Enjoy this look at Dave Baule’s S gauge layout. The traditional looking pike occupies a modest footprint and is chock full of Plasticville buildings, vintage American Flyer accessories, and trains from a variety of eras. The display is featured in the special publication “Toy train layouts for small spaces,” available in fall 2021. […]
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In the September 2021 issue of Classic Toy Trains, prolific author and modeler Stan Trzoniec shows how to observe real railroads and add details from them to our layouts to increase realism. We’ll also visit two O gauge layouts. The first is built by a northerner and models the Southern Ry.; the other uses traditional […]
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O gauge locomotives General Electric 44-ton diesel locomotive. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (black and gray); Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (zebra stripe scheme); Erie Lackawanna (black and yellow); Maine Central (green and yellow); Napa Valley Wine Train (green, white, and black); and U.S. Steel (red, green, and yellow). One road number per scheme. Die-cast metal […]
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O gauge locomotives Electro-Motive Division SD40-2 diesel locomotive. Burlington Northern (Cascade Green and black, Chicago & North Western (Falcon Service scheme), CSX (gray, blue, and yellow), Milwaukee Road (orange and black with billboard lettering), Pan Am Rys. (dark blue and white), and Wisconsin & Southern (40th Anniversary scheme, one road number). Two numbers per scheme […]
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Neil Young’s O gauge railroad To begin, Neil created his layout, which covered approximately 1,000 square feet on his ranch in northern California, to run through an assortment of natural landscapes outside his home. That’s right – the unforgettable three-rail display was built not inside an immense train room but instead filled in space among […]
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Bought or inherited a load of tubular track? CTT editor Hal Miller shows his method of cleaning it up and getting it ready for trains to run properly on. This technique will help get rid of dirt and light rust, and help modelers avoid a few pitfalls that could be detrimental to operation. […]
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On this episode of Bob’s Train Box, Bob and CTT editor Hal Miller get an up-close and personal look at MTH Trains’ recently released Premier line SD24 (even more info on it here). Then Bob examines some Greenberg guides that are fun to read and helpful when it comes to collecting trains and accessories. Finally, […]
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In this Workbench Minute video, CTT editor Hal Miller shows the basics of locomotive lubrication with O gauge diesel. The techniques are also useful on steam engines and locomotives in S gauge, too. He shows what to use (and where to get it), where to use it, and reinforces the idea that less is more […]
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Atlas O in June released a new catalog offering products made from recently acquired MTH Trains tooling. The company acquired the majority of MTH’s Premier line of locomotives and rolling stock molds in spring 2021. The latest product announcements are titled the Atlas O Premier Catalog. In it are the first two offerings, a GE […]
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After cancelling the last three York, Pa. meets, the Train Collectors Association Eastern Division is preparing to host a grand re-opening show Oct. 21-23 at the York Fairgrounds. The organization’s board has decided “to return to the pre-pandemic format of a three-day show; beginning at Noon on Thursday through Saturday,” according to its Summer 2021 […]
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The year 1946, when both the A.C. Gilbert Co. and the Lionel Corp. brought out their first full lines of electric trains for the postwar era, saw both heralding new locomotives equipped with a mechanism capable of producing smoke. Another milestone in the quest to market more realistic miniatures had been achieved. Truth be told, […]
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