A week before Christmas 2024 I dragged my buddy Lonnie Bathurst out to Swanea, Illinois to visit a fellow prototype modeler, Steve Goaring. Steve is a lifetime model railroader and models the Illinois Terminal System (ITS) O’Fallon District in HO scale in his basement. Steve graciously invited us into his home, introduced us to his family, and then took us to the basement to see “The Museum” as he called it. Below, here’s the view of Steve’s layout and workbench as you enter the layout room. The small swinging portion of the layout at the left allows unobstructed access to … Continue reading No. 207: Steve Goaring’s Illinois Terminal RR Layout

In July, while I was in the U.S. to help with St. Louis RPM, I invited myself to Jeff Kuebler’s house in Columbia, Illinois for a layout tour.  Jeff is one of the finest men you could ever meet, and is part of the St. Louis RPM crew, and he’s also an accomplished L&N modeler and historian.  We had a couple of beers and a great visit. Lately Jeff and I have been trading e-mails on tree-building and I thought this would be a good time to write something about his layout and show how he’s making unique trees for a … Continue reading No. 105: Jeff Kuebler’s L&N Layout

My longtime friend and professional railroader Tom Holley is back, this time with a terrific article on modeling the Central of Georgia at Andalusia, Alabama.  Tom is a professional railroader—a freight train engineer—for Norfolk Southern, and a third-generation Central of Georgia man.  His layout plan shows how the professionals keep it simple, and “keep it real”.  Our thanks to Allen Tuten and the boys at the Central of Georgia Historical Society for the use of photos and material for this article.  – John G Almost Andalusia By Tom Holley You can’t always get what you want But if you try … Continue reading No. 74: Almost Andalusia

I am pleased to offer my first guest post, this from my longtime friend Tom Holley.  Tom is planning a small, one-town model railroad based on the Georgia Northern at Pavo, Georgia. Tom is a third generation professional railroader—an engineer with Norfolk Southern—and a good man.  His regular assignment these days is running the Coosa Pines switcher near Birmingham, Alabama.  Tom is seen below in the cab of some Norfolk Southern EMD something-or-other still in primer paint.  Tom’s Dad ran the work trains that built Coosa Pines, and his Grandfather retired as the section foreman at Coosa Pines. I hope you … Continue reading No. 27: Modeling the Georgia Northern in Pavo, Georgia