N Scale Pizza Layout Base
After weighing the size options for our pizza layout, the decision was helped along by a Google search for “round, galvanized tray”. As this is going to be something of an industrial scene, I thought a galvanized metal base would be a nice compliment to the scene above. I came across this 18” wide galvanized […]
Our First Pizza Layout
EDIT | April 2025: Years after this post was originally written, I’m starting a new website called, appropriately enough… www.pizzalayout.com I really do love these little things!!! In our previous article, I talked about some of the benefits of building small model railroad layouts, very small layouts, which include the pizza and micro varieties. We […]
Micro Layouts and Pizza Layouts
EDIT | April 2025: Years after this post was originally written, I’m starting a new website called, appropriately enough… www.pizzalayout.com I really do love these little things!!! I’ve always been a fan of micro layouts and pizza layouts; they’re exciting to build and a lot of fun to watch as the builder’s creativity is really […]
Modeling Safety Tip
I find model railroaders; most modelers in general really, are pretty big on safety. In my (occasionally) cavalier mindset, sometimes to a fault. Yes, don’t inhale toxic paint or glue fumes, don’t light fires around open chemicals, don’t sprinkle rail spikes on your morning cereal… got it. Kidding aside, I really am very careful around […]
Joel Bragdon | Bragdon Rock Molds
One of my favorite go-to products when building a new scene are Bragdon rock molds. Made from high-grade latex, in my opinion these are some of the finest molds available for modeling real rocks because they’re molds from real rocks! Incredibly versatile too as they work well in all scales. Below you can see casts […]
Drawing For $25.00 Gift Certificate | Showcase Miniatures
We have our drawing winner… Congratulations to Gerd Kurz of Australia on winning this $25.00 Showcase Miniatures gift certificate! We just ran all our Showcase Miniatures drawing entries through a random number generator, each entry was given a sequential number as it arrived to us. I’ve been a big fan of Showcase Miniatures for sometime […]
Where Did The Summer Go?
With just a few days left until the unofficial, official end of summer, I’m now taking stock of what I did with my summer vacation. It’s a carryover notion, my summer vacation, from childhood, but I like it. First off, I’d say that I’m just a bit cheesed off that we never had a proper […]
Chris Lane, Editor | Carstens On30, HOn3 Annuals
For someone brand new to or just curious about On30, what do you feel are On30’s biggest strengths, its main appeal? The main appeal is that it allows someone with an interest in narrow gauge to dip their toe in the water and see if it is for them, without a huge commitment of time […]
It’s Finally Summer!
Summer seems to be the de facto time for model railroaders to find other things to do with their free time, mainly getting out in the sunshine and fresh air. Here in the Northeast, we had a particularly cold winter and a chilly spring but it looks like summer may finally be here. The temperature […]
Craftsman Manufacturers
It’s sometimes easy to forget just how good we have it in model railroading today, from the quality and detail of the trains themselves to all the accessories that breathe life in to our model rail scenes. After all, with no accessories, we’re all just playing with trains on plywood. I was again reminded of […]
