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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 get this question at least once a week in my DMs: "How much space do I need for a model train layout?" And honestly, the old answer of "just get a 4x8 sheet of plywood" is one of the biggest lies the hobby ever told itself.After spending years wiring layouts (professionally and for fun), I've watc …

I got into model railroading because I thought running miniature trains would be relaxing. Then I discovered operations, and now I spend Friday nights yelling about train orders while my teenagers pretend not to know me. But here's the thing: those first twelve months building a layout? They don't h …

I bought my first Broadway Limited locomotive in 1989, set it on a borrowed loop of track, and immediately realized I had no idea what I was doing. The locomotive ran beautifully. The track? A disaster of wobbly joints and dead spots. Thirty-five years later, I've learned a few things about what sep …

My first layout was a disaster. I know that now. At the time, I thought I was building my dream railroad in my basement. What I actually built was a 12x14-foot monument to every rookie error in the hobby. The track buckled in summer. Half my turnouts sat in unreachable corners. My wiring was so unde …

When my husband Bill passed in 2008, he left me with a half-finished HO layout and a freight depot kit sitting on the workbench with exactly twelve pieces glued together. I hadn't touched a model train in my life. Thirty-four years of teaching high school art in Worcester had prepared me to critique …