Freight and Passenger Car Modeling, O Scale & Proto 48Leave a comment

No. 217 (June 2026): O Scale Wabash War Emergency Box Car

Golden1014

Many of you are aware that our friend Tony Koester is building an O scale “Tribute Layout” to the Wabash High Line–a long-abandoned branchline in Western Illinois–in an upstairs room in his home. I’ve built four or five O scale freight cars for The High Line in the last year, and back in December Tony asked me if I could build another one. Here’s the report. Below. December 2025: The box arrives at Ramstein. I got the box from Tony just before Christmas 2025. Inside was a new-in-the-box Chooch Ultra Scale II Nickel Plate Road War Emergency box car kit. … Continue reading No. 217 (June 2026): O Scale Wabash War Emergency Box Car

Freight and Passenger Car Modeling, O Scale & Proto 481 Comment

No. 216 (June 2026): The O Scale Smoky Mountain Model Works Seaboard B-7 Box Car

Golden1014

It has been a very busy Spring for my wife and I. I spent modeling time in March, April and May building and finishing a large stack of rolling stock models and selling another 25 models online. I also worked on a few models for others. Modeling time was cut short due to travel, work–I got a new job–and church activities. Our kids also managed to occupy a good amount of our spare time even though they live on another continent. In April, Kristina and I were able to break away for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Seychelles. We flew … Continue reading No. 216 (June 2026): The O Scale Smoky Mountain Model Works Seaboard B-7 Box Car

RPM and Modeling EventsLeave a comment

No. 215: Faszination Modellbahn Mannheim 2026

Golden1014

Earlier this month I attended the 2026 Faszination Modellbahn hobby event at the Maimarkthalle near downtown downtown Mannheim–about an hours’ drive from my house in Kaiserslautern. Faszination Modellbahn was a little like an American RPM event, a little bit like an NMRA meet, and a little bit like a train show–except they got 10,000 people through the gate. Anyway here’s what a big model railroad event in Germany looks like. I hope you enjoy the report. The show was held in a huge warehouse and included vendors of all kinds, modular layouts, video presentations (instead of clinics), a few historical … Continue reading No. 215: Faszination Modellbahn Mannheim 2026

Layout Next6 Comments

No. 212: Layout Planning “Inside The Box”

Golden1014

Merry Christmas! I hope you and your families are enjoying a blessed holiday season! Since moving back to Germany last January, I’ve been planning on building a small layout in my upstairs loft. I’ve studied modeling Farmington, Lakeville and Chaska Minnesota on the former Milwaukee Road Hastings & Dakota (H&D) Division among a few other locations, and posted extensively on the layout planning options. Above. A photo of Lakeville, Minnesota, circa 1970. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Road Project on Flickr. In just about every case–Farmington, Lakeville, Chaska and so on–I don’t feel I have enough linear space available. 15 … Continue reading No. 212: Layout Planning “Inside The Box”

Layout Next4 Comments

No. 209: Clear Track in Eulenbis

Golden1014

My wife and I moved back to Germany for work in January 2025. With all three kids in college in the US we thought this would be our last chance to live overseas prior to my formal retirement. I must tell you truly that it was terribly hard for me to move overseas again. I had to pull up roots again, leave my train buddies again, leave my weekend soccer crew again, and leave my old crew at work that I’ve known for decades–again. I left three kids in college out in the Mountain West, and some darn good health … Continue reading No. 209: Clear Track in Eulenbis

Prototype Topics, Railfanning & Museums1 Comment

No. 208: Somewhere on The Southern

Golden1014

By Tom Holley, with Alex Bogaski This is all Alex Bogaski’s fault. Alex is a native Oklahoman and dyed in the wool FarmRail modeler. However, being stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., and associating with the wrong crowd, he became interested in the Southern Railway. He acquired a few Southern locomotive models and some rolling stock and naturally needed a place to run them. So, he built the Somewhere Down South layout, a small, Inglenook-style switching layout–generic in nature–typical of a small, Deep South branch line. Being a third generation Central of Georgia district employee, the plan naturally appealed to me. … Continue reading No. 208: Somewhere on The Southern