There are many types of foam used by modelers in constructing model railroad scenery, layouts and baseboards. 

• Extruded polystyrene is pink if Corning or blue if Dow. 
• Expanded polystyrene a white foam board made up of small beads.
• Spray Polyurethane is available in disposable spray cans and as two part liquid.
• Foam rubber can be used for foam rocks or scenicing materials.

When selecting a material for building, the modeler should give careful consideration to the flamability of the product.  Read the rest of this entry »

The prolific UK layout builder, Ian Lampkin, models in a variety of scales, including N, HO and TT.  Several of Mr. Lampkin’s exhibition layouts are shown on the  Model Railways, South East England website along with other friends.  The N scale California Coast, is also known as the “Surf Line” has been exhibited almost 50 times in the past 8 years.  It is an American prototype, double track mainline located along the Pacific coast in Southern California.  The Surf Line is scheduled to be retired in the fall of 2007.   Passenger and freight trains operate over the oval layout measuring about 7.5 by 10.5 feet. Read the rest of this entry »

The following is a list of items that are useful to have around when modelling:

• Liquid Electrical Tape
• Steak or filleting knife for carving foam
• Flat metal measuring stick for setting module rail height at shows.
• Insided out clothes pins for clamps
• Tubes of artist acrylic paints for painting or stain Read the rest of this entry »

The Pacific Coast Airline Railway (“PCAR”) is Harold Minkwitz’s narrow gauge, 1870′s California railroad modelled in Sn3.5, the British Imperial gauge.  The current layout is a 4×8 foot built to test and serve as a “proof of concept” for techniques to be used in the future construction of a basement filling layout.  The 4 x 8 ft. layout is constructioned in halves, or sectional so that it may be easily moved from the basement.  There is also a page showing how a 4×8 layout can be integrated in to a 10 x 11 ft. room.  The PCAR website also has PhotoAlbum1 and PhotoAlbum2.

 Of interest to module-makers are the large number of tutorials covering a variety of scenery making techniques.  Read the rest of this entry »

Paul Templar is a U.K. modeller well known for his exhibition quality, narrow gauge, U.S. themed logging/mining layouts. Paul’s last HO scale layout was Red Fox Lumber in about 2003.  Since then, Mr. Templar has focused his attention on building On30 scale layouts.  Photo galleries of the earlier Cooncreek and Tumbleweed Springs and the current layout, the Badger Creek Lumber Co. are both available on the internet. Read the rest of this entry »

The Silver Creek Reconstruction is a thread on All-Model-Railroading.co.uk by user SimonC documenting the construction and finishing of his On30 Silver Creek layout in 29 days.  The layout is 18 ft. 3 in. by 7 ft. 3 in and built if layers of extruded foam edge with lightweight plywood and “Bendy MDF“.  The roadbed is made of cork over luaun plywood glued to the foam.  The layout uses tortise switch machines that are attached to the plywood roadbed for each of the switches and then recessed into the foam. Read the rest of this entry »

Horst Meier’s Sherman Hill layout is an excellent example of a creating a large, busy railroad in a small sectional space.  The layout is complete and exceptionally well done.  The photo backdrops are in the correct perspective and the backdrop and layout secenery colors match well as shown in Photo1 and Photo2. Read the rest of this entry »

Usenet has several model railroading groups but none targeting modular or sectional model railroading. 

Most well known and largest is rec.models.railroad with over 100,000 messages as of June 2007.   There is a large amount of useful general model railroading information that is best found using a search engine, like Google.  Being usenet, it is unmoderated, and cluttered by trolls and spam. Read the rest of this entry »

Headwaters HOtrak is a group of model railroaders from southwestern Montana.  To date, the group has visited the Livingston Depot club layouts, the Idaho Fall’s Eagle Rock Historic Society modular layout, a private home layout in Idaho Falls and the Helena Train Fair.

The group’s current focus is on developing an HO gauge National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) compatible modular layout.  An scale drawing showing the modules and room layout is show to the left.   Interested parties are invited to participate in meetings and become involved in the club. Read the rest of this entry »

The Central New York Modelers (CNYMOD) modules are built to a modified HO NMRA 2 track standard.  The modules are wood framed, have an elevated subroadbed and are surfaced with extruded-foam insulation.  CNYMOD modules use code 83 track, have extra depth in front to allow more foreground scenery and are 51 inches high. Read the rest of this entry »

Torsion boxes are sometimes called stressed skin panels because of how they use the skin to uniformly transfer stress throughout the structure.  Torsion boxes are structural panels that are both rigid and light.  Because none of the individual components are so large that their changes due to temperature and humidity can not be controlled by the other componenents in the sturcture, a torsion box is remarbably stable.  A torsion box has the following components: Read the rest of this entry »

There is quite a bit of information available on the internet about modular and sectional model railroading.  Much of the information, especially about lightweight modules, is English.  Hobbyists in Great Britain (and New Zealand, Austrailia) use slightly different terms.  Below is a partial list of US terms and their British equivalent that should be helpful in google searches. Read the rest of this entry »

The choice of materials to build a module is very important to the longevity, usefulness and enjoyment of the module or layout. Unfortunately, the do-it-yourself nature of model railroading and the desire to economize on the “hidden” parts of a module can be counter-productive. The cost of the model railway frame or structural is minimal compared the value of the modelers time and effort, the monetary costs of track, scenery, rolling stock, DCC system, buildings, etc. On modules, high quality materials and precise construction become a necessity to ensure the module ends interface properly and is interchangeable with others at an exhibit. Read the rest of this entry »

Modular-Model-Railroads.com is your complete Internet resource for modular, sectional and portable model railroading.

Our content will focus on the following topics:

• Modular – Sections with a standard interface, height, width and length.
• Sectional – A layout made to be portable, but without a standard interface.
• Small Layouts – A lot of small layout track plans will make nice modules.
• Lightweight – Construction of light but sturdy benchwork and scenery.
• Switching Puzzles – Including John Allen’s Timesaver and the Inglenook Siding.
• Standards – Both organizations and individual clubs
• Construction – Methods of constructing benchwork, legs, scenery, electrical, etc.

modular-model-railroads.com believes sectional or modular railroading has many important advantages over traditional, site built layouts, including: Read the rest of this entry »

The following sites have linked to modular-model-railroads.com:

TrainNet.org – The Most Accurate and Up-To-Date List of Railway Links on the Planet.

Sacramento Modular Railroaders - A state-of-the-art modular HO scale model railroad that has been in existance for over three decades.

ScaleModel.net – International List of Scale Model Related Web Sites.

Top Train Links – A Web Directory For Fans of Railroading

Répertoire des sites ferroviaires – A list of model railroading sites, in French.

Free-mo.org – The latest in HO scale modular model railroading.  Free-mo was developed with the idea that a set of standards focusing mainly on module endplates would enable faithful modeling of prototype trackplans and operations in a modular environment.

RailsUSA.com - A Rail Site Directory featuring both scale and prototype railroad information, webrings, calendars, directory, merchandise and free classifieds.

ModelRailroadData.com – A searchable, categorized directory of model railroad suppliers. Featuring links to hundreds of suppliers, manufacturers and hobby shops, Model RailroadData.com is one of most popular model railroad resources on the web. Features include a search engine, lists of new and popular sites, site ratings and more.