Peter's Model Railroading | My Library | Magazine Authors
Magazine Articles By Bonnie Domrois

"Milwaukee Union Terminal Railroad" & "Milwaukee Electric Lines" O Scale Layout Part 1

The Allis Station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin houses the Model Railroad Club of Milwaukee's layout. Includes many photos of the layout, as well as a track plan of the entire layout (really two layouts).

"Milwaukee Union Terminal Railroad" & "Milwaukee Electric Lines" O Scale Layout Part 2

This installment covers the expansion that took place when the layout was revamped. There are lots of photos included. A short sidebar on Del-Aire brand switch machine controls. There are also track drawings of sections of the layout.

A British Invasion: The Artist Richard Smyth

The story of Richard Smyth and several of his railroad-themed paintings.

Artist & Photographer Russ Porter

Biographical information about Russ Porter. The article includes some of his paintings

Artist Bruce Friesch

Bruce paints realistic-looking scenes covering railroads.

Artist Rick Borrett

History of the artist and many photos of his works, which includes many train scenes.

B&O Headquarters

The history of the B&O headquarters building (the first one burned down). Includes many historical and modernday photos. Today, the building is used for other purposes.

Badger-Mid-Western Railroad Co. "The Sawtooth Road"

A thorough description of Paul Hillmer's layout. Includes over 100 photos(!), and track plans.

Boxcar Grain Door Panels

How grain door panels were made for box cars.

Dandelions

How to quickly and simply model these weeds.

Delavan Train Show 2017

Local residents and businesses step in to take over this train show when the owners wanted to step down. Includes many photos of layouts and displays at the show.

Editorial

Teach children about proper safety around train tracks, and explain to them why these are important.

Grain Era Authenticity

Kevin Domrois builds a grain door for an N-scale Micro Trains Line 40' box car and N-scale laser etched wood box car grain door panels from Great Lakes Models. Includes step-by-step photos and instructions.

Gypsy Trolley Line

John Kosma sets up his modular layout at train shows. The scenes are set in Milwaukee in the 1930s. The layout is a long U-shaped one, with turn-around loops at the ends. The trolleys are powered by the catenary only. Includes lots of photos, many of which are close-up of the scenes. A portion of the layout is set up at home, too.

Hobo Signs

How to model hobo signs on the layout.

Hobo Signs & Symbols

The sign "language" that hobos use to communicate with each other. Includes several common signs.

Houston-White Company Mill & Basket Factory

The company was based in Millsboro, Delaware. This article is a history of the start and fall of this company, what they manufactured, how they survived the Great Depression, and how they relied on the railroads. Includes many photos, a track map, and several scale drawings of the buildings.

How To: Rock Castings from Molds Using Hydrocal

Using Hydrocal and molds to make cliff and mountain rock castings.

How To: Scale Trains Evans Boxcar Kit

Only a couple of simple tools are needed to build one of these kits.

How To: Unreal Details' Magic Water

The author shows the step-by-step process of using "Magic Water" by Unreal Details, which is a two-part epoxy.

If It's Blue, You Know It’s Good!

History and information about Blue Coal from the Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company located in northeast Pennsylvania. Includes photos of the breaker, advertisements, Blue Coal nick-knacks, a 3D diagram of the Huber Colliery's operations in 1939, a track map, and a few modernday photos of the colliery.

Jim Lorbiecki's Milwaukee Road Everett Street Station Diorama

This diorama models the Everett Street Station, or Milwaukee Union Station, which was built by the Milwaukee Road and opened in 1886. The station was located on Everett Street between N. 2nd Street and N. 4th Street in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Includes several close-up photos of the diorama.

Kato Contest

For winning the Kato contest a Japanese High School team got to travel to the 2016 Trainfest show in the U.S., and show their winning module. Includes several close-up photos of the model of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial.

Lucin Cutoff

How the Transcontinental Railroad traversed the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and how the bridge still survives today.

Marker Weathering

After building the West End Shack (#0901) by GCLaser, the author used Prismacolor markers (also sold by GCLaser) to apply weathering to the building.

Metro Model Railroad Club

This article contains a description and many photos of the Metro Model Railroad Club's permanent layout in the senior citizens' condo development located in the former St. Alphonsus Hospital in Port Washington, Wisconsin. Includes general layout shape diagrams with photo indicators.

Midwest Lines

Rolf Plachter's UP-based HO-scale layout is described in this article. It includes many photos and track plan sketches, and a sidebar on brass rail. The integration of the backdrop with the openings to the other rooms is impressive.

