Model Railroader February 2026

In the February Issue

David Popp continues work on the East Troy Industrial Park (ETIP) project railroad and walks us through how he built the benchwork and added backdrops.

Other Can’t Miss Stories

• Dale Ridgeway got the rare opportunity to seize a little more space for his layout when his son moved and some rearranging vacated two rooms in the lower level of his home. The result was a nice sized area for an expansion of the B&O Ridgley Division with some interesting new features.
• Eric Lakonde’s HO scale layout, located in the 25’ x 17’ basement of his present home, is a prototype freelance of the Geneva Subdivision in the years spanning 2000 thru 2005 and encompassing West Chicago yard to Clinton, Iowa. Heading from Illinois into Clinton he hired Jeff Pasquier to build a 10 ft replica of the prototype swing bridge that is still there, crossing the Mississippi River.
• Dennis Eggert details his process for scratchbuilding a turntable for his C&NW layout set in the mid-1970s.
• Mike Tylick details scratchbuilding a wheeled conveyor for a sand pit scene on his O scale layout. He continues the project in the March issue.
• Pelle Søeborg uses Monster Model Works laser-engraved brick sheets and styrene to build a non-descript structure for his Daneville layout, typical of what you’d see in the newer part of a small town, in this case, the Quick Stop grocery store and pizzeria.
• And more!