~ Early Web Links ~

The Walnut Creek Model Railroad Society operates the Diablo Valley Lines, one of the largest and most mountainous HO scale model railroads in the United States, featuring standard gauge, narrow gauge, and interurban overhead electric lines. Based in Walnut Creek, California, this non-profit club hosts public shows and welcomes new members interested in large-scale model railroading.

The Southern Indiana Railroad club brings together model railroading enthusiasts from Southern Indiana and Louisville to share knowledge and promote the hobby. The site lists club meetings, officers, contests, a fall show, and their own layout, making it a hub for local hobbyists.

ModelRailwayEngineer is a comprehensive resource for model train hobbyists covering layout planning, scenery building, and hands-on techniques across all popular gauges including OO, N, and TT. The site features beginner guides, product reviews, project updates from the creator's workshop, and a shop selling hand-crafted miniature scenes like animated bonfires and garden rockeries.

Piedmont Railroaders, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit model railroad club based in the Virginia Piedmont region, celebrating over 30 years of bringing rail enthusiasts together for shows, events, and community outreach. The site chronicles club activities including train shows at venues like Dulles Expo Center and Bealeton Library, scenery-building videos, and a rich archive of member history and layouts.

The Houston Area Live Steamers (HALS) is a Texas-based 501(c)(3) club dedicated to live steam modeling, with a focus on rideable-scale model trains operating out of Zube Park. Visitors can find ride schedules, membership information, photos of steamers, electrics, and diesels, plus club history dating back to 1991.

The New Haven Society of Model Engineers is a Connecticut-based club founded in 1932, celebrating over 90 years of preserving and promoting model railroading as a hobby. The site covers club history, membership information, layouts, and event schedules for this long-running non-profit organization.

Spurnull.de is a German-language online magazine dedicated to Scale 0 model railroad enthusiasts, with a focus on scratch-building locomotives and rolling stock in gauges 0, 0e, and 0f. The site covers finescale modeling at 1:43 to 1:48 ratios, including narrow-gauge and standard-gauge prototype topics for serious modelers.

Glue-it.com is a comprehensive resource for model makers covering tools, materials, techniques, and engineering knowledge spanning steam engines, CNC, silver soldering, and more. Visitors can browse a gallery of community models, download detailed PDF plans for projects like oscillating steam engines and solenoid motors, and dive into deep technical articles on topics from fluid dynamics to enameling.

The Piedmont and Western Railroad Club, based in Valdese, North Carolina, maintains both an active model railroad layout and the Old Rock School Railway Museum, offering a rich blend of hobbyist and historical railroad content. Visitors can explore prototype images of North Carolina railroads, steam locomotive carvings, narrow gauge car restorations, and resources like railroad station directories covering hundreds of cities and towns.

The Slim Gauge Guild is a model railroad club based in Pasadena, California, operating two narrow-gauge layouts in a 2000 square foot basement, including an HOn3 layout modeled after the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad and an Sn3 freelanced layout inspired by Colorado and Southern railroads. The club welcomes new members and hosts regular open house events where visitors can see prototype-accurate and freelanced Colorado mountain railroad scenes up close.