New model trains for the week of November 3, 2016

Märklin HO scale Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe 2-8-2 Mikado steam locomotive

HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division SD39 diesel locomotive. Andesite Rock Co. (Denver & Rio Grande Western scheme, two road numbers); Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; Boston & Maine (Guilford scheme); Southern Pacific; Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern (two numbers); and Progressive Rail (one number). Four numbers per scheme unless noted. Factory-installed grab irons, Flexicoil-C trucks with […]

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Member Video: Bob Murphy’s New Haven Railroad

Bob Murphy's New Haven Railroad

The video is of my New Haven layout. My father was a conductor and a trainmaster on the New Haven, so the layout brings back many fond memories of talking trains with him when I was youngster. The video was shot and edited by Jim Spavins who gets the credit for its professional quality. […]

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Member Video: Bob Murphy’s New Haven Railroad

Bob Murphy's New Haven Railroad

The video is of my New Haven layout. My father was a conductor and a trainmaster on the New Haven, so the layout brings back many fond memories of talking trains with him when I was youngster. The video was shot and edited by Jim Spavins who gets the credit for its professional quality. […]

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Win a few, lose a few

UPreefers

Empty refrigerator cars race across the Union Pacific in Nebraska in the early ’50s. A UP conductor in Idaho talked his way out of a jam when his reefer train blocked a crossing, but got into trouble when he tried to enter the produce business himself. Linn H. Westcott Within any group, whether depicted in […]

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O gauge 4-4-0 American-type from MTH

040_american_mth

O gauge B&O 4-4-0 by MTH Electric Trains Price: $799.95 (no. 20-3591-1) Min Curve: O-42 Cmd Low: 2.47 smph Cnv Low: 2.5 smph High: 62.9 smph Drawbar pull: 1 pound, 4 ounces Features: Can-style motor, tender-mounted coil coupler, smoke unit, DCS command and sound system Current-production road names: Baltimore & Ohio, Jersey Central, Long Island […]

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O gauge GP30 diesel by MTH

gp30

O gauge Milwaukee Road GP30 by MTH Electric Trains Price:  $479.95 Min Curve: O-31 Cmd Low: 2.5 smph Cnv Low: 5.1 smph High: 54.6 smph Drawbar pull: 1 pound, 10 ounces Features: Two can-style motors, coil couplers, smoke unit, DCS command and sound system Current-production road names: Baltimore & Ohio; Chicago & North Western; EMD […]

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Locomotive gear ratios

TRNAT1114_08

Electric and diesel locomotives’ top speeds are governed by gear ratios and safe operations, like this Union Pacific westbound near Franklin Grove, Ill. Brian Schmidt Q What determines the theoretical top speed of a diesel locomotive? Is it the gear ratio? What other factors enter in? – Mike Pedersen, North Berwick, Maine A The maximum […]

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Arduino source code for a model railroad signal system

Arduinosourcecode

Get the source code for Detlef Kurpanek’s Arduino-controlled model train signal system described in the December 2016 Model Railroader. In the December 2016 Model Railroader, Detlef Kurpanek describes how designed an operating model railroad signal system that uses Arduino microcontrollers. As an online bonus, you can download Detlef’s source code for the project by clicking […]

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Video: TCS WOWSound Steam Version 4 decoder

TCS WOWSound Steam Version 4 decoder

Senior editor Dana Kawala recently installed a WOWSound Steam Version 4 decoder and 28mm high-bass WOWSpeaker with enclosure from Train Control Systems into an HO scale 2-8-2 Mikado. The upgraded TCS decoder includes a new Calibrated Proto Chuff feature. Hear the new decoder in action as the HO scale steam locomotive speeds along the main […]

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Video: TCS WOWSound Steam Version 4 decoder

TCS WOWSound Steam Version 4 decoder

Senior editor Dana Kawala recently installed a WOWSound Steam Version 4 decoder and 28mm high-bass WOWSpeaker with enclosure from Train Control Systems into an HO scale 2-8-2 Mikado. The upgraded TCS decoder includes a new Calibrated Proto Chuff feature. Hear the new decoder in action as the HO scale steam locomotive speeds along the main […]

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