Milwaukee Lionel Railroad Club

Many photos and a description of the club. A photo-location sketch is included for both the lower level and the upper one. There is also an elevated level that has the old Standard Gauge track on it, with a huge bridge.

Milwaukee Road Everett Street Station Diorama

The Everett Street Station (Milwaukee Union Station) was located on Everett Street in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Jim Lorbiecki built a highly-detailed diorama of it.

Milwaukee-N-Southeastern

The Milwaukee-N-Southeastern (MNSE) N-scale layout resides in the basement of a building located in Cudahy, Wisconsin. The article includes many photos, and a rough trackplan of the layout (with photo locations identified).

National Train Day

Starting in 2008, Amtrak, as a way to educate the general public on the advantages of rail travel and the history of trains in America, created National Train Day, which is held on the Saturday closest to May 10th, the anniversary of the Golden Spike being driven into the rails in Promontory, Utah. Includes a photo of Amtrak #406.

Origins of the Engineers Cap

How the engineers cap got created.

Photographer William "Bill" Bedell

Biography of Bill Bedell and some of his railroad-related photos. Also includes a description and photos of his home HO-scale layout.

Photographer William "Bill" Bedell

Information about this photographer. Includes several train-related photos Bill took. He had his own HO-scale layout, and he founded the North American Prototype Modelers.

Profile Jerry Brettschneider A True Ambassador

Jerry started Lionel clubs at all the locations where he lived throughout his life.

Railroads & Time Zones

A brief article about how railroads created the timezones we use today to help with scheduling.

Seneca Glass Company

Information and photos of the Seneca Glass Company Factory in Morgantown, West Virginia. Includes photos and diagrams of the building and its interior.

Sesquicentennial Replica

The story about how Dave Kloke built a full-size, working replica of the Leviathan #63 (originally built in 1868).

Soldering

The basics of how to solder wire, and how to clean the soldering iron.

Soldering Track

The basics on what it takes to soldering rail joiners and wire to rail. Includes many step-by-step photos.

Soldering Tracks

This article covers the basics of soldering rail joiners and soldering wire to the rails.

Soo Line #1003

History and photos of the Soo Line #1003, which is a 2-8-2 L-1 class Mikado steam locomotive built by Alco in 1913. Includes a scaled diagram.

Swinging Bridge

A brief history of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, Pedestrian Suspension Bridge, in Reading, PA. Includes several photos.

The Domrois Z Scale Layout

How Kevin Domrois got into Z-scale modeling, and how he built his home layout based on the Z-scale Bend Track standards. Includes many photos, and full descriptions of each of the modules he built (also includes a diagram showing the locations of the photos).

The History of The Model Railroad Club of Milwaukee

The club was formed by several people, including Al Kalmbach and Bill Walthers, in 1933. The article covers the permanent location of the club, operating the layout, the birth of the NMRA.

The Lincoln Special

Historical information about President Lincoln's funeral train. Includes photos, and a map the path train traveled between D.C. and Illinois.

The Northwest Timberline

Many photos of the dual-deck layout built by Jim Lorbiecki. The U-shaped layout measures 8' x 17' x 24', with a peninsula that adds another 3.5' x 7'. Includes diagrams roughly indicating where the photos were taken.

The Northwest Timberline

This article describes of Jim Lorbiecki's double-decked, U-shaped logging-based layout. Includes lots of photos of the layout.

The Twin Cities "400" Ghost Train

The story behind the video that provides the audio and the visuals of a train passing by, without a train actually being present.

Trainfest 2015

Fictionalized stories about different people attending the show held on November 14 and 15, 2015, attended by over 19,000 people, and held in West Allis, Wisconsin a City of Milwaukee suburb at the Wisconsin Expo Center on the Wisconsin State Fair Park grounds. The article contains a lot of photos of the various layouts and events at the show.

Trains Under Glass

The Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has an annual multi-scale train show in one of its Domes.

Union Pacific's Grand Canyon Lodge

The Union Pacific and the National Park Service worked together to build the Grand Canyon Lodge. Includes photos and drawings for both the main building and the cabins on the property.

Wisconsin's Bits 'n Pieces Railroad

The Wisconsin’s Bits 'n Pieces Railroad is a modular layout club formed in the 1990s. Their HO-scale and N-scale layouts are traditional modular layouts, but each side of the rectangular shapes features a different season (Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer). Their original layouts were sold in 2009, and the second version of the layouts are now taken to shows. The large article includes many photos of both versions of both layouts, as well as diagrams showing the photos' locations.