When N scale modeling doesn’t work out: I hate it when I’m working on some part of my N scale layout, and the further in I get, the more I want out. It can be most anything: a scenery feature, a turnout, weathering a car, whatever. The project just isn’t working, and the realization that […]
News & Products for the week of May 15th 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 May 15th 2023. […]
Character, not caricature, in N scale: A few years ago I rode the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge RR. It was, in a few words, spectacular, beautiful, gorgeous, awesome, and any other superlative you can think of. The steam locomotives and most of the equipment are the real thing and served the line when it […]
The case for body-mounted couplers: For 40 or so years N scalers have been debating – sometimes rather fiercely – the merits of body-mounted couplers versus the truck-mounted type that come on most rolling stock. My position is simple. I think that for 90 percent of N scalers, converting to body-mounts wouldn’t be worth the […]
Tricks with N scale track: You bought ’em, you can modify ’em Some four decades ago I was looking at a John Allen photo taken on his fabulous HO scale Gorre & Daphetid. The subject was rail activity at his city of Port, and I was especially struck by how compact his trackwork was. In […]
Keep N scale track clean: Last summer I finished an extensive scenery project on my N scale layout, cleaned up, went carefully over the track with a Bright Boy rail-cleaning block, did a few more small layout chores, and at last was ready to run a train. For me there’s nothing in this hobby as […]
On May 1st, 1971, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, or Amtrak, was formed. On this 52nd anniversary, I thought we should take a look at small Amtrak trains from the start. If you want to learn about how to model modern short Amtrak consists, check out my previous article. Instead of focusing on two individual […]
News & Products for the week of May 8th 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 May 8th 2023. […]
In 2022, Rapido Trains, Inc., founder Jason Shron, hosted U.S. and Canadian dealers on the property of the Illinois Railway Museum. Trains.com cameras captured an exclusive interview with Jason, plus various Rapido models, and even some of the prototype railroad equipment that inspires the Toronto-based company’s well-detailed N (1:160) and HO (1:87) scale offerings! More […]
After looking at the photos, you might be asking, “Hey, where is the paint and lettering?” Well, this isn’t a production model. Instead, Broadway Limited Imports sent us a pre-production sample of its N scale Reading Co. class T-1 4-8-4 steam locomotive. The model, scheduled for release this fall, features a dual-mode Paragon4 sound decoder, […]
A pre-production sample of the Broadway Limited Imports N scale Reading T-1 paid a visit to our Milwaukee, Racine & Troy State Line Route layout. Model Railroader editor Eric White and senior editor Cody Grivno discuss the features on the die-cast metal and plastic model and take the 4-8-4 for a spin around the 4 […]
OK, time for a show of hands. How many of you enjoy ballasting? That’s what I expected. Ballasting isn’t an aspect of the hobby most modelers enjoy. However, I’ve ballasted parts or all of several Model Railroader project layouts over the years, and I’ve come to enjoy adding those tiny granules to layouts. When I […]
