Railroad History

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Railroad History

Railroad history is the root of our hobby. What has happened to railroads in the past as well as the history that is being made even now inspires and influences what model railroaders do. Even if we freelance a railroad, it is always based on some prototype somewhere or a mixture of prototypes.

This section of Building Your Model Railroad contains a series of articles relating to the history of railroading. Hopefully, it will serve as a starting point or an early research tool to give you ideas about what type of railroad you may want to model.

These articles are in no way intended to be a complete history of the railroads discussed. Each one is more like an overview to give you the flavor or the essence of the railroad, what its purpose was/is and the era in which it operated. References are given if you wish to delve deeper into each topic.

The first article in the series is The Virginian Railway, one of my personal favorites, particularly since I live in Virginia and love to visit and model the Appalachian scenery.

Others will appear here as they are written.

The Virginian Railway

The Norfolk and Western Railroad

The Pennsylvania Railroad

The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway

The Seaboard Railroad Station in Suffolk, VA

I hope you will enjoy this section of the website as much as I enjoy writing about it.

By the way, if you have any personal knowledge of railroad history that you would like to include in this section, please click here to let us know.

√ Here are some Railroad History books that you might like...

American Railroad History

The Great Railroad Revolution

The L&N Railroad in the Civil War

North American Locomotives

The Big Book of Trains

American Steam Locomotives

The Iron Road

Railroad History from Around the World...

British Railway History - The history of the British railway system will practically reflect the evolution of the rail transportation system. The system also reveals the impact, it experienced, of changing times and trends of the socio-economic political scenario.

British Railway History

How the Railroads Transformed Britain

Railway History of New Shildon

Color History of the Canadian National Railway

Australian Locomotive Guide

Irish Railway History

The African-American Railroad Experience

Lost Railway Journeys from Around the World

The Orient Express

Another great resource to learn about Railroad History...

The National Railway Historical Society (U.S.)

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Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was one of the greatest railroads in history and continues to be an inspiration for model railroaders everywhere.
Railroads in Wartime
The use of railroads in wartime has become a major advantage to those who manage them well. Military railroads can inspire great ideas for layouts and modeling projects.
The Virginian Railway
The Virginian Railway is an historically interesting railroad that has been an inspiration to many model railroaders over the years.
Train Art: The Art of Model Railroading
Train Art: photos, paintings and posters to inspire you as you build your empire.
Model Railroad Books
How did I learn so much about model railroading? From other hobbyists, of course, and from BOOKS. Here's a list of some of my favorites.
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was one of the strongest and most colorful railroads in American history.
Model Railroad DVDs
Lots of great model railroad DVDs and Blue-Rays for watching your favorite train videos.
Norfolk and Western Railroad
The Norfolk and Western Railroad spanned over almost 150 years and incorporated over 200 mergers during its time. The modeling potential is virtually unlimited.

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This unique Model Railroad Museum was established in November of 2024 as a non-profit community organization featuring ten operating model railroads in all the different major scales, a STEM Program for students, historical displays, group tours and clinics on how to develop your skills as a model railroader. It's definitely worth a visit if you're in the area.

Open 12-6 pm on all Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through April, 2026. They will be moving to a new location after that. Will provide an update later this year.

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