Railroad Model Craftsman Magazine

07/03/2025

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Proto-freelancing is a way to create your own vision of the ideal railroad, without being constrained by specifics. Few capture this better than Mike Confalone, who has built the Allagash Railway (AGR) in the home he shares with wife Susan and son Tom.

It’s 1982 in Western Maine on Mike Confalone’s proto-freelanced HO layout that captures scenes of northern New England in early spring.

05/03/2025

Every great railroad has a distinct flavor. However, few railroads in the Western Hemisphere have more character than those in Mexico. The combination of the modern and ancient is more pronounced both on the rails and lineside. This creates an evocative blend of equipment, terrain, culture, and architecture — all of which is perfect for modeling...

Few railroads have more character than those in Mexico, with colorful diesels, exotic steam locomotives, and a stunning natural landscape.

03/03/2025

In the January issue we explored Mike Confalone’s proto-freelanced HO scale Allagash Railway (AGR), set in western Maine in the early 1980s. At the conclusion, we discussed the spin-off of some of the underperforming branch lines (otherwise known as “light-density lines”) to new short line operator Oxford County Railroad (OCTY). In this month’s issue we’ll do a deeper dive into the OCTY, the philosophy behind the concept, and how it operates in conjunction with the AGR...

The HO scale Oxford County Railroad is modeled after New England short lines of the 1980s, and connects with the Allagash Railway.

01/03/2025

Editor Otto Vondrak visited the Rochester Model Railroad Club Open House today. Their HO scale Seneca Valley Lines is based on the Lehigh Valley Railroad between Jersey City and Buffalo. We featured their layout in the March 2022 issue of RMC: https://rrmodelcraftsman.com/rochester-model-railroad-club-seneca-valley-lines/

28/02/2025

Structures help define the location and setting of your layout. While a train station might be the most recognizable local landmark, many busy junctions were guarded by interlocking towers. These structures started as standard designs that were often modified based upon available supplies and the site elevation, leading to a unique design for each tower...

Using updated 3D-printing techniques to model a New York Central interlocking tower in HO scale.

28/02/2025

MARCH 2025: We return to northwestern Maine and explore the operations of the Oxford County Railroad, and proto-freelanced short line that connects to Mike Confalone's Allagash Railway. Alan Mende shows us his technique for scratchbuilding Jersey Central iron ore hoppers, while Tyler Whitcomb reviews some of the non-revenue maintenance of way equipment on his N scale freelanced Tenino Western. All this and more in the March issue of Railroad Model Craftsman!

24/02/2025

Do we have any linemen in the audience? Who would like to write an article about various forms of power transmission lines, to help us build more realistic installations on our model railroads? Items should we cover in an article to help modelers?

19/02/2025

They say winter is a good time to couple up...

14/02/2025

ICYMI: It’s human nature to construct ways around impediments to fulfill our basic needs. That was especially clear during the pandemic, when we all tried to fulfill our desire for human interaction. The pandemic could have driven us into hiding, but that’s not how people responded—especially in the model railroad community...

The greatest value imparted by this hobby lies in the community of friends gained by attending events and sharing skills with one another.

13/02/2025

Now available from Rapido Trains Inc. are all-new highly detailed replicas of EMD E8A and E9A passenger locomotives with modernized details representing HEP capability for Burlington Northern, Amtrak, Conrail, Canadian National, Metro-North, and Illinois Central. These engines are not only era- and road-specific in details and paint, but feature details faithful to each road number where possible...

Now available from Rapido Trains are all-new highly detailed replicas of EMD E8A and E9A passenger locomotives and Budd Gallery Cars used on Chicago's commuter lines from the 1970s until the 1990s.

12/02/2025

ICYMI: There’s an entirely untapped market of people who want to model transit but deem it too inaccessible financially or too difficult with regard to modeling skill. Nobody wants to fight with a poor quality, unpowered, comically warped resin casting just to get that modern electric multiple-unit model they’ve wanted for years...

Transit modeling is not just the future, it’s presently arriving at hobby shops near you, with more new releases coming every day.

11/02/2025

Like Batman and Robin battling crime, purpose-built 86- and 60-foot boxcars formed a “dynamic duo” to transport auto parts between suppliers in the Upper Midwest and automotive assembly plants located all over North America. Tangent Scale Models answers the call with their latest HO release...

Now available from Tangent Scale Models is its first production of highly detailed replicas representing Thrall-built 5,880 cubic foot double plug door 60-foot boxcars in HO scale.

10/02/2025

ICYMI: You begin to feel the change just as we start getting ready for Halloween. The sun sets a little earlier, the temperatures begin to dip a little lower, and the trees start shedding their leaves as they prepare to go dormant for the winter. By Thanksgiving, the landscape has transformed from brilliant lush greens to shades of sedate brown and gray...

The time in-between fall and winter and winter and spring takes on a unique look and feel all its own that is often overlooked.

09/02/2025

Having your layout in print is a great way to share it with others, or preserve its memory if it must be dismantled one day. As part of that preservation effort, I’ve been self-publishing books of my layout photos. My primary goal is to create a high-quality visual record of my layout, the HO scale Chesapeake & Ohio Ryder Gap Subdivision...

Inexpensive photo books that you produce online are a great way to preserve and share the progress of your layout's construction.

08/02/2025

Hopefully you can get out this weekend for model railroading. A few pictures of the Miami Valley Modular Railway which is set up at the Great Train Show in the Indiana State Fair Grounds Saturday and Sunday.

07/02/2025

ICYMI: In this article I describe the simple, card-draw switch list system I have developed to route cars on my BC&G. It has exceeded my expectations in that it is simple to implement and simple to use and yet creates a seemingly infinite variety of operational situations on the layout. Hopefully there are some ideas here that others with similar smaller layouts can use to create a card-draw routing system of their own...

Brooks Stover has employed a system of car routing for short trains on a small railroad, just like the prototype Buffalo Creek & Gauley.

06/02/2025

We all interact with gas stations in our daily lives, and they certainly have evolved over the last 100 years. Chris Adams built this nice tribute to Jim Sacco from one of his City Classics kits in HO. Do you model any filling stations on your layout? Share your photos in the comments below.

Turn a simple City Classics HO scale mid-century gas station kit into a special scene for your model railroad.