RMC Extra Board

Welcome to Craftsman Extra Board! This section is updated periodically with short features contributed by our readers, as well as some recent favorites straight from the pages of Railroad Model Craftsman. Check back as we continue to add new articles!

Buffalo Creek & Gauley in S Scale: Summer of ’64

October 21, 2022

Buffalo Creek & Gauley in S Scale: Summer of ’64

We head trackside to an iconic Appalachian coal-hauling short line, accurately modeled in S scale.

Building Signals for the Lackawanna in HO

October 15, 2022

Building Signals for the Lackawanna in HO

Scratchbuilding distinctive wayside signals found along the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western main line in HO.

Welcome to Cass County

September 15, 2022

Welcome to Cass County

Grain, feed, and fertilizer are the lifelines of Tom Johnson’s freelanced HO scale short line set in northern Indiana in the late 1970s.

Yakima Valley Traction Steeple Cab No. 298

September 14, 2022

Yakima Valley Traction Steeple Cab No. 298

Commercial parts and Stanton drives combined to create a unique HO electric freight motor that served Yakima Valley Traction through the 1980s.

Let’s Run Trains: James EuDaly’s Chesapeake & Ohio

August 22, 2022

Let’s Run Trains: James EuDaly’s Chesapeake & Ohio

It’s 1949 on James EuDaly’s O scale Chesapeake & Ohio centered around Hinton, W.Va., hosting a busy schedule of freight and passenger trains, as well as turning and servicing locomotives for their next run.

Capturing the Trackside Perspective

August 22, 2022

Capturing the Trackside Perspective

Lance Mindheim shares simple ideas and techniques to capture the excitement of being trackside on your model railroad.

Richard Rands’ On30 Mineral & Southfork Railway

July 25, 2022

Richard Rands’ On30 Mineral & Southfork Railway

This freelanced O scale narrow gauge layout is inspired by the mining history of Alaska, and will be featured as part of the home layout tours during the 2022 NMRA National Convention in St. Louis.

DCC Sound Upgrades for Brass Steam

July 25, 2022

DCC Sound Upgrades for Brass Steam

How to upgrade old imported brass steam locomotive models with improved DCC sound and keep-alive circuits.

BAPM 2022: The San Francisco Bay Area’s Prototype Modelers Meet

July 11, 2022

BAPM 2022: The San Francisco Bay Area’s Prototype Modelers Meet

Modelers from across the west came to Richmond, Calif., in June for the 17th Annual Bay Area Prototype Modelers Meet.

Steve Goaring’s Illinois Terminal O’Fallon Branch

June 20, 2022

Steve Goaring’s Illinois Terminal O’Fallon Branch

Set in the summer of 1961, Steve Goaring’s HO scale model railroad hosts relaxed operations on the Illinois Terminal O’Fallon Branch