Blog

I've built four model railroad layouts since retiring from construction in 2018, and if there's one question I hear more than any other at club meetings, it's this: should I stick with HO or switch to N scale for better detail in a smaller space? After 40 years of measuring twice and cutting once, …

I spent 28 years wrenching on CTA cars at the Skokie Shops, so when I tell you that understanding your rolling stock matters, I'm not just blowing smoke. Whether you're moving passengers on the L or coal on a model railroad, the fundamentals stay the same: know your equipment, respect the standards, …

I built my first HO scale structure in 1991. It was a Walthers depot, and I managed to glue the roof on crooked, fog every window with superglue fumes, and create a building that looked like it had survived a minor earthquake. The thing sat on my shelf for three months before I finally stripped it a …

I spent 35 years working for Burlington Northern Santa Fe before hanging up my lantern in 2019. In all that time running real trains, I never imagined I'd end up spending just as much energy wiring up the miniature versions in my Duluth basement. But here I am, and honestly? Installing DCC decoders …

I spent 28 years fixing CTA rail cars at the Skokie Shops, and if there's one thing that career taught me, it's how to spot quality machinery and how to sniff out junk. My dad ran Lionel trains around our Christmas tree in Cicero when I was a kid, and I've been buying, running, and fixing model loco …

When I inherited my dad's N scale layout, I made every rookie mistake in the book. I bought cheap, regretted it fast, and ended up spending twice what a smarter purchase would have cost. So when friends ask me about finding the cheapest HO scale train sets, I always pump the brakes on that word "che …