Venita Lake explains how operations were developed for the El Dorado & El Reno Railroad, the waybills, track warrants and switchlists used, and the evolving role of their dispatcher's desk....

The next monthly meeting of the Gateway Division will be at 7 p.m. on Monday, September 18, 2017 at Trinity Lutheran Church in West St. Louis County. Gary Hoover will present a clinic on why and how he changed his layout from the Santa Fe in 1951 to the N&W in the mid-50s. Slides will...

Gregor Moe's Salt Creek and Western/Chicago Great Western HO scale model railroad is filled with hundreds of beautiful structures and miniature scenes. Unfortunately, he accidently broke the window in his Dubuque White Castle while handling the model. Instead of just replacing the gla...

Woodland Scenics HO Scale Dugan's Paint Store is the latest addition to my collection of pre-assembled buildings. A warm white LED illuminates the first floor showroom featuring a nice pre-printed interior. Perfect for almost any era, the dripping paint bucket sign, architectural deta...

Preassembled model railroad structures have gained in popularity with more and more modelers as a way to scenic layouts faster. Menard's Hobby Shop is a nice addition to any town scene....

Woodland Scenics Emilio’s Italian Restaurant models a family style restaurant typical of what you would see from the steam era through today. This beautiful structure is the first of their Built-&-Ready® Landmark Structures® to feature their new Just Plug™ Lighting System....

David Lowell’s Chicago & Illinois Midland Railroad is a 10’x16’ oval with a 15-foot shelf extension. It depicts the southern two-thirds of the Chicago and Illinois Midland Railway’s 121 mile route between Peoria and Taylorville Illinois in the mid 1950s....

I model the transition era of the late 1950s. It was a time of distinctive automobiles, many of which are now classics. When you see early Thunderbirds and Corvettes, classic Chevy Bel-Airs and tailfins you immediately know the era. The 1958 Edsel advertising said "Once you've seen it...

In 1953 Vess Bottling Company of St. Louis commissioned a giant revolving neon-lit soda bottle. The 12 foot tall bottle sat on a 13 foot pole and at the time was the largest lit bottle sign in the world. Two ways to model this type of sign are discussed, including a photo of the Vess ...

John Carty's scratchbuilt Winstanley Powerhouse won first place in the Online Structures category at the 2015 Gateway Division NMRA model contest....

David Lowell's award winning Havana Transfer coal dock diorama was entered in the 2015 Gateway Division NMRA model contest. This coal dock is one scene on David’s HO scale Chicago & Illinois Midland Railroad which depicts the 121 mile route between Peoria and Taylorville Illinois in t...

John Carty describes the steps to create an HO scale model of a Wabash Lima-Hamilton diesel switcher....