Model Railroader February 2003

Santa Fe in the Southern Great Plains

A superb Texas and Oklahoma branch line. Click here to experience the pace of branchline operations on the Sweetwater & Orient Ry.



Quick & dirty freight car weathering

Expert modeler John Pryke show you easy ways to make your rolling stock look more realistic.

Toledo’s Central Union Terminal

An HO layout design for the passenger train fan.

Building the Turtle Creek Central: Part 2

Laying low-profile track and building foam hills.

Discover virtual railroading

Are simulators model railroading? Our authors say “yes.”



Modeling stone walls

Modeling and carving a single master pattern saves hours of work



Squeezing sound into a diesel switcher

How to fit a decoder and speaker into an HO scale Atlas S-2



G scale on the move

The G-Whiz Gang’s portable layout



Getting started in prototype research
How to learn more about the subject of your modeling. Online you’ll find links to Trains.com’s list of historical societies, the National Model Railroad’s Association’s Directory of World Wide Rail Sites, and the Library of Congress.


Plus: Reviews of Atlas’s N scale Dash 8 wide-nose diesels, InterMountain’s N scale FT A-B, Tillig Pilz HO code 83 turnouts, and Walthers’ HO C&O caboose; Back to Basics; Trains of Thought; and our annual listing of historical societies.