Blog

Hal Lindgren built houses for 40 years in the St. Croix Valley, and when he retired in 2018, his wife told him he needed a hobby that didn't involve her having to look at sawdust in the kitchen. Model railroading seemed like a natural fit-he's built four layouts since then, two for himself and two f …

Tamara Brooks came to model railroading through the back door-she bought a 3D printer to prototype parts for her engineering work at an automotive supplier, and somewhere along the way she started printing freight car details for fun. Now she runs an N scale layout modeling modern intermodal operati …

Benjamin Park got into model railroading because he thought it would be relaxing-a break from his day job managing logistics for a regional trucking company. Then he discovered operations, and now he hosts timetable-and-train-order sessions in his basement that are arguably more stressful than his a …

Diane Kowalski fell into model railroading sideways-she was working as a wildlife biologist for Colorado Parks and Wildlife when she started volunteering at the Georgetown Loop Railroad to help with their interpretation programs. One thing led to another, and now she has a garden railway in her back …

Bill Jeffries has been modeling the Pennsylvania Railroad since 1989, when he bought his first Broadway Limited locomotive and realized he had no idea what actual PRR trains looked like in operation. That question sent him down a research rabbit hole that never really ended. By day, he works as an a …

Tony Marchetti grew up in Cicero, Illinois, watching his dad run Lionel trains around the Christmas tree, and he's been hooked on O gauge ever since. He spent 28 years working for the CTA-mostly as a car maintainer at the Skokie Shops-before taking early retirement in 2021. His basement layout runs …