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Model Trains

Build Your Own Railroad

Steam Locomotive

For more people than you may imagine, watching trains is a fascinating pastime. My brother used to belong to a club that went out every weekend to train switching yards to take pictures.

Many people have transformed their love of trains into large scale layouts in their basement or garages. These contain buildings, mountains, tunnels, trees, lakes and more to create a suitable environment for their precious model trains.

Model train enthusiasts span generations. It's one of those hobbies that really pulls you in no matter what your age. How can you not be fascinated by a tiny landscape limited only by your imagination?

My grandfather had a complete room with an amazingly detailed model railroad set up. We used to spend hours and hours together working on the layout or just watching the trains perform. The hours passed like seconds.

I wouldn't have given up that time or those memories for all the money in the world.

Diesel Engine

Whether you are already a collector or just thinking about getting into this hobby, I urge to look at the great connections and memories a model railroad hobby can give you. It's definitely a hobby that gives back to you way more than you put into it.

Model Railroader has been published for 70 years. It provides product reviews, layout design tips and a lot more.

If you want to get into collecting trains this magazine is a fine place to start.

Model Train Scale and Gauge

Scale is the fraction of the model train to a real life-sized one. For example, HO scale is 1/87 the size of real life-sized railroads.

Gauge is the width between the inside running edge of the rails. For toy trains, gauge is the measurement from the center of the two outside rails.

Real train tracks don't have the same gauge, a painful less Germany learned during WWII. There are two main gauges, standard and narrow.

US, Canadian and most European railroads run on "standard gauge."

Amazing Model Train Layout Video

Railroad Trivia

There are few narrow gauge railroads still in operation.

Others have been converted to the standard gauge, while still others have been dismantled and turned into scrap.

Even though narrow gauge railroads were inexpensive to build, loading and unloading became too much of an expense and every time a narrow gauge railroad met a standard railroad shipments would have to be unloaded and reloaded onto another train.

Model Train Specifications

Here's a handy table that lists the scales and sizes of trains, accessories and tracks:

Gauge	Proportion	Track Gauge	Min Radius
Z	1:220	.256"/6.5mm	5"
N	1:160	.354"/9.0mm	7 1/2"
HO	1:87	.650"/16.5mm	15"
S	1:64	.875"/22.5mm	22 1/2"
O	1:48	1.25"/32mm	24"
Gn3	1:22.5	1.75"/45mm	24"

Model Train Help

Model Train Help is a comprehensive guide for the beginner model railroad hobbyist. It provides, tips, shortcuts and tricks to help you get the most out of your model trains.

Model Trains on eBay

The Authentic Pennsylvania Railroad Steam Locomotive Set

This is the authentic replica of a Baldwin 4-6-0 steam locomotive, one of mid-19th Century America's most popular models that operated on the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Identifiable by its two-axle (four wheels) leading truck and its three driving axles (six wheels), the first Baldwin 4-6-0 appeared in 1852 and eventually supplanted general-purpose locomotives for hauling fast freight and heavy passenger trains.

Painted in Brunswick Green like its full-sized predecessor, this G-gauge locomotive and its accompanying coal tender pull both an interior-illuminated coach and observation car painted in Tuscan Red with gold paint replicating the distinctive gold-leaf lettering of earlier trains.

The locomotive has a working headlight, generates smoke and makes the "chuffing" sound of a steam locomotive that increases or decreases proportional to its speed.

Click here for more information.