Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Model Railroader associate editor Cody Grivno shows the best way to pack up your model trains so the cars and paint won’t get damaged. […]
How to pack up your model trains
Train Topic: Beginners
How to pack up your model trains
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Model Railroader associate editor Cody Grivno shows the best way to pack up your model trains so the cars and paint won’t get damaged. […]
How to use spray primer on plastic parts
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Model Railroader managing editor David Popp shows how to prepare plastic parts for painting. […]
How to use spray primer on plastic parts
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Model Railroader managing editor David Popp shows how to prepare plastic parts for painting. […]
Ask Trains from September 2009
Q How do railroads figure how much power is necessary for a train?– Richard Panarese, Mesa, Ariz.A Railroads determine power needed for a train based on the route, and the train’s weight and priority. BNSF, for instance, considers the “horsepower per ton” required based on what officials call the train’s “transportation service plan.” The transportation […]
Ask Trains from May 2009
Q In March Trains, an article on the demise of semaphore signals on the former Monon [Page 14] mentioned that CSX was doing away with lineside pole lines and their maintenance. It said the new system will use Electro Code, a system where signal communications run through the rails. How is this done?– Richard K. […]
Why does my American Flyer rolling stock have white residue?
Q: Can you suggest how to safely remove the white residue that builds up on the bottom of my American Flyer rolling stock? – Bruce K. Davis, Youngwood, PA A: We receive this question several times a year. For some reason this white residue problem is more common with American Flyer S gauge trains of […]
Storing trains
Q: I have Marx and Lionel trains and accessories, both old and new. How do I store them so that my daughters and I can enjoy them when we move to a new home with more space? My house has just two levels and three bedrooms. We live in Maryland and the temperature and humidity […]
“A garden railroad you can build” trackplan
Marc Horovitz Download a track plan of the Middleboro project railroad, the subject of our new booklet, “A garden railroad you can build.” Click here to download a PDF version of the Middleboro track plan. […]
Broken belt on a postwar Lionel No. 364 log loader
Q: I have a Lionel No. 364 conveyor belt log loader which was received as a gift in the 1940s or early 1950s. The red conveyor belt has disintegrated over time and I would like to know how to service the accessory to get it back into operation. Also, I would appreciate knowing the approximate […]
North America’s hump yards
Norfolk Southern’s Linwood, N.C., classification yard Matt Van Hattem More than half of the hump yards in North America have closed in the past 25 years. From 152 operating classification yards in 1975, the number dropped to 122 in 1985, and 72 by 1993. In 2002, there were 59 active hump yards. The reasons for […]
Defect detectors
An Amtrak train en route from Milwaukee to Chicago on Canadian Pacific’s double-track main line hurtles by a metal cabin and some trackside apparatus. Over the radio, a stilted voice intones “CP detector, milepost five seven point six. Main track: two. Total axles: one six. No defects. Temperature: five three degrees. Detector out.” A moment […]
