Clinics

Stephen M. Priest, MMR, has always loved model railroading. He got his start with N scale in 1967, moving up to a Lionel set his father purchased for him, followed by a change to HO scale where Stephen has remained ever since.

In college, Stephen studied architecture and then engineering at Kansas State University and the University of Kansas before going to work for the Santa Fe (later BNSF) Railway. He has worked as a conductor, engineer, assistant trainmaster, trainmaster, and assistant manager of the Track Geometry Department (Engineering). As a college professor, he has taught conductor and engineer classes at the BNSF training facility in Kansas City.

Using his extensive knowledge and experience with the prototype, Stephen has designed hundreds of models for dozens of well-known manufacturers. His scale drafting work has been featured in many articles, magazines, and books. As a writer and publisher, Stephen has penned dozens of articles that have appeared in various model railroad magazines for more than 35 years. Stephen has been the editor of Railroad Model Craftsman Magazine, the National Model Railroad Association’s magazine and author of several books. He has also been on the publication teams responsible for Railroads Illustrated, Model Railroad News, and Passenger Train Journal. Along with his wife Cinthia he has written and edited 34 books on model railroading and its prototype. His most recent book, Santa Fe Diesel Painting and Lettering for Model Railroaders, was published for the Santa Fe Railway Historical & Modeling Society, of which he has been a member for years. 

Stephen spearheaded the preservation and restoration of the Santa Fe Bi-Centennial SD45-2 5704 which is now complete and will soon be on display in Perris, California at the Southern California Railroad Museum. This beautifully restored locomotive took over a year to rework.

Stephen has built 17 fully completed model railroads with the last two being signaled with complete CTC panels. The last of these, The St. Louis Division was a 3400 sq ft layout built for the 2018 NMRA National Convention in Kansas City. Stephen chaired that convention.

Stephens latest foray into the model railroad hobby is a new company producing locomotives and rolling stock. Classonemodelworks.com was started in 2020 and has released a steady flow of high quality models into the marketplace.

Be sure to check out Stephen’s other clinics, Diesel Engine Service Facilities and So You Want To Build a Model Railroad.