Wayne Meeds wants to know where they can information on how to install a Tortoise switch machine with limited clearance under the roadbed. Cody Grivno is here to help out. […]
Info on installing a switch machine
Section: Ask Trains
Why are there four digit numbers on locomotives?
Brandon Muir from Canada wonders why locomotives in North America often have four digit numbers, and if the same number would be used in more than one railroad. Cody Grivno, Group Technical Editor, is here to explain. […]
Trouble with locomotives on back-order
David King from Australia wants to model Burlington Northern and BNSF, but most of the models are on back-order. Group Technical Editor Cody Grivno is here to explain why that might be. […]
Ask MR: Why do my tender’s wheels bottom out on turnouts?
Q: I have an N scale Model Power 4-6-2 steam engine whose tender derails on my Atlas code 55 turnouts. Though the major problem was related to the drawbar, I also found that the tender’s wheel flanges were bottoming out through the frog’s shallow flangeways. I thought when I bought the engine many years ago that […]
Ask MR: What do you know about Santa Fe’s train NCX?
Q: I’ve heard about a freight train the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe operated in the early 1970s and earlier in California called the NCX. The few references I’ve seen indicate it was a hotshot intermodal train. This train sounds interesting, especially since it ran at the same time as the famous Santa Fe Super […]
Ask MR: What should I use to detail my lumber mill?
Q: My layout will have four lumber mills and a planing mill. Where do I get real HO scale lumber and plywood to detail them? Also, do I use covered hoppers to haul sawdust, and where can I get sawdust that doesn’t have oil or grease in it? – Russell C. Brenchley A: Scale lumber, […]
Ask MR: How do I fix low-hanging trip pins?
Q: I have a Bachmann stockcar whose couplers hang down so low that the pins catch on turnout closure rails, grade crossings, or crossing diamonds. How can I get them up to the right height? Will a coupler shim work, or do I need to do something else? – Joseph Kuepfer, Milverton, Ont. A: That depends […]
Ask MR: What prototype rail weights do scale track codes correspond to?
Q: What weight of rail (pounds per yard), does Code 83 represent? Maybe you could publish a table of weight vs. code vs. scale? – Jeff Schredder, Burbank, Calif. A: The relation of model rail code to prototype rail weight depends, of course, on scale. I found in the March 1940 issue of Model Railroader a […]
Ask MR: Why do these CN boxcars have built-in flashers on the ends?
Q: I recently saw these bright orange boxcars parked near the Canadian National Woodcrest Shops. They have CN reporting marks, though I haven’t gotten close enough to get specific numbers. Many of them have red lights on both ends that look to be like the ones used at crossing gates. They must move these cars […]
Reader Tip: An easy way to paint a gravel-textured roof
I have a tip that I think other modelers might like: a fast and easy way to make a terrific roof covering. The gravel roof in the accompanying photo was painted with Rustoleum American Accents Stone textured finish. It went on in one coat and looks even better in person than in the photo. This […]
Ask MR: What’s a switchback and how does it work?
Q: What exactly is a switchback and how does it work? I originally thought it was a switching move backwards against the turnout (switch). But I read about switchbacks being used in maneuvering hills. I was also wondering if you could refer me to any back issues of MR where they have been used in a […]
Ask MR: How far apart should L-girders be spaced?
Q: When building benchwork for a model railroad 24 inches deep by 6 feet long, how far apart should the L-girders be from each other? I was studying the graphic drawing of benchwork on the top of page 91 in the book Popular Model Railroads You Can Build (Kalmbach Books, 1977, out of print), and […]
