ho scale

One of the model railroaders I follow on Youtube has mentioned a program called Switchlist several times over the years. He has stated that it is only available for Mac, and unfortunately I do not have a Mac, but rather a windows PC. My layout is small and I have been using JMRI to generate...

This is the interior of an old engine house. The guy in the yellow shirt was coming to throw me out for trespassing on RR property.

Nestled at the top of a long private driveway in the rolling countryside of Bucks County, PA with beautiful, long distance views and gorgeous sunsets, this charming farm home is waiting for its new owner. You will enjoy your expansive 3.6 plus acre property which features apple, pear and peach...

I’m looking to utilize the Walthers oil loading platform kit as both a loading and unloading facility. Has anyone made modifications to this kit for unloading or have any suggestions on how I can go about it? I’m modeling 1960s with a single track unloading one tank car at a time. Thanks in...

Good evening all, this is my first post on this site. I am in search of an HO scale Rapido MLW FPA-4. I have an analog layout, so DC only please. My first preference for roads would be the New York and Lake Erie FPA-4 (item #20031). Grand Canyon Railway (item #20027/20028), and Canadian...

I have tried to find examples online of intersections similar to mine but haven’t found exactly what I’m looking for. Does anybody know the best way to design the road markings for this intersection? I would like to include a parallel parking spot for my store and markings for the tracks...

Here we go again. Got this in a couple of weeks ago and it squeals bad. I have others that do this as well. There is also something rattling around inside the shell, but I have not had time to remove yet to find out what it is. Maybe it's the light, which does not work either. As usual, what is...

Question says it all…I applied some ballast around a turnout with a Caboose Industries manual ground throw, being careful to not get much ballast and glue around the mechanism. After it began to dry, the ground throw itself is now squeaking. What would cause this? Can I oil it somehow?

I am looking to apply the Woodland Scenics Smooth-It to my layout soon but I am not sure it can be applied to craft foam successfully. I have applied it to insulation foam board previously with success. Has anybody used the Smooth-It material on craft foam before?

I will be starting track work soon on my 1 ft x 6.5 ft HO scale shelf switching layout and need some help with understanding the difference in wiring gauges and which is best for my setup. I lack knowledge in this area and could use some help. Here is a basic schematic showing how many feeders I...

For the current switching layout I’m building, I plan to model in the 1950s and 60s. This is an era I’ve never modeled before. Were any specific boxcars used for grain transport or were their design characteristics specific to their use such as extra hatches or anything like that? I did learn...

Hello Everyone! Model railroading had been put aside the last few months except for some minor Lionel train set work. Last week I received an email inviting me to exhibit a layout at a local train show! This brought back some motivation to build another layout:) Now…since my n scale layout...

I've lost the pin that my Fleischmann HO BR 01 182 had to hold the tender. I believe what I had was what would be called a "core pin" and the hole is slightly larger than 2mm (maybe 2.2mm?). I'm not positive that was what the loco had originally though. A clevis pin might also work. Anyone...

Hello Fellow Modelers! Many of you know me from my N Scale Micro-Layout thread. I have decided to build an HO Scale shelf layout as my next build. This build will most likely happen over a longer period of time despite it being a small layout. If only my boss would understand my need to model...

Hi there, I'm new to this forum, so please let me know if this isn't the right place to post this. I am in the finishing stages of my first HO scale layout, but when ballasting a section of my track with Scenic Express's N scale blended ballast I ran into a major issue despite following my...

Hello, new here and to model trains/railroads specifically, although I am very familiar with what makes them work. 🤖 I've been researching a little bit and learning the history which is pretty cool in itself. hopefully my pics will load so you can have a small glimpse of what I have. Can you...

Hey all, So, I've got a question for anyone who's willing to answer--My favorite two locomotives, ever, are the ex-CNW Twins, sadly, they've been repainted, but Athearn recently rolled out Genesis's the two C44-9Ws, the 8701 and the 8646. I was able to get my hands on the 8646, but my...

Hey, all, Glad to be here! I'm a life-long railfan from central Iowa, and while I don't have a layout of my own, I've always loved model railroads, plan on building my own after I graduate from college, and run/work on my club's HO scale layout for now. Big fan of the Chicago and North...

Hey everyone, been a few years since I've been here as I've walked away from the hobby for a while, but have decided to jump back into it. I'd like to once again, build up a consist but unfortunately it seems next to impossible unless you model current era Amtrak. What I'm looking for are Kato...

Hey! I've just finished building the Faller 130908 vineyard garden restaurant, and i ended up with an excessive amount of extra parts that the instructions doesn't mention. Does anyone have the same experience with other kits?