The author reflects on finding a layout where the owner used live 115-volts overhead wire for running its large-scale models.

This layout is very, very large. It covers a 2,600 square foot area, and consists of FOUR decks. It is so large that it can accommodate 30 operators in an operating session. Many people have helped Bruce and his wife build this layout. Includes the track plan of the main level.

This installment of Bruce's large layout covers operations. Included are the operational schematic, discussions about selecting an era for the railroad, building a fleet, the various jobs available, both CTC's, running "day and night", and DCC.

HO-scale modules that attach to a smaller home layout as well as to a large club layout. Includes a side bar on how the modules are transported.

Continues to follow the Mud Bay Logger train around the layout, showing off parts of the layout in this photo essay. The layout measures about 29 feet by 31 feet, with an extension into the garage.

The author built a layout in a suit case.

Large club layout with boats, steel, and vast scenes.

The layout started as a 32' by 32' layout built by two couples. Eventually a new space was found for the current 83' by 32' space. All but the hidden track is hand-laid. The photos are beautiful, including the night scene which reveals the interior detailing done to the structures.

This large 22 x 24 feet layout models West Virginia in the summer of 1947. The article includes photos and the trackplan (which is quite interesting). A small sidebar is included about how the author scratchbuilt his large roundhouse.

This 25-year old layout is built into a five-car garage and models the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

The Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg Germany has been working hard on their American layout extension of their large exhibit. This article highlights some features of this freelanced layout.

The Cascade County Narrow Gauge layout measures 26 x 31 feet, is set in the late 1920's to early 1930's. Includes information on how the owner found information about his prototype railroad.

This large layout (33' x 29') is rich in operations and allows for many close-up shots of Arnt Gerritsen's model railroad.

Boats, ship building facility

This is a large layout fitting in a 18' by 50' building built by Dr. Gordon Fessler. The layout was started in 1979.

A double-deck, two-track helix layout. Scratchbuilt bridge photos, other model photos.

A small shelf layout can still make big-city railroading possible. Shows the author's arrangement to allow the layout and the workbench to co-exist in the same small room. Includes a sidebar on how to make switching between DC and DCC on the layout a breeze.

A fictitious railroad resulting from the merger of the L&N, Soo Line, and Southern railroads. Very nice roundhouse and turntable setup.

A couple of close-up photos of this layout.

Complete article from benchwork to wiring.

Photos and a description of the author's layout. No track plan.

In 1986 Citibank wanted to create a "Christmas present to New York" in their 5-story atrium. Clarke Dunham was hired to build it. The huge triangular layout features two loops of HO-scale trains, and one each of S-scale and 3-rail O-scale.

Coal mine, company town, coal drags, modeling hoppers, and references.

A large around-the-wall and peninsula design.

Animation, water in warf, a side bar on a car brake for a siding.

Point-to-point with large hidden staging that serves as continues loop running also.

The author describes how he built a dining room table that has a layout built into it, modeled after a prototype scene.

Photos, and track plan.

This 30 x 40 foot layout models the Reading Co. in Pennsylvania between 1952 and 1957. It features stacking staging at either end of the layout in a peninsula area.

A group of people who create G-scale portable modules.

A 33.5 by 13.5 foot layout by Glen Brazelton features high trestle bridges, large mountains, and nice structures. The layout was constructed by club members.

This 7' x 22' layout includes both the C&NW and the Milwaukee railroads. One depot served both rails.

The layout is an N-scale version of John Allen's first table layout. The size is 24" by 40".

Features the author's Puye & Phui RR which is a free-lanced prototype layout set in the Upper Mississippi River Valley in 1906. The layout is an around-the-walls type with a center peninsula. Articles includes a track plan and many close-up photos.

Building a small pre-1900's practice layout before building a large layout.

The layout models the London, Midland & Scottish (LMS) railway which serves the West Midlands. OO-scale is 1:76, but the wheels fit on HO-scale track. Photos and a track plan of the 15' x 21' layout accompany the article.

Modeling the Pennsylvania horseshoe curve. Includes history of the curve.

This police officer's layout provides a great stress reliever. The article is mainly a narrative of operations on this layout. The article has many close-up photos, but no detailed information about the layout itself.

Two people in two states built a 10' x 20' Z-scale layout together that is an example showing that operations, realistic scenery, and craftmanship can be applied to this small scale. Includes lots of close-up photos and a trackplan.

The 8 by 25 foot permanent display of an O-scale layout in the Los Altos History Museum helps visitors to view the past of the local area. Includes a track plan and many photos.

Ken has been working on the same layout for 30 years. It measures 16 by 22 feet.

A 32" by 80" hollow door was the foundation for this beautiful layout. The layout integrates the author's found memories from when he was young.

This is a club layout that integrated portability with prototype modeling. The concept came from NTrak modules. Each member of the club builds his or her own 6-foot module. Detailed diagrams are included to define the standard used by the club.

Allen Keller personal layout.

The author has attempted to accurately model the Rochelle diamond crossing, including the surrounding scenery.

