Model railroad scenery

Model railroaders are reputedly among the most frugal (read: cheap) hobbyists around. Why spend good money for details when you can utilize some very common household items? In the old days some folks swore by used coffee grounds for ground cover until the humidity turned their layout into giant Petri dishes of nasty mold and mildew. Or dryer lint for chimney smoke and who knows what? Wine corks converted into fuel tanks. Everyone has their favorite “free” scenery items and good on ya!

One of the questions I get asked most when people see my layout or pictures of it is “How do you make the water look like it’s moving”? It’s really...

Modeler Lou Sassi demonstrates how he uses real dead leaves as ground cover for forest floors, lawns, and tree lines in his model railroad scenery. He starts by breaking off stems of dead leaves he has gathered and adds them to a blender, filling it about halfway. Water is added, filling half the blender. The setting on the blender is turned to frappe and blended for a few seconds.

Model train water scenery has grown to become a staple of many of the winning model railroad layouts at exhibition events. The contrast between beautiful mountains split by a beautiful river stream or even dock water scenery tends to add so much character to any model train layout.

O / On30 layout - I’ve been plugging away on the construction of my O/On30 portable layout. The 4.5’ X 14’ layout is in three sections.

model train wire trees

10 money saving recycling tips when making a model railway.

Somewhere on the workbench...

Layout by Dan & Mick Lawrence

An old-time HO model railroad which takes its theme from the iconic horror stories of H.P. Lovecraft

In this video, modeler Martin Tarnrot will demonstrate how he models a forest hill without making any actual model railroad trees. Martin makes them smaller than they would normally be to enhance the forced perspective. To begin, Martin shows a forest that is close to where he lives. One can notice that there is a difference in the color of the foliage, but that the individual trees can’t be seen.

Here's a wide variety of model railroad track plans for beginners.

Design thinking about model railroads

Learn how to create a realistic water scene for your model railroad layout using EnviroTex and gloss matte medium.

How to get model railway track cheap. Don't waste money on track for your model railway, follow these 7 tips and save money.

If you're creating a railway that feature a wood yard or forest you'll love this tip. I'm a recent Thrifty Thursday tip I covered how to create authentic tree stumps for railway embankments. At the time I mentioned using Yellow scatter to recreate the sawdust around the felled trees. Since then I've been experimenting to find a more realistic sawdust and wood chipping effect. Why Didn't I Think Of This Before Having spent ages testing different scatter materials, coffee granules and other…

Model Railroader is the world's largest magazine on model trains and model railroad layouts. We feature beginner and advanced help on all model railroading scales, including layout track plans, model railroad product reviews, model train news, and model railroad forums.

There was more great modelling from Tom Beaton at this year’s Supertrain in Calgary. Tom, who is well known in narrow gauge circles for his modeling of the Pacific northwest, had his unique 36 inch circular On30 layout at the annual show, along with his inventive sonotube displays. Modelling in a tube! Tom’s modelling was part of the South Bank Short Lines display at Supertrain. A view from a bit further back. Tom will be presenting a clinic at the Sept. 2-5 Narrow Gauge convention in…