Railroad Modeler
Railroad Modeler is the place for news, photos and videos for model railroad enthusiasts.

Walthers has announced that starting with new releases for 2009, the entire Lionel line of “O” Scale models will be available directly from Walthers. Over 500 new items are planned this year - production will be based on advance orders, which must be placed on or before April 8, 2009. Orders for the new Vision line of highly detailed models are due by April 30, 2009. Details are being finalized now. Updates will be posted at Walthers.com as they become available.

“In the early days model railroaders built their houses and other buildings from scratch…”

Read about “A New Approach to Creating Model Buildings” using the new Evan Designs Model Train Software by clicking the link for article title or by clicking to the right under pages!

Model Builder Screen Capture

After attending model railroad shows and many trips to the local hobby shops, most of us desire to build a home layout of some kind.

See the article “Building A Home Layout” by clicking this link or by clicking on the link to the right.

Southport Station on the author's Eie Lackawanna's Chemung Sub Division home layout. While the Erie Lackawanna was a prototype, the autor used "creative thinking" for the Chemung Sub Division based on the area that he grew up in.

In this featured article entitled “SHOW FEVER” located to the right or by clicking on this highlighted link, you will find an article and a picture gallery about the type of show designed to provide a “Model Railroaders Buying Paradise”!

Have you ever visited a Model Railroad show in your town or a surrounding town?

Visiting a show can be a worthwhile time investment in your hobby. There are basically two different types of shows that you can attend.

The first show that I will mention here is really a combination of a sales event and an opportunity for local clubs to set up and display their modular layouts. You will typically find hobby shops from all over a region or even the country set up at these events. This is a great opportunity for us to browse the show and find the best deals on those items that we have been drooling over for months. You will also find that many of the dealers will have those hard to find items, as well as, those discontinued items that you have been looking for and have been unable to find! Normally all scales are represented in new and used condition. Many times manufacturers are at these shows to introduce new upcoming items.

The second type of show is typically a show that a local club or group of clubs will put on together. Many times this type of show is designed to increase the exposure of Model Railroading to the general public or as a fund raiser for the local club(s). The show normally does not include sales and is usually based on one certain scale of model railroading. By attending one of these types of shows, you can get many ideas and learn many facets of the hobby that you may not be familiar with to use on your own layout.

Attending a show of either type is very interesting, informative and just plain fun. You can normally find information about these shows in model railroading magazines or at the Model Railroader Magazine website .

Below are some photos from a show that is held every year in Stone Mountain, GA. The show is normally held the last weekend in July and the clubs that come together to combine their modular layouts donate the proceeds from the show to the host of the event, SmokeRise Baptist Church. This show is intended to promote modular railroading in HO Scale.

These pictures are from the SmokeRise July 2005 show and all of the modules shown in the pictures join together to form one giant layout that fills this entire gymnasium.

Below is an excerpt from the article entitled “Easy Go!”. Please click the link here or to the right to go to the article.

…All too many times, as I’ve seen over the years, situations change due to job changes, upgrades in homes, and the all time bone-chilling comment from the wife, “Honey, now that the kids are grown and gone, we don’t need this big house anymore!” So as one of these situations brings about the change, the saws, hammers and crowbars appear, and no matter how hard we try to salvage the layout in hopes of reusing at least some of it, it all seems to come down in a matter of hours! “EASY GO!”

Along with this phenomenon comes a great deal of sadness, but also another glimpse of excitement and joy, as new dreams begin to appear in our heads of the next greater layout!…

Our goal is to bring you the best articles and photos for new layouts, how-to videos, and the latest offerings from the best model railroad manufacturers.