Developing a comprehensive inventory of a model railroad's inventory - cars, engines, structures, details, books, and tools - serves a number of purposes, for the present, for protection, and for your estate....

One of the underused resources in the operator's bag of tricks is the use of staging. With this tool, a modeler can simulate bridge traffic, run throughs, junctions, and interchanges. Each of these can add interest and operational possibilities. Successfully done, hidden staging can g...

Timetable and Train Order Operation Basics, a primer from the Gateway Division NMRA....

Article & photo by Tom Troughton, MMR How many times have you entered a fellow model railroader’s train room to be awe struck at the magnificent layout before your eyes. There’re several hundred feet of meticulously constructed hand laid track, on tie plates even, trac...

Photos by Richard Schumacher John Hardy was presented with the Mid-Continent Region’s Ken Cline Award at the NMRA’s banquet on Saturday night. Other Division members received awards for their models at the business meeting Friday morning. While there is no award for irony, our favorit...

The cap end of Faber fine Uni-Ball pens were obviously designed as an HO or S manhole cover. A new X-Acto knife will easily cut off the cover (cut flush with the lip on the side, it’s almost like they provided a cutting guide!). The photo by Richard Schumacher shows the pen, a cut off...

One thing that has been constant since the early days of railroading is that a dispatcher controls the flow of traffic between interlockings. An interlocking is simply an intersection or union of two or more tracks. An interlocking is more than a section of railroad with multiple trac...

When we operate a model railroad, we try to simulate the operations of the prototype as much as possible. The “as much as possible” is dependent upon the tastes of the individual operators who gather to run a railroad. This will impact on the amount of paperwork and other ...

Ever had a painting project not come out as expected? Or maybe had paint creep under your tape during a two or more color paint job? I’m sure we all have. I know this has happened to me several times. I have found an inexpensive way to remove the paint in preparation for a second try....

As I was driving down the road the other day, I was thinking about what I would write in this space. I was having a hard time thinking of a topic that I could write about. At that moment I realized this was a “problem,” and my mind wandered to the thought of some of the operational pr...

Gateway Central IV, like its predecessors, is a 4'x8' beginner layout constructed by division members. Each of the layouts has been used to try out a variety of construction techniques for support, track design, scenery and structures. The project involves a large number of members in...

Low Cost Tips to Improve Your Railroad Modeling Photo by Richard Schumacher Trackwork is the most visible representation of your model railroad. It does not matter if the train is even on the track, the track is still there for all critical eyes to critique. It defines from where your...