Every Friday night, my grandfather would take me to the Garfield Clarendon Model Railroad Club. I’d bring a box of freight cars, hoping the engineers would let me run them on their massive layout. The pike was a maze of tracks, signals, and miniature towns—complex and beautiful. I wasn’t the Read more…
About 2 years ago, in 2023, we worked up a beginners kit for the Chicago Great Western Doodlebug otherwise known as a Gas Electric because it had a gasoline engine and a generator to power traction motors. The title of this kit is: All Nation Line M-300 Gas Electric “Doodlebug” Read more…
A true and documented railroad history written by John Wubbel. In this document, John describes his early life and the important aspects of an historic railroad village of Elizabeth, Illinois. John shared this history with the Chicago Great Western Railway Depot Museum located in Elizabeth, Illinois (Location: 111 East Myrtle Read more…
Whether you’re a curious kid, a busy professional, a STEM student, or newly retired, model railroading offers something magical for everyone. We are developing a brief series of videos and exploring how tiny trains spark creativity, build real-world skills, relieve stress, and connect generations. From first layouts to lifelong passions, Read more…
It seems like every 10 or 15 years, a cycle if you will, and at least since the dawn of the World Wide Web technology, those of us that have had careers in the tech industries, like the computer field, always see the newest thing coming. And this since the Read more…
How Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help to build a complicated kit “Right The First Time” – this from an old engineer. Often times an O Scale kit comes with some fairly comprehensive instructions telling the modeler how to go about assembling and building out the kit. The creator of the Read more…
Many websites, including our own, can take a considerable amount of time to navigate to find what you are looking for. In this blog post I will tell you how to save time with one use case example. Because I have been working to structure the product data on our Read more…
We can ask ourselves and potentially argue about what the most popular topics in model railroading happen to be in 2025. I also know and based on my conversations with many model builders that in 2025 modelers are diving into a mix of traditional craftsmanship verses cutting-edge technology. Some of Read more…
Converting a 3 rail model engine to 2 rail using the All Nation drives and truck assemblies is relatively easy. As mentioned in one of our recent videos on the topic, our proof of concept illustrated the potential utilization of the Blount Trucks that were standard sideframes on the Lionel Read more…
3D printing can be a hobby all its own. As the hobby becomes more affordable, many people have an interest in developing these new skills. There are four key aspects to consider when starting this hobby. First, you may be looking for a new hobby to stretch your current knowledge Read more…