creek Engineering) www.troutcreekeng.com N, […]

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Computer desktop wallpaper from the July 2017 Model Railroader

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Click on the links at left to download this image sized appropriately for your computer screen. A wood-burning Shay passes a coal loader on the large scale narrow gauge layout built by the Sundance Central club in Florida. Model Railroader contributing editor Lou Sassi took the photo. Click on the links below to download the […]

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Ask MRVP: Episode 25

David Popp wearing a Hawaiian shirt and standing next to a model railroad layout.

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Warmer temps, Hawaiian shirts, and… (wait for it) turnout questions are back! In this May 2017 episode of Ask MRVP, host David Popp addresses a question regarding Pelle Søeborg’s scenery, installing backdrops, battery-powered trains, and much more! If you’re curious about these topics, […]

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Ask MRVP: Episode 25

David Popp wearing a Hawaiian shirt and standing next to a model railroad layout.

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Warmer temps, Hawaiian shirts, and… (wait for it) turnout questions are back! In this May 2017 episode of Ask MRVP, host David Popp addresses a question regarding Pelle Søeborg’s scenery, installing backdrops, battery-powered trains, and much more! If you’re curious about these topics, […]

Read More…