Lionel Santa Fe Alco diesel Q: What toy train locomotive means the most to you? A: The locomotive that means the most to me is the Lionel Santa Fe Alco diesel. Yes, that’s right, Lionel only called it an “Alco diesel” with no designation of Alco model. It’s decorated in the attractive Santa Fe “Bluebonnet” […]
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Roadbed for main lines and spurs: Lots of modelers in all scales take measures to differentiate mainline track from spurs and sidings. Spurs are dead-end tracks leading to industries, loading ramps, and sometimes stations. Sidings are tracks usually parallel to mainline tracks and are double-ended so a train can take the siding, stop, and wait […]
3D printed structures in N scale: In the heart of Tehachapi, Calif., near the Union Pacific’s double-track main line, stands a steam-era Southern Pacific 65,000-gallon water tank. It was brought to the town from another location on the railroad after a major earthquake destroyed its predecessor on April 21, 1952. Without it, Tehachapi had a […]
Kitbash a saddle tank engine: I uncovered an old Lionel large scale 0-6-0 with outside drive gears that I had kitbashed several years ago. It had a neat cab and unusual stack, which was a little bent due to a smoke unit overheating. The drive system was so poor that I had to undo one of the driver […]
See what you’re really modeling: Does this ever happen to you? You’re driving down a street you’ve gone down a hundred times before and you notice a particular house for the first time. “Where the heck did that come from?” you’re wondering. My point is we can look right at things and not really see […]
Derailments of the curious kind: Several months ago, my operations chief Gordy Spiering and I were orbiting a couple trains on my N scale layout for a group of visitors and the same boxcar kept derailing at the west end switch in the town of Tehachapi. In a situation like that the show must go […]
An N scale loading ramp for Bakersfield: In 1979, Jim FitzGerald, remembered fondly by many of us N scalers as Mr. Ntrak, introduced me to the Tehachapi Loop and its environs, and my model railroading fate was sealed forever. I wrote a remembrance of Jim in the May 2014 Model Railroader for my N Scale […]
Tips for Body-mounted couplers on auto racks: When N scale got its start in Europe in the 1960s, its originators conceived it in the tradition of toy trains, with truck-mounted couplers that could negotiate sharp-radius curves. Some N-scalers began switching to body-mounts after Kadee introduced its N scale knuckle coupler in the early 1960s. (Kadee […]
Why horseshoe curves work better in N scale: Caliente, Calif., is a little town on the Union Pacific between Bakersfield and Tehachapi. Fans of the railroad’s Tehachapi Pass know Caliente for its horseshoe curve; the rest of the world likely has never heard of it. If you’re modeling Tehachapi Pass, as I am, Caliente will […]
Where do I find paint for toy train projects? Q: I am looking to restore some of my trains. How do I get started? Where do I find the paint for the job? – Ray Fiorini, Endicott, N.Y. A. Ray, if you have a handy pile of CTT back issues or access to the online […]
Name: Walt Urban Jr.’s HK&WU RR Gauge: ODimensions: 12½ x 16 feet Track and switches: Lionel (diameters range from 31 to 72 inches)Motive power: Lionel (postwar, modern)Rolling stock: Lionel (postwar, modern)Controls: Lionel type-ZW transformers (2)Accessories: Lionel (postwar, modern)Structures: MTH, PlasticvilleVehicles: Lionel Download the track plan for this layout! Buy the Classic Toy Trains […]
