I was all set to model the Western Maryland when I stumbled across the Maryland Midland railroad on Facebook.  That led to a whole bunch of research and the idea of modeling a modern short line evolved.  I have to say that I have been inspired by all of the very nice Iowa Interstate layouts on this website.  The tough thing is that I have no experience and very little knowledge of modern railroading and so I am on the tough part of the learning curve. I actually started in HOn3 and Sn3 and them moved to HO steam.  For the past 12 years I've been modeling th

The other day I spent with several friends, just chit-chatting, watching some train videos, and checking out recent work on my friends layout. While there I was able to use Dave Frary’s YouTube tip on how to straighten the branches on Scenic Express Super Trees.

So home I came with a box of trees to finish adding foliage before planting, plus an extra package of Bachmann pull-apart static grass that I needed for some areas. The trees were finished yesterday, and will probably be planted today. 

Hi All,

Here’s the latest update on The Seaboard Central. This past month I’ve been working on structures for my East Griffin sections. A couple are modeled after prototype structures found trackside and were made by kitbashing Walthers kits with Pikestuff components. The houses are wood kits from Laser Art. I have really taken to these kits. They are easy and fun to build. If you haven’t tried it I recommend adding some of these houses to your layout.

https://youtu.be/GLePrXenQ0Y

Hi everyone,

I'm finally getting around to constructing my shelf railroad. HO scale, freelance.

Overall

scrap yard

HELP! Looking for recommendations for planning software for an Apple MAC. Having a home built that will give me a 16x16 space for a layout. Projected move-in date is near Christmas, so I have plenty of time to do it right! Am thinking about a U-shaped layout with a peninsula and like so many ideas I've seen here and in other publications. 

Welcome to my O scale 2 rail layout project blog.  I am in the process of designing a O scale 2 rail switching layout.

Re: black, shiny, etc.  Model railroading is what you want it to be.  I can't control my actual world but I have complete control over my RR.  If  want toI put a DeLorean in my 1880s layout, I just say "Back to the Future".  You can have your black shiny and I can have my grungy gritty.  "God Bless Us Everyone!"     The Buckbrush Kid

While waiting for one-day-future production of a particular tank car that served our local trade area, I found decals for the Gulf Coast Creosoting Co. from Protocraft Decals.  Realizing that I had two unassembled Proto 2000 kits for an 8,000 gallon tank car, I took the plunge, stripped off the factory lettering and painted the tank cars to match the prototype.  

Is it even possible to get a Spectrum 2-6-6-2 to pull 10-13 coal hoppers up a 2% grade? I had planned on having a fleet of five or six of these to use as the mainstay of my coal-hauling fleet just like my protoype. I already plan on going back to the two I have and figuring how to cram weight into the steam and sand domes as well as some lead sheets to the tender for more pulling power.