It was a challenge for Chris White to build his 11' x 13' layout modeling the Russian prototype. The layout is small. A sidebar is included discussing the "joy of terminal operation".

A simple, but nice double-mainline layout measuring 5' by 12'.

An 8' by 22' shelf layout set in 1946. Includes history about the Maryland and Pennsylvania railroad. The author covers how he built the layout and how it is operated.

A large layout in moderate space. The scenery reaches floor to ceiling. A huge helix dominates the space representing logging industry.

The "Colorado & Eastern RR" is a 15' x 14' N-scale layout that features long mainlines set in the modern era.

A layout that fills an entire room, except for access holes.

Photos and description of the author's layout. The layout features a very nice car ferry, a log dumper, a large lumber company, and other industries.

28 x 38 free-lanced mountain railroad set in New Mexico and Colorado. Has a sidebar on painting backdrops that are slightly out of focus to keep attention on the 3D models.

Lots of model photos.

This large 18' x 42' layout features beautiful scenery, a very large yard, and long, double-track mainline running. The author models the current era, and attempts to keep his equipment up with the prototype NS. His layout was featured in the Great Model Railroads 2004 edition. The article has a trackplan and almost 30 photos.

This layout is built to the English scale that is slightly larger than HO. It features the modeling work of John Moore. Although now owned by one of his regular operators, John worked on this layout for almost 30 years. He showed it whenever possible.

This large, double-deck layout covers over 42 feet by more than 20 feet. There is a lot of traffic on this layout. Includes many photos and a trackplan.

11' x 14' U-shaped layout features nice mountenous scenery and a curved trestle bridge.

A two-level layout in a 12' x 16' area. Close-up photos of various industries.

This 30" by 6-foot module seems to relay the busy L.A. port in a modern-day setting. The busy trackwork allows plenty of switching. It is designed to fit most HO-scale modular layout standards. The author built it on a movable cart for easy transport. Many construction photos are included, as are a trackplan and completed layout photos. There is a sidebar on the author's checklist of the do's and don't's of layout design

Creating 2x4 traction layouts.

A 4.5' x 8' layout

Completion of South Manchester is covered in this article. Trackplan and many (large) layout photos accompany the article.

This photo essay shows various PRR equipment on the author's layout.

Big curves in the Rocky Mountains.

This layout features Marklin trains of European descent. The author started building the layout in 1977. It includes overhead catenary, and typical European scenery.

This is an O-scale traction line layout in a bedroom measuring 15' by 10'. Color and black-n-white photos of this beautiful layout accompany the article.

The first time this layout, the Great Western RR, was featured in this magazine was in October 1992. This follow-up article talks about all the changes the author made to his layout based on lessons he has learned since then.

Full article on the now famous John Allen layout, with lots of photos (both color and black&white) taken by John himself (he was a professional photographer). The article includes a trackplan of the final G&D. Shown are the floor-to-ceiling scenery. The article also includes John's first 4x8 layout (track plan and photos).

The Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad's Thirteenth Sub. A point-to-point layout with four railroads.

Photos and description of a remodeled section of the layout.

The author described how he used the various modeling and design books out there to build his own 16 by 27 foot layout. He didn't start out with that size, though. Includes photos and a track plan of his layout, which is set between 1970 and 1990 in St. Louis County, Missouri.

A large layout set in a 14.5 x 40-foot room designed and built by a professional railroader. The layout's emphasis was to be built relatively quickly, and be easy to operate.

Photos of an unknown layout that models the Norfolk & Western Railway.

Colorado rockies in 1930's. This layout is typically open every year in the Houston area (Lake Jackson, which is south of Houston) as part of the SanJac Club's Fall Layout Tours.

The author has built yet another portable module. This one is entitled "Rocky Ridge" and measures 2' by 5'. The article includes photos and a track plan of the module.

A 4' x 7' layout that is "kid-proof". This layout includes just about everything a steam era pike should have, including a turntable, tunnels, and plenty of switching.

This article describes the club's 10th anniversary visit. The club has three scales, HO, N, and O. Photos of the beautiful vistas in this museum can be found in the article. All the issues a typical museum has to deal with are discussed.

Diaphrams on passenger cars. Free-lanced, 1940-1960.

A point-to-point shelf layout modeling the Oklahoma Texas border during the post-WWII era.

The Chicago & North Western of 1959 comes to life on the HO scale Morton Division. This is an L-shaped layout composed of 18- and 24-inch wide modules. It has interchanges and two staging areas.

Two photos of John Allen's layout. Tony reflects on memories of John.

Model Engineers Society layout of modules. The articles has many photos and module diagrams.

Pliny Holt's layout measures 16' by 21'. It has many scratchbuilt structures including a replica of the Oakland "Mole" passenger terminal. The terminal sits on a peninsula and measures about three and a half feet.

This article makes a good argument for true free-lancing. The author and his sons are building dioramas that will be placed in a real-world boxcar.

An office basement layout that was open for the NMRA National Convention in Toronto in July 2003. Article includes a handful of photos.

