If you’re a model railroader that updates your layout with the seasons, you might have already started to model your summer scene.

Updating your layout to a summer scene can be an enjoyable but time-consuming task. Maybe you update the look of your buildings. Perhaps you repaint parts of your landscape as it evolves from spring – or winter if you only update your scene twice a year. Or, do you swap out some locomotives and rolling stock for others in your collection?

Often the most significant change in the summer is the scenery around us.

With that in mind, let’s escape into the world of your layout. You’re sitting in your most luxurious passenger car, enjoying great food and a refreshing drink. You look out of the window, and what do you see?

Here are six things you’d see on a trip across the United States that you could add to your layout this summer.

1. Walthers Cornerstone HO 933-3343 Modern High Voltage Transmission Towers Kit

Transmission towers and powerlines are a feature of any countryside landscape wherever in the world you travel. So if your summer scene sees you open out your layout and a rural landscape reclaims the land from urban dwellings, this Walthers HO scale kit is a great addition to complement your other features.

2. Woodland Scenics TR3597 Small Palm Trees

Whether your model railroad resembles a specific layout or you have a quirky landscape that combines urban features with much-loved locations like the beach, palm trees can take you into another world.

These Woodland Scenics small palm trees are of varying sizes and have exceptional levels of detail on their bendable, handpainted, and textured trunks. At just over $12 for a pack of five, springing for two or three packs to add more palm trees to your layout and make them a central feature of your scene won’t blow a massive hole in your wallet.

Thanks to their size, they’ll work in your layout regardless of scale, too, so why not make them a central feature of your summer model railroad scene?

3. Lionel O 6-82016 Oil Pump

Oil pumps can still be found in various locations across the United States, and are a cornerstone of any industrial or desert-inspired model railroad layout.

These Lionel O scale Oil Pumps are based on the familiar “nodding donkey” style of oil pumps. Once plugged in, it will perform its smooth bobbing action all day until it’s time for your scene’s oil workers to clock off and go home to their families. For an even more authentic look, why not combine two or three Oil Pumps and make your scene the most lucrative oil field in your neighborhood!

This product connects easily to FasTrack. All you need is a power cable to connect your Oil Pump to a track lock-on or accessory power supply, and your pumps are ready to work! Check out our electrical accessories here.

4. Lionel HO 2167100 Anheuser Busch Beirgarten Kit

There are few things better during the summer months than sitting outside and enjoying a cold beer with your friends.

This excellent Lionel HO scale kit brings the joys of the beer garden to your layout and is somewhere your passengers will love to head to for some relaxation after a long journey across your landscape.

There’s plenty to work with if you want to create your own customizations. Still, the molded components and paper decals work brilliantly and look incredible if you’d prefer to keep everything as it is.

5. Lionel HO 2167060 Ice Cream Shop Building Kit

If we were going to list the things more enjoyable than a cold beer during the summer months, then an ice cream would probably make the list.

Lionel’s HO scale Ice Cream Shop Building Kit is easy to assemble and comes with stylish paper decals. Best of all, it’s made for customization! It’s designed to be ready to paint, but you could always leave it as it is. The red, white, and blue signage and roof already give this structure a colorful and patriotic appeal.

6. Lionel O 6-83171 MOW Workers Figure Pack

While your model railroad passengers can enjoy a relaxing journey through your landscape with a beer, some ice cream, or a scenic walk to look forward to at the end of it, some hardy souls still need to be at work to keep everything moving.

This Lionel O Scale Workers Figure Pack gives you five handpainted workers hard at work, ensuring that everything keeps moving smoothly. So whether these guys are working on your railroad itself or elsewhere in your layout, make sure you keep the ice cream shop and beer garden open long enough for them to enjoy some refreshments at the end of a day in the heat!

Show us your summer layout

The changing of the seasons is always an exciting time of the year for us railroaders – and the best thing is it happens every three months!

Whether you include these recommendations or other models from our range of products in your summer scene, we want to see what you come up with! Take a picture and tag us on Instagram – you could even do a before and after of your previous seasonal layout so we can get a full picture of what’s new!

Happy summer railroading!