News & Products for the week of November 20th 2023

A series of 3 boxcars in varying paint schemes

News & Products for the week of November 20th 2023   Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of November 20th […]

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The MR&T heritage fleet

Screen capture from Milwaukee, Racine & Troy heritage fleet video.

During the past two decades, Class 1 railroads Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, and CSX have unveiled heritage units. The diesels, painted in the schemes of predecessor railroads, are popular with railfans and model railroaders alike. Union Pacific got the ball rolling in 2005 and 2006 by painting six diesels in the schemes of its merger […]

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The Soo Line Central layout in HO scale

An image of a model railroad trackplan

Facts & features Name: Soo Line Central Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 8 x 20 feet Prototype: Soo Line, Wisconsin Central, and Canadian National Locale: Chicago Era: 1980 to present Style: island Mainline run: 98 feet (double tracked) Minimum radius: 24″ Minimum turnout: Atlas No. 8 Maximum grade: flat Benchwork: open grid Height: 38″ Roadbed: cork […]

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The HO scale Penn Central layout

A model railroad trackplan

Facts & features Name: Penn Central at Bellefonte, Pa.Scale: HO (1:87.1)Size: 9’-8″ x 11’-6″Prototype: Penn CentralLocale: Bellefonte, Pa.Mainline run: 36 feetMinimum radius: 24″ (main), 18″ (siding)Minimum turnout: No. 6Maximum grade: 4%     Download a PDF of this trackplan! Buy the December 2023 issue of Model Railroader! […]

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The HO scale Western Pennsylvania Model Railroad Museum layout

A model railroad layout trackplan

Facts & features Name: Western Pennsylvania Model Railroad MuseumScale: HO (1:87.1)Size: 40 x 100 feetPrototype: Baltimore & Ohio and freelancedLocale: Pittsburgh, Pa., to Cumberland, Md.Era: 1953Style: walkaroundMainline run: Mon Valley, 443 feet; B&O, 357 feetMinimum radius: 36″ (main)Minimum turnout: No. 8 (main), No. 6 (branch lines and yards), No. 4 (industrial)Maximum grade: 2%Benchwork: L-girderHeight: Mon […]

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Jerry Strangarity’s Reading Co. in HO scale

Title screen from Jerry Strangarity's HO scale Reading Co. layout visit video.

Jerry Strangarity’s Reading Co. in HO scale last appeared in the November 2010 issue of Model Railroader magazine. Since our last visit, he’s completed three more scenes on the layout: West Philadelphia, Reading/Hamburg, and Birdsboro. Enjoy this video showing a mix of steam and diesel locomotives running through eastern Pennsylvania in the 1930s and 1940s. […]

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Jerry Strangarity’s Reading Co. in HO scale

Title screen from Jerry Strangarity's HO scale Reading Co. layout visit video.

Jerry Strangarity’s Reading Co. in HO scale last appeared in the November 2010 issue of Model Railroader magazine. Since our last visit, he’s completed three more scenes on the layout: West Philadelphia, Reading/Hamburg, and Birdsboro. Enjoy this video showing a mix of steam and diesel locomotives running through eastern Pennsylvania in the 1930s and 1940s. […]

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News & Products for the week of November 13th 2023

A model caboose in a yellow paint scheme

News & Products for the week of November 13th 2023   Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of November 13th […]

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Jools Holland and his railway empire

Man leans over train layout, looking at camera.

Jools Holland and his railway empire Like many of you, my interest in model railways started as a young boy. In the Swinging Sixties, my father built me a small layout in our tiny, terraced house in not-particularly-swinging Greenwich on the River Thames in old Southeast London. Over the years I maintained an interest, and […]

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News & Products for the week of November 6th 2023

An image of a model freight car in a yellow paint scheme

News & Products for the week of November 6th 2023   Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of November 6th […]

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