Gateway NMRA

The Gateway Division is the greater Saint Louis area chapter of the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA), the world's largest organization devoted to the development, promotion, and enjoyment of the hobby of model railroading. You'll want to bookmark this model railroad web site for future visits.

	Featured New Website Content & Articles
	The Gateway Division NMRA and The St. Louis Chapter NRHS are having a joint picnic on Sat., Sept. 25, 2010, at the Wabash, Frisco and Pacific RR in Glencoe, MO. 11 am to 4 pm. In order to make sure there is enough food and drink available, we require reservations by Wed., Sept. 8, 2010. Contact Ron Gawedzinski at rwgawed@yahoo.com or 314-846-5559 and let him know who is coming, spouses, children, and grandchildren are welcome.   Our latest featured layout is Dave Roeder's Webster Groves & Fenton. View 99 photos of this highly detailed HO scale model railroad taken by Dave.   Recent Division meetings discussed Operations. Come and enjoy a fun weekend of model railroad operations, free and open for current NMRA members. If you have no operations experience, or if you are "Old Hand," this is a great opportunity to participate in realistic operations on different layouts and enjoy the experience with fellow Gateway NMRA model railroaders. Operating sessions are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Sept. 17 and 18.   View 102 photos of Bob Johnson's Pseudo-Soo Lines taken during a recent operating session. The Pseudo-Soo is one of six St. Louis area layouts participating in the Gateway Division Rail Op event.   Build your first model railroad with the new YouTube videos from the World's Greatest Hobby. This video series, hosted by Michael Gross, will teach you the simple how-to techniques you need to know to take an HO scale electric train set and make it a scenic model railroad.   Read about our newest project railroad, the Gateway Central 2009 HO scale switching layout. Three articles are now online, Designing the Gateway Central 2009, Buildings on the Gateway Central 2009, and Gateway Central 2009 Home Edition Track Plan.

	Gateway Central Small Model Railroad Layouts You Can Build
	Here's a sneak preview of our Gateway Central XIV (2007) train layout featuring a cement plant, factory and team track. Subscribe to our RSS feed to automatically get announcements of major website additions (and when the photos of this model railroad go online) delivered to your e-mail.   Click to see the in-construction appearance of this easy to build small model railroad. The Gateway Central XIII model railroad is a shortened and customized version of the "The Stocking Valley Railway" originally published in Model Railroader magazine. The Gateway Central XII (2005) HO model railroad features a small river port with an oil terminal, grain elevator, dock and a lift bridge. Click for dozens of detail photos.   View our photos of the Gateway Central X project railroad. See details of each of the finished structures (Buildings Page 1 and Buildings Page 2) used on this railroad and the "photo tour" of this small HO train layout (4'x6').

	Model Train Layouts
	What are we working on now? The Gateway Central 2009 project layout is a 14"x48" switching layout for display at local train shows. Photos, design, structure and construction information coming soon! Photos from the Missouri Botanical Garden's "Gardenland Express" G-gauge garden railroad Winter 2003-2004 flower and train show.   See online the second edition of the "St. Louis Central" model railroad the Gateway Division designed and built for the Missouri Historical Society as part of their Winter 2002-2003 exhibit at the History Museum on models and miniatures, "Our World in Miniature." This 4'x8' layout is built on a sheet of 2" extruded foamboard supported by 1"x4" framework. It uses Atlas Code 83 track and structures from a variety of manufacturers. It is designed to have the "look and feel" of 1950s era St. Louis. Dozens of vehicles and hundreds of figures and added details enhance the various scenes on this model railroad.

	A Model Railroad You Can Build
	Three of our recent project model railroads were designed to be only 4'x6' - the minimum size for an HO scale train layout with a continuous run loop of track. We have 31 photos of this small model railroad layout you can build.   The original Saint Louis Central 2001 Model Railroader magazine layout was constructed by Gateway Division members at the St. Louis National Train Show. See how the work progressed with 68 step-by-step photos.

Model Railroading Events and Activities

Visit us at one of our Monthly Model Railroading Meetings, which are open to the public. Come and meet other model railroaders, talk trains, show your railroad models, participate in a modeling clinic, and have a nice evening sharing the hobby.

Model Railroad Scenery, Operations, Wiring, Techniques

We have lots of articles on model railroading in our expanded Online Model Railroading Library. Are you starting your first plastic structure kit? Check out a "how to" article on plastic structures and two more articles on building specific HO scale plastic model structures. New articles are constantly added here. Our newest articles are Essence of Operations and Vintage Color Signs. The latest electronics updates included recommendations for wiring a railroad for DCC, a table of HO scale DCC decoder installations with photos of 20 DCC installations, and specific information on replacement light board decoders for Atlas and Kato engines.

We have lots of other model railroading topics - click on the categories at left to go to that area of our site or enter a topic on our search page. Check back regularly for exciting new content we are constantly adding to this site. Go to the updates page to see what's new!

Contact Information

The public is invited to visit at any of our general monthly model railroading meetings.  Information on upcoming meetings and events is available on our Division Meetings page. The membership of the NMRA is a diverse group of individuals unified by their love of model railroading. We represent a wide variety of interests and wish to improve and expand the hobby through mutual effort. Our local members are from St. Louis city and county, southern Illinois, and Jefferson and St. Charles counties in Missouri. The Gateway Division has members from all over the United States.

Gateway Division NMRA
PO Box 510305
St. Louis, Missouri 63151-0305
email:  info@gatewaynmra.org

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This page last updated August 29, 2010