N Scale Track Plans
I'm going to start an ongoing blog post with track plans that I will add to over time. I'll try to get the track plans for layouts I've...
Model Railroading in Small Spaces
My focus is on building small and portable model railroads, usually in N scale. Come explore some of my recent projects.
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Stephen Strum
- Jun 27
- 2 min
Z Stuff for Trains Signals
I recently purchased some Z Stuff for Trains track and crossing signals to use on my current project layout. I really like these, and...
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Stephen Strum
- Jun 2
- 1 min
Athearn Big Boy!
I just posted a video review of the N scale Athearn Big Boy which you can see at the bottom of the post. This is a fantastic locomotive...
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Stephen Strum
- May 25
- 2 min
Athearn N Scale Airslide Hopper Cars
Athearn recently sent me three of their new 2600 cubic foot Airslide covered hopper cars to take a look at. One was a GATX modeled after...
260
Stephen Strum
- Apr 3
- 14 min
Building a 3.5' x 5.5' N Scale Layout Part 2: Track and Wiring
A lot has been completed on the layout and will be covered in this post (once I have all of it finished in a week or two): All track has...
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Stephen Strum
- Feb 25
- 1 min
Steve's Trains on 24Trains.tv
We have recently put around ten of our videos up on 24Trains.tv, a website that offers thousands of train-related videos from around the...
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Stephen Strum
- Feb 23
- 10 min
Building a 3.5' x 5.5' N Scale Layout Part 1: Benchwork and Base Scenery
Ok, so this new 3.5" by 5.5" foot N scale project layout you can see here features a double track, twice around design. The size of this...
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Stephen Strum
- Jan 22
- 2 min
Hakko FX-888D Soldering Station and Quad-Hands
Great tools for improving your soldering game. Two of my recent tool acquisitions, both Christmas and birthday presents, were the Hakko...
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Stephen Strum
- Jan 21
- 3 min
Athearn 53' Bulkhead Flatcars and How to Make Easy Lumber Loads
In this post, we are going to take a look at the Athearn 53' bulkhead flatcars in N scale as well as an easy and basically free way to...
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Stephen Strum
- Jan 12
- 4 min
The Executive Switching Layout
A very simple, easy to build, and fun to operate, N scale Inglnook switching layout that you can put together with about an hour of work....
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Stephen Strum
- Dec 10, 2020
- 3 min
Athearn Genesis GP38-2 with DCC and Tsunami 2 Sound
Here is a look at the Athearn GP38-2 locomotive with DCC and Tsunami 2 sound in HO scale. Ok, first let's do a quick unboxing. The main...
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Stephen Strum
- Dec 3, 2020
- 13 min
Tulsa Spur from Start to Finish
In this post, I'm going to show you from start to finish how I built this 1 by 6.5 foot HO scale switching layout. This layout went...
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Stephen Strum
- Nov 18, 2020
- 7 min
Finishing up the Tulsa Spur Switching Layout
After taking about 10 months off from working on the switching layout, I finally finished the layout. I'll probably still add a few more...
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Stephen Strum
- Oct 23, 2020
- 13 min
Colorado Loop Layout Build
A 2x3' N Scale Mountain Layout Ok, so this project started back in the spring as part of a simultaneous build of four layout projects....
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Stephen Strum
- Oct 15, 2020
- 1 min
Colorado Loop: a 2x3 Foot N Scale Layout Preview
A preview of a small mountain-themed N scale model railroad layout. I've completed another small N Scale layout project. This layout is...
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Stephen Strum
- Sep 11, 2020
- 2 min
1x3 Foot HO Switching Layout
A small Inglenook Sidings switching layout for an office shelf.
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Stephen Strum
- Sep 10, 2020
- 15 min
Desktop Micro Layout: 17" x 30"
A tiny layout with continuous running and some industrial switching operations.
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Stephen Strum
- Jul 31, 2020
- 4 min
Super Trees!
Inexpensive, easy to make, and super realistic trees. The Scenic Express SuperTree material has been a popular base for realistic scale...
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Stephen Strum
- Jul 29, 2020
- 3 min
Woodland Scenics N Scale Chain Link Fence Kit
A durable, nice looking fence kit, but the fence posts and rails are too large for N Scale. I recently picked up a Woodland Scenics N...
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Stephen Strum
- Jul 16, 2020
- 1 min
Resistor Lookup Tables
I put together some resistor lookup tables for different combinations of LEDs and power supplies that I use myself when wiring up some...
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