RF&P Model Railroaders

06/01/2026

July 2026 features America’s 250th Birthday. It also marks the 5th Annual Trains, Trucks & Tractors — Titans of Transportation Show! For 4 DAYS this July 11, 12, 18 & 19, from 9am-5pm, the Richmond Freelance & Prototype Model Railroaders, hosted by the Keystone Antique Truck & Tractor Museum in Colonial Heights, Virginia, will display the Titans of Transportation, small & large, celebrating the Titans that moved America! Join us indoors for Epic Visually Stunning displays of trains, trucks & tractors and wear your patriotic colors to express just how proud of America you are!

04/23/2026

Ashland Train Day arrives Saturday! All Aboard!!! 🚄🚃🚃🚃🛤️😍

04/23/2026

Ashland Train Day & Ashland Fourth Fridays & Ashland Hanover Visitors Center at Town of Ashland, Virginia have 22 years of Traintastic Stories to Tell this coming weekend and Saturday!

And breaking news… one of our club’s youngest members, a Communications Specialist for our Richmond Area Ntrak and RANRAIL.org Richmond Area NRail and Richmond Area T-TRAK “N Scale special interest groups” is showing us his social media skills with a new series in video production!

Ashland Train Day emerged 22 years ago in the Fall of 2004, and this year’s edition arrives at multiple Ashland Stations on Saturday! Lets Go, GET ON BOARD!!! 🚂🚂🚃🚃🚃💯❤️

03/13/2026

Snow seems to be waking everything up from a Winter of silence & discontent. Sometimes inspiration for model railroading is as simple as sticking an old style pullman from your storage box and couple it to the end of your modern stack train!!! Cheers 🚂🚂🚂💯

An unusual occurrence happened today (March 12, 2026) when Norfolk Southern moved Pullman car “Marco Polo” on a northbound train passing through Spencer. The Norfolk Southern car now usually resides at the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth, GA, who received the car on loan from Norfolk Southern in 2020. Built in 1927 by the Pullman Company, the car was used by Franklin D. Roosevelt while he served as governor of New York and later as president of the United States. The car was purchased by the Central of Georgia in 1944, then became a Southern Railway car after the Southern merger with the Central of Georgia. Before going to the Southeastern Railway Museum, it resided for more than two decades at Union Station in Washington, D.C. Even on today’s modern railroads, it is possible to occasionally see history in motion!

02/19/2026

Forget the myth that model railroading is a "dying hobby" hidden in dusty basements. If you’ve been in a Discord build-session or a local club lately, you know the truth: the hobby isn't fading—it’s leveling up.

We’re watching "The Way We’ve Always Done It" meet "The Way It’s Possible Now," and it’s a vibe.
The "empire" in the basement is being joined by hyper-detailed shelf layouts that fit modern life. We have 70-year-old Master Modelers teaching 20-somethings how to weather a boxcar, while those same creators show the veterans how to 3D-print parts or run a yard from a phone.

What’s actually shifting?
• It’s Social: We’ve moved from solitary builds to global communities sharing progress on IG and YouTube.
• It’s Accessible: You don't need a garage. A 4-foot micro-layout can be a world-class masterpiece.
• It’s Tech-Art Fusion: We’re still using plaster and paint, but now we’re adding Wi-Fi, soundscapes, and digital precision.

The NMRA is the "roundhouse" where these eras meet. Whether you’re a "rivet counter" chasing history or a "tinkerer" writing code, you’re part of the same story. We aren't just building layouts; we’re building a legacy that’s more vibrant than ever. 🚂✨

Which part of the hobby do you love most? In what ways would you say that the culture of model railroading has changed or evolved post covid?

02/15/2026

We love when the place “we call home every July (for Trains, Trucks & Tractors Show), our favorite all-day-breakfast kitchen, is voted so positively by the friends, families & faces we hope to see in July 2026!🚂!🚛!🚜! Help us celebrate America’s 250th Independence Birthday just after July 4th 🎇🇺🇸🎆 Book your vacation destinations NOW!!! Our TITANS OF TRANSPORTATION SHOW V off Interstate 95, Colonial Heights Virginia will be your MOST EPIC Rest Stop ever!!!

Take a look inside Keystone Grill restaurant in Colonial Heights, named one of the best in the US.

01/11/2026

Our Media Coordinator, Jean-Marc Gadoury, posted this image today. His view of the building housing our train show next weekend, from his perch above the Raceway last August. He wrote:

“My view of this Greenberg's Train & Toy Show venue at the NASCAR last August. In that building before your eyes, I will return with a new “short track race” known as model railroading!”

Richmond Area Ntrak & Richmond Area T-TRAK with the RF&P Model Railroaders will be there 🚂

01/02/2026

Happy New Year model railroaders! You never know what the tracks will bring you!

12/21/2025

Richmond Area T-TRAK is ringing in the cheer at Legend Brewing Company

Legend Brewing Company right now hosting the Richmond Area Ntrak’s T-TRAK Division for a December event in the design of “Trains -N- Beer”…

In time for the holidays, should the name be amended to “Trains, Beer & Holiday Cheer “???

12/15/2025

Only 2 weeks after Silver Rail Club’s Peter Martens described his experience with the Bobby Daniels Bevels Hardware Blackstone Virginia legacy, here we proudly share the imagery produced by Richmond Area Ntrak in Blackstone, Virginia at which even elements of Bobby Daniels collection were on display!