A 12' by 13' island layout with one peninsula along a wall (connected to his Dad's layout), this young man describes how he started and built this layout.

Large layout with many mountains and bridges. This fictional railroad is set in 1979.

The author describes how he changed from HO to O-scale, even though he was firmly rooted in HO. The new layout measures 13.5' by 36'.

Scenery dominates this professional artist's rendition of the Montana Rockies in a 11' by 13' room. The photos and the topic of the photos are amazing.

A 5 x 9 foot ping pong table was converted into a layout that went to Israel.

This freelance layout measures 23' by 27' feet and is supposed to represent the New Jersey and New York area. The article includes a track plan of this M-shaped layout, as well as a number of close-up photos.

The layout features a single mainline with grades of 2.5 to 3 percent. The layout was started as a modified version of Plan 48 in Linn Westcott's book"101 Track Plans".

An interesting story of how a club moved around, and then was able to set up in a museum Winter 2005. Covers lots of lessons learned. Nice photos of the modules.

A large club layout built in 1,500 square foot of space overlooking Toronto's CNR.

This 12 by 24-foot layout models portions of what might have been the future version of a the South Penn RR (which was never completed). This line ran between Harrisburg and Pittsburg, PA. The author's version assumes the line was built and later became part of Conrail via all the of PRR mergers. Includes trackplan, layout photos, area map, and schematic trackplan.

This former professional railroader started constructing this layout in 1957 as a branch to his ATSF prototype layout. However, he discovered that he prefered free-lance modeling, and so the branch became the main layout's focus. The layout is entirely double-decked, except for a peninsula.

Two-level, small bedroom layout with impressive control panels, representing western Colorado in modern times.

Description and photos of this 25 x 36 foot layout set in the early to mid 1950's. No track plan.

Close-up photos of the three of the 14 modules that make up the authors' layout.

A 2' x 6' module depicting the Royal Blue Line of the B&O's access to the Reading and Central Railroad of New Jersey to New York. Module shows track below street level for a nice effect. Shows a custom-painted S2.

A Proto:87 switching layout, named Federal Street.

This article discusses the concept of micro layouts (small two-feet square layouts). It has many photos of example layouts. It discusses how to transfer trains using sector plates, transfer tables, or train cassettes. The author has been building and designing these layouts for over 40 years. http://www.carendt.us/

This layout models a short line in a New England setting. The initial simple linear layout grew to a 15 by 28 foot layout. The trackplan and many layout photos are included.

Building a 4' by 6' layout for Christmas, made up entirely of items found in garage sales, rumage bins, and train shows. Half of the fun is in fixing up old things to make them work again.

This bedroom-sized layout packs a lot of railroading at 10' x 12'. Article includes trackplan (island-style) and layout photos. The whole family works on the layout.

Freelanced layout based on the Pennsylvania Railroad's Horseshoe Curve line.

A T-shaped layout that started off as an around-the-wall shelf layout with the later addition of a duckunder (the author regrets doing that). The article has black&white and colored photos of the layout.

This 22' by 24' layout models the South Penn railroad (which was proposed but never completed in the real world). Included are the track plan, layout photos, and modeled area map and elevation.

The author describes his experience from switching from O to HO to N, and finally settling on Z-scale. He covers some of the problems he had with early Z-scale equipment, but claims to really enjoy it now.

This installment covers the room preparation, benchwork, lighting, roadbed, trackwork, electrical work, and the CTC control system.

Using software to create a complete layout in whatever scale you desire on your computer. The article has many screenshots, describes the software the author used, and has some prototype photos of the real Gilpin Tramway. http://gilpintram.com

In this installment of the series on how to build a virtual model railroad the author dives more into how to create this world. Includes a side bar on the Gilpin Tram wreck of 1897.

Pronounced "weeber", this layout represents a short line set in northern Utah's Wasatch Mountains. This is a teenager's layout, who "tricked" his dad into doing some of of the not-so-fun work. Her mother painted most of the backdrop, which looks to be fantastic work. The layout is shaped like a lower-case "e", and fills a room of almost 12' by 12'. Color photos show off the excellent scenery and backdrop work.

This layout acts as a fictional bridge route between the New York Central and New Haven railroads, and runs from Silvernails, NY to Hagerstown, MD. It is set between 1940 and 1953. The layout started out at 36" above the floor, but was raised later to 47" by the owner's operating crew. The layout forms a triangle and measures 25' by 35'. The scenery and weathering is very realistic.

This large article covers three layouts and lots of prototype information and photos about Colorado's two-foot Gilpin tramway. One layout is in 1/2" scale, another in Sn2, and the last one in HOn30.

1950's on Bill Emond's Whiskey River Division.

1900's railroading in Idaho comes alive in the HO Pacific & Idaho Northern. This is a 12' x 15' bedroom-size layout that goes around the walls, with a peninsula added, and a lower level that has a return loop into an adjacent closet. The scenery is beautiful with the railroad crossing the snaking river several times. There is a sidebar on how to model mountain streams.