I constructed my first N scale layout in a coffee table in 1976 based on the East Glasstop project railroad series that appeared in Model Railroader from December of 1970 to April of 1971. However, it was not until I retired in 2016 that I completed my second layout, a 5 x 5 foot square […]
Watch a video of the Atlas O Premier custom-run VIA Rail F40PH-2 locomotive, as offered by Mr. Muffin’s Trains. This locomotive packs in a lot of detail and features like Proto-Sound 3.0 and O-36 operation. Read the product review of this engine from Contributing Editor Bob Keller. […]
Watch a video of the Atlas O Premier custom-run VIA Rail F40PH-2 locomotive, as offered by Mr. Muffin’s Trains. This locomotive packs in a lot of detail and features like Proto-Sound 3.0 and O-36 operation. Read the product review of this engine from Contributing Editor Bob Keller. […]
FP7 No. 405 backs past Joliet (Ill.) Union Station to pick up a Rock Island suburban consist for a run into Chicago in fall 1951. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]
News & Products for the week of February 10th 2025 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 February 10th, […]
It is a crazy and wonderful O gauge market where a hobby shop can have Atlas O make a custom-run of an MTH locomotive in a contemporary Canadian livery! Well done to all involved in making this happen! Interesting origins After American railroads gave up on passenger traffic and a national passenger network run by […]
Adding details that make a scene more interesting or increase operating potential can take your layout to a whole new leave of realism. Try one (or all) of the ideas listed below! Share your photos with us at editor@classictoytrains.com. Detail track and add lineside details Adding details to the right-of-way is an easy way to […]
The rise and fall of cabless locomotives, also called B-units, is a story tracing back to the beginning of dieselization. A cabless locomotive is simply a diesel locomotive without a cab for a crew to occupy. This differs from a slug, which has no prime mover and requires power from a mother unit to provide […]
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sierra Northern Railway has acquired the assets of locomotive builder RailPower LLC as part of its efforts to develop hydrogen and other low- or zero-emission motive power. RailPower has produced approximately 190 locomotives, including 55 hybrid switchers and 116 genset locomotives, while Sierra Northern is currently involved in development of at […]
CHICAGO — Despite icy conditions across the country’s mid-section and into the Northeast Corridor over the last few days, Amtrak has kept most service running, avoiding widespread weather-related cancellations that occurred throughout January. But substantial initial terminal or en route delays to long-distance trains continue. Many can be traced to mechanical breakdowns. Recent incidents include: […]
STEARNS, Ky. — A former Atlantic Coast Line EMD SW9 has been badly damaged in a light-engine derailment on Kentucky and Tennessee’s Big South Fork Scenic Railway. Aerial photos on the cover of the McCreary Journal, a southern Kentucky local newspaper, reveal a badly damaged EMD SW9 No. 106 derailed and resting against a mountainside […]
Trains.com host David Popp invites you along for this initial overview of Model Railroader magazine’s emerging HO scale (1:87.1) project layout, the East Troy Industrial Park Railroad! To get things started, David shares how 1:1 scale operations of a Class III railroad (as featured in the Trains.com Video Series “Taking Care of Business: SMS Rail […]
