Small Model Railroads

everyone should do something small

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The Swan Creek Railroad

While looking at historical maps on the old canals that once crossed Toledo Ohio, I came across a unique little railroad. What caught my eye was the name, “Swan Creek RR”, which I found on a Sanborn Insurance map. This appeared on the 1905 map and showed that the…

The Swan Creek Railroad

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Shoebox Layout Ideas

In Episode 47 of the Cartel Conversations Podcast, the hosts, Ian Holmes and Tom Conboy, introduced the 2024 Micro Model Railway Cartel Challenge. For 2024 the challenge is to build a shoebox layout. For those who are in the dark, the late Carl Arendt featured this type of layout in several articles (links below). Layouts in Boxes – includes original article of Carl’s Imports Shoebox Madness –…

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Pizzatopia - an HOn30 Micro Layout

For the last couple years, the e-magazine The Micro Model Railway Dispatch and the Facebook group Micro Model Railroad Cartel have been hosting an annual layout/modeling challenge they call their “Christmas Challenge”. The name is just because you have to complete it by the end of the year, not Christmas themed (although you can do that if you like). For 2023 they decided to do a Pizza Layout…

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SERVO MOUNTING BRACKETS ARE BACK!

After some work on the site, I have the servo mounting brackets available again. The old plugin just stopped working and would take the whole site down. It appears it was the result of a bad update. Well, I figured if I have to re-install the plugin and re-input all of the data, I will just try a different, more flexible plugin solution. So far it appears to be working properly. Other issues…

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Small Layout Meet 2023

Back in June I managed to take time to travel to Findlay and the 2023 Small Layout Meet. While there I tried to video document as many layouts as I could. There was a very good mix of sizes, scales, gauges and all levels of completeness. I hope you enjoy the following video.

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Jackson Belt Line, a Small Prototype for Any Era - Part I

Where is the Jackson Belt Line? Although it has “belt line” in the name, the Jackson Belt Line is more of a short industrial branch line. The line diverges from the Michigan Central (MC) within the of Jackson Michigan at a point originally called Jackson Junction which is within the yard limits near where the MC roundhouse and shops were once located. Satellite image with the Belt Line location…

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Roundup Time! - How Green is Your Railroad?

While doing research on older prototype railroad scenes from the 1970s and before, it is hard not to notice how green many of the old photos look and how overgrown some of the tracks appear to be. Since about 1980 there has been regular use of the herbicide Roundup®. This has changed the way the tracks look and many modelers may have forgotten or never knew how the lines used to look. The Boat…

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Huron Bay Terminus Railway - Slate Mining in Michigan

Huron Bay Terminus Railway – Slate Mining in Michigan

There is some question if the “Huron Bay Terminus Railway” actually existed as an entity. For sure there was a 36″ tramway which served the slate mining efforts around Arvon in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The tramway had a dock which jutted out into Huron Bay and there was a slate mining operation named “Huron Bay Slate Company”. Even so the only mention that this tramway was named the “Huron Bay…

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Hamilton Feeds - A Switching Prototype with a Trestle

Hamilton Feeds – A Switching Prototype with a Trestle

Cover photo by Nathan Nietering

Anyone who has passed through the small town of Hamilton, Michigan can not help but notice the large wood railroad trestle next to the main road (M40) that passes through town. The Rabbit River and the trestle have always has been a focal point for the town. Today, the area has been converted into a park to preserve it and allow people to take in the beauty of…

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A Ghost Town With Its Own Private Railroad

A Ghost Town With Its Own Private Railroad

October is my favorite time of year with cooler temperatures, the changing of the leaves and the spooky fun of Halloween. So, in keeping with the “spirit” of the season, let’s take a look at the ghost town of Fayette Michigan and the railroad that served it. I had the pleasure of visiting the location recently, so I took some time to research the location and the little railroad that served it.

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2020 Design Challenge Update

2020 SmallMR.com Micro Layout Design Challenge Update

It is amazing how some ideas take on a life of their own! When I posted the original article on the challenge, I was hopeful a couple people might take interest. Although I have personally been too busy to work on my own display case layout, others are moving full steam ahead. Let’s look at what some people have done and where they are headed!

Facebook has been very active with several people…

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Small Layout Challenge 2020

Small Layout Challenge 2020 - Lets design a micro to fit certain style of box!

One of my favorite layout designs by Carl Arendt is Carl’s Imports. Carl designed the micro layout to fit in a shoebox. Using what he referred to as an “intercontinental research project”, Carl determined that the optimum sized shoebox (male variety) was determined to be 13 x 7 x 5 inches (33 x 18 x 12 cm). He then designed Carl’s Imports to fit such a box. The first article about the layout can…

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Ben Feldkamp's North Branch Railroad

Ben Feldkamp’s North Branch Railroad

While in the Grand Rapids MI area I saw there was a train show and decided to make a stop. There I found this great looking little On30 layout by Ben Feldkamp.

The layout is On30 and is 2 foot by 4 foot. The track plan is a folded dog bone with two turnouts.

Ben says he has only been building layouts since 2015 and has built several in that time. The North Branch pictured…

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More Changes...

More Changes…

It has been a few months since my last article. Things have been very busy here. Usually I get a lot of modeling done during the summer. I do not like heat and I tuck away in the coolness of the basement to work on layouts or do a little wood working.

This year however was very different. It has been 17 years since we last did any major updates to our home and it shows!! So this summer it was…

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Transporting Modules

Over the years I have assisted in several setups and tear downs of Free-mo setups. Getting your modules in and setup quickly are key. Everyone wants to get to running trains as soon as possible. The same holds true for tear down, I do not want to be the last one still packing my modules at the end of the night. I have seen a lot of good ideas and a lot of ideas not well implemented. From these…

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Turnout Control with Servos - Part II

Turnout Control with Servos – Part II

Back in 2016 I wrote the article Turnout Control with Servos . Since then I have been using servos exclusively on all my layouts. I have learned much since then and have changed some of the ways I control and mount the servos. In this article I am going to update everyone on the changes and some better ways of doing things. I am also going to show how to build a Tortoise equivalent servo motor.

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Turnout Control Servo Kit with Bracket and Micro Switches

Turnout Control Servo Kit with Bracket and Micro Switches

Turnout Control Servo Kit with Bracket and Micro Switches

This is a kit and requires assembly! The kit contains all components to create a single turnout mechanism with all the abilities of a Tortoise switch machine.

This kit includes:

SG90 Servo

3D Printed (PLA) Mounting Bracket (select Right or Left)

Two Sub Micro Limit Switch Lever Arm SPDT 3 Terminal Momentary Switches

Screws, nuts and washers

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