The first annual Gateway Division Paper Diorama Contest concluded at the January 21, 2014 division meeting. Tom Trotter, Tim Stout, and John Carty describe the construction of their contest winning models....

LEDs provide a superior lighting solution over miniature bulbs. LEDs stay cool when lit and are very bright, energy efficient, and extremely reliable. Their long life and reliability are extremely important when installed in engines and buildings, where you really don't want to ever o...

The “Grandt Line Reese Street Row House” kit was the starting point for the 2013 kitbashing contest. The only restriction placed on the contest model was that the base could not be more than one square foot in area. Here are photos of all the models entered in the contest, and the con...

A recent Gateway NMRA meeting clinic on making paper buildings intrigued me enough to try it. Here are my first impressions using this new option for adding structures to my model railroad....

Everyone seems to enjoy dinner and a movie, and every town during the golden age of cinema boasted at least one movie theater even if it was just a Nickelodeon. This theater and restaurant were built using Uncle Al’s Grocery sold by Model Power as a starting point. This is an easy kit...

The Dodo Burger served Belleville for many years. This article details how to easily transform the Model Power Hot Dog Stand into a version of an American icon....

Using containers for the sides of a small engine house may seem a little off key, but the prototype of such a facility can be found in the yard at the R.J. Corman headquarters in Lexington, Kentucky. When friend and resident of Lexington, Allan Silverberg, sent me the photographs, I k...

A simple sky blue backdrop changes the whole look of your model railroad. It makes your railroad immediately appear more realistic and expansive. Although it's fairly easy to paint hills and general landforms on the backdrop, buildings are a lot harder to paint. One easy solution is t...

Scratch-building an HO scale model of a stone arch viaduct using plaster and a latex rubber mold....

The layout was designed with low height structures in the front corners (and no structures in the front middle) to easily see and reach the tracks, cars and turnouts. Larger background structures were placed at the rear (with the tallest in the middle). Two of the buildings (the back ...

This video series, hosted by Michael Gross, teaches you simple how-to techniques to take an HO scale electric train set and make it a scenic model railroad. This episode discusses buildings and structures....

Members who attended the May 2009 monthly Division meeting received a DPM building kit and some extra wall components. Many of them brought their completed kitbashed models for a "show and tell" presentation at the September 2009 meeting. Members voted for their favorites and prizes w...