Welcome to Sinterklaas Station

Your Destination for HO Scale Model Trains and Accessories

Sinterklaas (pronounced sinter • "kloss" — sounds like "gloss") is a Dutch word for Santa Claus. If you repeat the Dutch word "Sinterklaas" three or four times in rapid succession, you can hear the English words "Santa Claus". Why would a model railroading website name itself after Santa Claus? To convey, like Christmas, the magic and fun that model railroading brings to young engineers all year long!

Are You New to Model Railroading?

Take the Sinterklaas Station model railroading workshop. It's FREE! Click on the main menu link above labeled Beginner's Guide to Model Railroading. Upon completion of the workshop, you receive a certificate that identifies you as a Model Railroading Engineer.

Visit the Sinterklaas Station Hobby Shop

Here is where you will find model railroading trains and accessories for young engineers from HO scale locomotives and rolling stock to railroad tracks and HO scale vehicles.

Visit the Sinterklaas Station Railroading Bookstore

Here is where you will find books about steam locomotives, diesel locomotives, railroad box cars, railroad cabooses. and even haunted cabooses, for all ages, including our flagship book titled
Mrs. Claus Reveals Santa's Secrets.

HO Scale Advantage

Why is HO scale railroading so popular? HO scale (1:87) has been the dominant scale in model railroading for decades, and the reasons are surprisingly compelling. It hits a sweet spot between realism, space requirements, cost, and community support. O scale trains are large, heavy, and require a lot of railroading space. N scale trains are smaller than HO scale, light, fragile, and often derail from narrow guage tracks. Children find them difficult to handle because of their tiny parts (like couplers) and difficult to align their small wheels on tiny rails.

American Flyer Trains

A page from the 1958 American Flyer Catalog, like the one I received for Christmas, is shown at the left. The complete train set sold for $33.00. The average hourly wage in 1958 was $1.98; the minimum hourly wage was $1.00 or $40 per 40-hour work week.