The Yardley and Hillton Railroad is a prime example of exploring your passion in trains while keeping your hobby affordable.
Hi, we’re Ray Lora and Pat Mullen, a grandfather and grandson who enjoy model railroading. Ray has had a lifelong appreciation for model railroading, with Pat recently finding an interest in the hobby as well. Beginning in 1985, Ray built the Yardley and Hillton, an HO Scale layout that was about 8′ by 11′ in his basement, and documented extensively how he built it and kept creativity going for 32 years before it was torn down. This website is now hosting his book as blog posts on the internet, meant to be easily accessible for model railroaders wondering where to start, and how to join in the fun!
Yardley and Hillton Switching Shelf
Prior to building the 8×11 foot layout in my basement, I constructed a freestanding enhancement of Chuck Yungkruth’s Gum Stump and Snow Shoe track plan that was 1 x 7 1/2 feet. This Yardley and Hillton was later scrapped so the turnouts could be used on the big layout. The following two photos are among…
Best Overall Pictures of the Yardley & Hillton
I wanted a picture showing most of the industries located just this side of the tall buildings in Hillton City, the largest town on the Yardley and Hillton RR. The photographer was standing on a step ladder in the operation pit. This is a tough place to have believable scenery. We are overlooking a…
Revisiting Industries
This is an overall photo of the original location of the Cobb Corn & Grist Mill Co. in a corner of the layout at Hillton Junction as it had existed for several years. I always had a grist mill for the grinding of cattle feed and other supporting scenery there. Such as the grain storage…
Emergency Fix on the Busy Mainline
A few years ago the hot box detector stopped a train right in the middle of the busy highway crossing. Of course I had to get up to where I could see what was happening. I think an axel had broken off at the truck side frame! The emergency repair crew used a log chain…
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Model Railroading on the Cheap 