Host David Popp shows viewers how to build realistic scenery around the high embankments of the HO scale (1:87.1) East Troy Industrial Park project layout. In this instructional video, you’ll learn how to use foam board, packing peanuts, and plaster cloth to create a durable base for additional ground cover and fine scenery materials. It […]
In August 2025, my wife and I planned a trip to the Pacific Northwest to visit family and friends. While we frequently travel by air and rental car, and have taken shorter train trips in the U.S. and Europe, we’ve never done a long-distance rail experience. So, we decided to take Amtrak’s Empire Builder from […]
Facts and features Name: Cincinnati Traction Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 2′-6″ x 14′-6″ Prototype: Cincinnati Street Ry. (city streetcars) and Cincinnati & Lake Erie (interurban) Locale: Cincinnati, Ohio Era: 1930s and ’40s Style: shelf Mainline run: Approximately 24 feet (dogbone on interurban rapid transit line) Minimum radius: 7″ on streetcar line, 11″ on interurban rapid […]
Facts and features Name: Pennsylvania RR Panhandle Division Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 25 x 41 feet Prototype: Pennsylvania RR Locale: eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, and West Virginia panhandle Era: late 1940s and early 1950s Style: walk-in Mainline run: 150 feet Minimum radius: 36″ (main), 24″ (branch) Minimum turnout: No. 6 (main), No. 5 (branch) Maximum […]
Dive into the captivating world of Cincinnati’s traction history with Mark Albert’s stunning HO scale model railroad! Originally built to travel to train shows, this layout, presented in the October 2025 issue of Model Railroader magazine, has found its permanent home, allowing for incredible new details and enhancements. Explore intricately modeled street scenes complete with […]
CHICAGO — The ongoing dispute between Union Pacific and Metra over Chicago-area commuter operations has a new twist: Union Pacific has filed suit seeking to collect more than $2 million from Metra that it calls “overdue compensation owed under a binding contract.” The suit filed on Monday in U.S. District Court argues that Metra, by […]
The westbound Broadway Limited is just a few miles from its destination as it pauses at Englewood Union Station on the South Side of Chicago in 1933. The Pennsylvania Railroad’s premier train traded its heavyweight cars for streamlined equipment in 1938. Photo by Rail Photo Service […]
Enthusiasts of railroad engineering will enjoy this helpful, instruction episode, which details how to build and install bridges and abutments on a model train layout. Following the Canadian National prototype, this video focuses on a 70-foot single-track deck girder bridge and a 30-foot single-track through girder bridge. Learn how to properly use a Walthers bridge […]
CHICAGO — Amtrak will halt operations of its Blue Water and Wolverine services Sept. 15-19 to accommodate demotion of two coaling towers that straddle its rail lines. An Amtrak service advisory indicates substitute bus service will be available for the Blue Water, a once-daily round trip between Chicago and Port Huron, Mich. For the Wolverine […]
Embark on an epic journey back to the late 1940s and early ’50s, as depicted on Curt LaRue’s HO scale (1:87.1) Pennsylvania Railroad Panhandle Division! Originally presented in the October 2025 issue of Model Railroader magazine, this stunning layout comes to life as cameras capture various modeled rural and industrial sites along the multi-track mainline […]
CINCINNATI — Nickel Plate Road GP9 diesel No. 532 is set for a return to the Midwest and eventual revival. Ownership of the EMD unit, built in 1958, was recently transferred from the Roanoke Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society to the Cincinnati Scenic Railway. The Cincinnati Scenic also recently acquired ex-NKP express boxcar […]
New York Central 4-8-2 2952 storms through Waterloo, Indiana, 367 miles west of Buffalo, with a westbound freight in 1948. NYC called its 600 4-8-2s “Mohawks” after the river the road’s main line followed across New York state. Photo by Robert A. Hadley […]
