Valley Grain in New Ulm, MN, is the embodiment of visual interest, making it an ideal modeling subject. Third Street, on the left, cuts across the entire yard. I was recently contacted by an existing customer about exploring concepts for a layout to possibly be built in a spare bedroom. He is a lifelong CNW enthusiast, and if I could come up with something along the famed "Alco Line" that would be a plus. With a somewhat blank canvas, I began researching towns up and down

Several decades ago, I was contacted by a customer in the Chicago area who wanted a fairly large layout that would allow for both casual train running and industrial switching. The basic theme was somewhere in the Rust Belt during the 1950's. Shown above is the design we came up with. It's essentially just a large double-track loop with industries along the perimeter and a large yard on the top. It measured 32' x 11'. We set the minimum radius at 36 inches to accommodate

For the past eighteen months the project in the shop has been a rendition of CNW's famed Alco Line, plying the prairies of Southern Minnesota. The layout was done in three phases. The third, and final section, set in the region around Waseca is now complete. I've add five images of this phase to the photo gallery. Here's the final track plan.

A trio of faded RS3s rolls westward past the iconic station in Mankato, MN. The exquisite model was scratch-built by Jeff Kraker. Phase 2 of the Alco Line project is now complete. (Phase 1 was the cover story in the November issue of RMC). Phase 2 models Mankato and the regions just to the east and west. Join me as we take a photo tour of the latest progress updates. Here is the track plan. Phase 2 is in the middle of the room. After passing the station, and continuing

The yard switcher spots a load at a scratch-built model of Hubbard Feeds in Mankato, MN on the HO scale Alco Line project. As much as...

Heading eastward across Forest Avenue, Guilford's local works the Bishop Street Branch on one of my custom-built commissions. The vast...

In the November 1939 issue of Model Railroader, there was an excellent layout design put together by J. Harold Geissel. Just for fun, I...

CNW RS-3 no. 1616 warms up on a cold morning in Tracy, MN in preparation for its run to Sleepy Eye. Follow along as I walk you through...

It's September of '78 in Tracy, MN and things are getting to the point where you can start feeling a chill in the air when the shift...

It's a late summer afternoon in 1978 as a CNW RS-3 does some clean-up work on the elevator lead behind the yard in Tracy, MN. The...

The turn out of Tracy carefully spots a load of canning supplies at door 2 at Del Monte's Plant 114 in Sleepy Eye. A tank of vegetable...

Model Railroad Layout Design For The Alco Line Project (HO Scale) Construction on The Alco Line Project has started. As work progresses...

An Alco 424 spots a car in front of Sleepy Eye Milling Company in Sleepy Eye, MN. I'm currently building a segment of this fascinating...

Floating shelves can be an efficient means of storing rolling stock. You don't need to be in the hobby long before you've accumulated a...

This logistics warehouse is a composite of no less than eight Walthers kits. Being willing to alter a kit's footprint opens up an...