Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. After 6-7 inches of snow buried his backyard on Jan. 3, a rail fan in northern Germany fired up a model diesel engine to plow the ...

Some build them in their basements. But Dick Shellenberg's train set takes up most of his backyard. The retired elementary school principal has turned model train conductor in the town of Corning.

The smiling engineer, with a coal car behind him filled to the brim, makes sure his train chugs along the track, spouting smoke as it weaves through the tunnels and in and out of stately conifers.

For more than a decade, Rob Caves has invited the public to his Altadena backyard to experience an ever-growing model train universe built by him and his fellow hobbyists in the Christmas Tree Lane ...