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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Guide to N scale couplers

Color photo of freight car truck with a Mange-Matic coupler.

In the 60-plus years that N scale has been around, there has been a great deal of change in couplers. Rapido, an early manufacturer of N scale models (not to be confused with today’s Rapido Trains), let other companies use its coupler design. The wedge-front coupler, which was used on most N scale models (except […]

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Converting to body-mounted N scale couplers

Photo showing N scale freight car underbody and tap in pin vise.

Prototype locomotives and freight cars have body-mounted couplers, but that hasn’t always been the case on N scale models. Truck-mounted couplers were the standard for many years. Today, almost all N scale locomotives and most newly tooled freight cars have body-mounted N scale couplers. The primary reasons for making the switch from truck-mounted couplers to […]

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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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Types of model railroad benchwork

One of the first things that you must do when building a model train layout is decide which style of benchwork you will build for the layout. Simple tables A common starter style of model railroad benchwork is just a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood on a tabletop. My first layout was on a […]

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MR Exclusive: DCCconcepts Aegis upgrade for NCE PowerCab

Color photo showing components of DCC system.

The NCE PowerCab Digital Command Control (DCC) system is popular for its ease of use, menu-driven prompts, and reliable programming capabilities. However, it does have a few limitations: It only has about 1.8 amps output; it doesn’t have separate programming and main track power connections; and the PowerCab throttle must remain plugged in at all […]

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News & Products for the week of October 30th 2023

A model locomotive in a white and orange paint scheme

News & Products for the week of October 30th 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 October 30th […]

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News & Products for the week of October 23rd 2023

News & Products for the week of October 23rd 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 October 23rd […]

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News & Products for the week of October 16th 2023

News & Products for the week of October 16th 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 October 16th […]

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Model a pike-size passenger train

Color photo of three-car passenger train with blue truck in front of last car.

When you think of Burlington Northern, passenger service may not be the first thing that comes to mind. But from March 2, 1970 (Burlington Northern’s first day) to April 30, 1971 (the day before Amtrak started operations), the railroad offered passenger service. Among the name trains were the Empire Builder, Mainstreeter, North Coast Limited, and […]

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Simplifying body-mounted couplers

MRRNS0720_01

Simplifying body-mounted couplers: Former editor Neil Besougloff used to accuse me of trying to convert all N scale modelers to using body-mounted couplers. He was joking – I think – but I’m not mounting such a campaign. For 90 percent of you, using truck-mounted, body-mounted, or a mix of both would make little difference. Your […]

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