Blog

I spent 40 years building houses in the St. Croix Valley before I picked up model railroading in 2018. My wife told me I needed a hobby that didn't leave sawdust in the kitchen, and trains seemed like a natural fit. Four layouts later, I've learned that building a reliable model railroad isn't all t …

I've been watching trains run since I was a kid in Cicero, watching my dad set up Lionel around the Christmas tree. After 28 years turning wrenches at the CTA's Skokie Shops, I've learned something about building things that actually work: you measure twice, you follow the specs, and you don't skip …

I've watched guys pour thousands into garden railroads only to rip them out three years later. Bad drainage. Wrong track material. Frost heave that turned their mainline into a roller coaster. After spending 28 years fixing things at the CTA Skokie Shops, I can spot a doomed project from across the …

I spent forty years building houses before I picked up model railroading, and I'll tell you something that applies to both: the foundation matters more than the paint color. Too many beginners grab a starter set, dump it on a 4x8 sheet of plywood, and wonder why their brand-new locomotive keeps dera …

I'll be honest with you: a 4x6 table sounds like a lot of space until you actually start laying track on it. Then you realize every millimeter counts, every curve radius decision haunts you, and that turnout you crammed into the corner is going to derail trains until the end of time.I've been there. …

Christmas morning, 1978. That's when I caught the bug. A Tyco freight set looping around a plywood oval in my father's basement, and suddenly I wasn't just a kid playing with trains. I was building worlds.Forty-six years later, I still get that same electric feeling when I stand back …