If you’re new to the hobby, you might be wondering if you can operate any locomotive on an everyday commuter, intercity, or high-speed passenger train. If you’re looking for prototypical operations on your layout set in the modern era, the short answer is usually no. However, there are many factors which go into this simple […]
News & Products for the week of April 22nd 2024 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 April 22nd […]
Little did I think when I visited Milbank, S.D., for the first time in 2019 I would find a yard office you can model. But there, on the corner of North Main Street and East Railway Avenue, was a BNSF Ry. structure that looked ideal for a model railroad. It had a small footprint; could […]
Q: I have a trestle bridge above a deep ravine on my HO scale layout and would like to automatically slow DCC locomotives approaching the bridge to avoid too rapid an entry. Using DCC, is there a method to provide such “auto deceleration?” — Paul Savello, Cedar City, Utah A: Hi, Paul. Such a thing […]
The Rapido Trains HO Alco RS11 diesel locomotive recently visited our Wisconsin & Southern layout. Join Senior Editor Cody Grivno — who really didn’t pick his shirt to match the locomotive’s paint scheme — as he shares a brief history of Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific No. 3600; highlights the various railroad-specific details on the four-axle […]
Price: $24.95 (undecorated, $17.95) Manufacturer Atlas Model Railroad Co. 378 Florence Ave. Hillside, NJ 07205 shop.atlasrr.com Road names: New paint schemes — Transportation Corp. of America; Burlington Northern (with FRA-224 stripes); CATX; David J. Joseph Transportation; Midwest Railcar; Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern; and Rail Logistics. New road numbers — Canadian National and Peavey. Three numbers […]
At the beginning of 2024, the initial closing and reorganization of Hattons and M.B. Klein/Model Train Stuff raised concerns about the future of the model railroad hobby. Buried among the stir here in the United States, yet hitting close to home in the United Kingdom, was the Jan. 11 announcement to discontinue the Warley National […]
Available from rapidotrains.co.uk. List price £99.95 (approximately $121.50 as of this writing) Item no. 922004 Pluses Highly detailed models of standard British railroading wagons (freight cars) decorated for fictional privet-owner cars inspired by the 1953 Ealing Studios film, The Titfield Thunderbolt. Models feature NEM coupler pockets with hook and loop couplers, free-rolling metal wheels, separately […]
Intermodal equipment If you’re trackside, odds are you’re going to see an intermodal train. Intermodal made up 49% of the 34 million units of freight carried by U.S. railroads last year, more than four times higher than coal, the next largest commodity. Odds are that intermodal train will mostly have railcars owned by TTX, a […]
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Model railroad track codes Breaking the Code Model railroad track is sold in rail height variations called “codes.” This indicates the height of the rail in thousandths of an inch. Common sizes in HO scale: Code 100 (.100″) Code 83 (.083″) Code 70 (.070″) Common sizes in N scale: Code 80 (.080″) Code 55 (.055″) […]
If you’re planning on building a model railroad, preparing a train room should be your first step. You might be eager to get to work building benchwork and laying track, but basics like wiring and lighting your layout space and making it comfortable for your operators are a lot easier to do before there’s a […]
