Construction is underway on another layout here in Germany. Here’s a first look at the layout I’m calling Karlberg Junction. Like most modelers, I struggled for months on a layout plan. I studied every town on my preferred line–the Milwaukee … Continue reading No. 218: Starting the Karlberg Junction Layout
My wife and I went to Andermatt, Switzerland in May for a short hiking weekend. I ran into an old friend there in Andermatt–the Matterhorn-Gotthard Railway, a 90-mile, one-meter gauge, electric line that runs around and through the Swiss Alps. … Continue reading No. 218: Rescuing an Old Brass Caboose
Many of you are aware that our friend Tony Koester is building an O scale “Tribute Layout” to the Wabash High Line–a long-abandoned branchline in Western Illinois–in an upstairs room in his home. I’ve built four or five O scale freight cars for The High Line in the last year, and back in December Tony asked me if I could build another one. Here’s the report. Below. December 2025: The box arrives at Ramstein. I got the box from Tony just before Christmas 2025. Inside was a new-in-the-box Chooch Ultra Scale II Nickel Plate Road War Emergency box car kit. … Continue reading No. 217: O Scale Wabash Box Car for The High Line
It has been a very busy Spring for my wife and I. I spent modeling time in March, April and May building and finishing a large stack of rolling stock models and selling another 25 models online. I also worked on a few models for others. Modeling time was cut short due to travel, work–I got a new job–and church activities. Our kids also managed to occupy a good amount of our spare time even though they live on another continent. In April, Kristina and I were able to break away for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Seychelles. We flew … Continue reading No. 216 (June 2026): The O Scale Smoky Mountain Model Works Seaboard B-7 Box Car
Earlier this month I attended the 2026 Faszination Modellbahn hobby event at the Maimarkthalle near downtown downtown Mannheim–about an hours’ drive from my house in Kaiserslautern. Faszination Modellbahn was a little like an American RPM event, a little bit like an NMRA meet, and a little bit like a train show–except they got 10,000 people through the gate. Anyway here’s what a big model railroad event in Germany looks like. I hope you enjoy the report. The show was held in a huge warehouse and included vendors of all kinds, modular layouts, video presentations (instead of clinics), a few historical … Continue reading No. 215: Faszination Modellbahn Mannheim 2026
Last Saturday I gave an online presentation on the Southern Iowa Railway to The Branchline Bunch, an online group of about 35 RPMers from around the US, Canada and of course Germany. I know the name Branchline Bunch sounds like … Continue reading No. 214: The Southern Iowa Rwy, and Finishing Freight Car Builds
Alongside the work I’m doing on HO models and layout planning, I continue to build a few O scale models in O scale fine scale, or Proto 48 as it’s called. It’s a hobby within my hobby. My last post … Continue reading No. 213: Proto48 Happenings
Merry Christmas! I hope you and your families are enjoying a blessed holiday season! Since moving back to Germany last January, I’ve been planning on building a small layout in my upstairs loft. I’ve studied modeling Farmington, Lakeville and Chaska Minnesota on the former Milwaukee Road Hastings & Dakota (H&D) Division among a few other locations, and posted extensively on the layout planning options. Above. A photo of Lakeville, Minnesota, circa 1970. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Road Project on Flickr. In just about every case–Farmington, Lakeville, Chaska and so on–I don’t feel I have enough linear space available. 15 … Continue reading No. 212: Layout Planning “Inside The Box”
Before getting to modeling, here’s some railway preservation news from the Southwest Germany that you never knew you cared about. Back in August my wife noticed on the front page of our local newspaper, Die Wochenblatt, that a German steam … Continue reading No. 211: Structures for the Milwaukee Road H&D Line
It has been another very busy summer as my wife and I adjust to life in Germany and adjust to life as empty-nesters. Happily, time for model building is starting to pick up, although progress has been slowed somewhat by … Continue reading No. 210: Milwaukee Road H&D Layout Planning, Sep 2025
Railroad Prototype Modeler 