Q: I recently ordered one of the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy N scale bay-window cabooses from Shop.Trains.com. What does the “P” on top of the bay window stand for? — R. Anderson A: The “P” indicates it’s a pool caboose, one not assigned to an individual conductor or specific crew. Former Senior Editor Jim Hediger […]
Last month we took a look at modeling urban scenery. This time around, we’ll step back from the big city and focus on rural scenery. I spent my formative years in the Red River Valley of the North, which was dotted with small towns up and down the Minnesota and North Dakota sides of the […]
Model a “burning” building: I loved the idea of having a “burning” building on a large scale layout. Here was a feature that would be active and easy to set up. Plenty of 1:24 scale fire fighting equipment is readily available and reasonably priced. I bought Pola kit No. 33101 a number of years ago […]
Q: I’m building a retaining wall using Woodland Scenics’ cut stone castings and want to attach them to extruded-foam insulation board. What is the best glue to use for this project? — Alan Cox A: The Woodland Scenics cut stone retaining walls are Hydrocal castings, so you’re going to want an adhesive that will work […]
Common name: Red Tip mountain plum pine Latin name: Podocarpus lawrencei ‘Red Tip’ Plant type: dwarf conifer USDA Hardiness Zones: 7-9 Cultural needs: moist, well drained, neutral or slightly acidic soil, sun to full shade Plant size: 20” high x 28” wide in ten years Would you like the conifer-tree look, but you’re stuck with […]
Though we consider model railroading a hobby, it’s also an investment. Consider the prices of model trains today. Depending on the scale, level of detail, and features, a ready-to-run freight car retails for anywhere from $20 to $150. Today’s injection-molded plastic steam and diesel locomotives are priced from $150 to $900. The numbers start to […]
Railroads carry a multitude of loads, from passengers, livestock, and a variety of other goods. I decided to build a high-power transformer and the car designed to carry it—the Schnabel car. The Schnabel car is designed to carry heavy or oversized loads. The construction of this car involves two friends and 3-D printing. One hobbyist […]
Q: What is recommended for attaching buildings and other structures to the substructure of a model railroad? — Byron Christmas A: There’s no one-size-fits-all way to attach a building to a model railroad. One of the most common methods for anchoring buildings to a layout is with white glue. The key attribute of white glue […]
Many of us started our love affair with model trains after getting Lionel or American Flyer items, perhaps to circle a Christmas tree. We might have gotten a toy plastic or metal station with people printed on the sides and some fake evergreen trees. It was all the excitement and the reality we needed. I […]
Contrary to popular belief, modeling an urban scene doesn’t require a bunch of space. Want proof? Check out the Winston-Salem Southbound, our 2018 project layout, shown in the photo above. The 2’-9” x 8’-2” HO scale shelf layout depicted the railroad’s Tar Branch in Winston-Salem, N.C. It featured more than a half-dozen rail-served industries, as […]
Q: Why are the flanges on model steam engine drive wheels so much larger than on the prototypes? Is it because the models don’t weigh very much? Or is it because they have to navigate tight curves? And do larger scales (like G scale and live-steam models) have flanges that are closer to the prototypes? […]
I had an LGB Stainz (2010 version) and decided to convert it to an 0-4-0 Forney. I made a new boiler, steam dome, sand dome, smoke stack, all made from PVC fittings and pipe. After deciding the length of the boiler, I cut the proper length from a piece of 1″ PVC pipe as it […]
