Review the final routes of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus blue and red trains, and plot your journey to see them one more time. […]
Last miles for the circus train
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‘Greatest Show on Earth’ ends in May
A Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus train en route to Hampton, Va., from Louisville, Ky., rolls through St. Albans, W.Va., in August 2011. Chase Gunnoe ELLENTON, Fla. — When the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus drops its big top for the last time in May, the classic passenger cars and equipment […]
Model railroad switch list template
Click on the link to download the switch list template. In the article “A sectional urban switching district” by Bill Neale in Model Railroad Planning 2017, the author describes operating a layout at a model train show using a switch list designed in Microsoft Excel. […]
Operating sequence table for Mackenzieville Yard and Glendale Junction
Mackenzieville Yard & Glendale Junction is a compact N scale layout based on the Reading Co. in Pennsylvania during the early 1970s. The layout was featured in Model Railroad Planning 2017. Check out the operating sequence that the layout owner and builder Ian Mackenzie Wilson uses to run the railroad. […]
Rivarossi HO scale UP Big Boy 4-8-8-4
Rivarossi HO scale UP Big Boy The Big Boy’s tender features an operating backup light. The detailed pilot deck includes a swingout scale-size coupler One of the largest and most powerful steam locomotives ever built is now available in HO scale equipped with a top-of-the-line Digital Command Control sound decoder. Just like the prototype, Rivarossi’s […]
Quick Look: Micro-Trains True-Scale couplers
Transition cars with a Magne-Matic coupler on one end and a True-Scale coupler on the other end are available in several body styles. Left: True-Scale coupler; right: Magne-Matic coupler Price: Four-pack, $3.45; 20-pack, $15.95 Comments: Micro-Trains recently debuted its True-Scale line of N scale coupler kits in short- and long-shank versions. Each kit contains knuckles, […]
Athearn HO scale EMD GP39-2
Athearn HO scale EMD GP39-2 Engineer’s side of the Athearn Trains HO scale EMD GP39-2 helps identify its prototype as a phase 1 version. The Athearn Genesis series models features many separate parts, including wire grab irons and eyebolts as well as see-through etched-metal rooftop fan grilles. The motor and gearboxes are mounted on a […]
Atlas O Maxi-IV well car
Atlas O Maxi-IV well car O scale modern-era modelers have some heavy metal coming at them in the form of Atlas O’s three-well Gunderson Maxi-IV articulated container cars. These big cars are designed to haul 53-foot containers. Atlas O is offering compatible containers separately. The prototype. Gunderson developed the Twin-Stack container car in the 1980s. […]
Quick Look: Micro-Trains N scale Airslide hopper
Micro-Trains N scale Airslide hopper Price: $27.95 to $29.75 Manufacturer Micro-Trains Line Co. 351 Rogue River Pkwy. Talent, OR 97540-1200 www.micro-trains.com Era: 1970 to present Road names: Norfolk Southern (post-1982 company), BNSF Ry. (buffer service), CSX, and General American. Two road numbers per scheme. Comments: A General American Transportation Corp. 4,180-cubic-foot- capacity Airslide covered hopper […]
Burlington ‘Zephyr’ record
The Burlington ‘Zephyr’ as seen in Aurora, Ill., on May 26, 1934. Its nonstop run may have included slow spots. CB&Q Q In 1934, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy ran the Zephyr from Denver to Chicago nonstop. How did they do this without changing crews? Did they have crews on-board for each subdivision and change […]
HO scale B&M Middlesex Junction layout under construction
Work progresses on Steve Tello’s Boston & Maine Lowell NH Line. Middlesex Junction was a service yard for B&M passenger cars and locomotive up through the early 1960s. Steve is modeling a compressed version of Middlesex, including 4 arrival/departure tracks, a buggy track, coal conveyor (B&M tore down the Coal Tower in the early ’50s), […]
Model Railroad Crossing Lights – Arduino
Using an Arduino IR LED and Phototransistor, we detect an approaching train and start the level crossing flashers. Gates and bells are coming soon! […]
