Tag: model-railroading

Ackley, Iowa Layouts2 Comments

No. 212: Layout Planning “Inside The Box”

Golden1014

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”

Ackley, Iowa Layouts4 Comments

No. 209: Clear Track in Eulenbis

Golden1014

My wife and I moved back to Germany for work in January 2025. With all three kids in college in the US we thought this would be our last chance to live overseas prior to my formal retirement. I must tell you truly that it was terribly hard for me to move overseas again. I had to pull up roots again, leave my train buddies again, leave my weekend soccer crew again, and leave my old crew at work that I’ve known for decades–again. I left three kids in college out in the Mountain West, and some darn good health … Continue reading No. 209: Clear Track in Eulenbis

Ackley, Iowa Layouts1 Comment

No. 208: Somewhere on The Southern

Golden1014

By Tom Holley, with Alex Bogaski This is all Alex Bogaski’s fault. Alex is a native Oklahoman and dyed in the wool FarmRail modeler. However, being stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., and associating with the wrong crowd, he became interested in the Southern Railway. He acquired a few Southern locomotive models and some rolling stock and naturally needed a place to run them. So, he built the Somewhere Down South layout, a small, Inglenook-style switching layout–generic in nature–typical of a small, Deep South branch line. Being a third generation Central of Georgia district employee, the plan naturally appealed to me. … Continue reading No. 208: Somewhere on The Southern

Hermitage Road Layouts, Layout Next, O Scale & Proto 483 Comments

No. 206: Back to Germany

Golden1014

My wife and I are leaving the US at the end of January for another three-to-five year job at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. At 61 this will probably be my last full-time assignment working for the Air Force. After this tour we plan to come back to the US and settle down for a while. That’s the plan anyway… Leaving is bittersweet. I’ll miss family and friends, and we’ll be a long way from our three terrific kids who are all in college in the Mountain West. I’ll miss my modeler friends and all the fun RPM events, my footballer … Continue reading No. 206: Back to Germany

RPM and Modeling Events1 Comment

No. 204: 2024 Chicagoland RPM

Golden1014

The most recent Naperville Railroad Prototype Modelers Conference, now known as Chicagoland RPM, was held on October 10-12, 2024, at the Northern Illinois University Conference Center in Naperville, Illinois. Chicagoland is one of the premier railroad prototype modeler events in the country, providing attendees with clinics, presentations, layout tours, vendors, historical societies, and more. The best about RPM events is the gathering of friends from around the country for fellowship and collaboration on railroad modeling. More about this year’s event can be found at https://www.rpmconference.com/. A good RPM meet starts with a good party. A dozen of us from the … Continue reading No. 204: 2024 Chicagoland RPM

O Scale & Proto 483 Comments

No. 203: Freight Cars for The High Line

Golden1014

At Chicagoland RPM in October, our friend Tony Koester revealed his latest project, an O scale Tribute Layout on the Wabash “High Line” branch from Bluffs, Illinois to Keokuk, Iowa, which he’s building in his four-season porch. The real railroad gained notoriety in the 1950s for its locomotives. Because of a spindly bridge across the Illinois River the ‘Bash used a small fleet of lightweight 2-6-0s exclusively on the line. The little engines got a lot of press as the steam era ended. The right-of-way was interesting too; it was a friendly little railroad, running through Illinois cornfield country on … Continue reading No. 203: Freight Cars for The High Line

Freight and Passenger Car Modeling, Layout Visits6 Comments

No. 202: Scenery Work at the Litchfield Train Group…and Stalled Projects

Golden1014

I got sick of work last week so I took Friday off and went up to Litchfield, Illinois to visit my buddy Lonnie Bathurst. Lonnie has a large HO scale layout in the back half of his office building and we spent the whole afternoon cleaning track and upgrading scenery. Above. This is the Litchfield Train Group layout that was featured in RMC a few years ago. The layout needs some scenery work before their big annual open house during Christmas. Lonnie and I applied static grass and 40 to 50 feet of layout. We applied static grass to the … Continue reading No. 202: Scenery Work at the Litchfield Train Group…and Stalled Projects

Freight and Passenger Car Modeling, O Scale & Proto 48Leave a comment

No. 193: 2024 O Scale National and Proto48 USRA Box Car Model

Golden1014

On Saturday, March 23rd I made the all-day trek from St. Louis to Chicago to attend the O Scale “National” at Lombard, Ill. The venue was the beautiful Westin Lombard, same as last year, and there was a lot going on. I went up for the day and spent a few fun hours talking to friends and also buying some harder-to-get models, then headed back home in the evening. I like starting a trip report with a driving picture. It makes me feel like I went somewhere. This northbound on I-55 in Illinois. This picture makes it look an awful … Continue reading No. 193: 2024 O Scale National and Proto48 USRA Box Car Model