T-TRAK Project Part 6: Roads, rails, and housepaint

Small black and gold artist paintbrush painting white plaster model train scenery tan.

Modelers David Popp, Brian Schmidt, and Bryson Sleppy continue the scenery process on their T-TRAK modules in an attempt to make them look more like the prairies of Colorado. T-TRAK is a modular N scale railroading system that uses foot-wide boxes plugged together to build tabletop layouts. In this sixth installment, the three modelers explain […]

Read More…

In Memoriam: Kirk Reddie

Color photo of man with moustache standing in front of model railroad layout.

Kirk Reddie, Editor and Publisher of N Scale Railroading magazine, passed away on April 8, 2024. Kirk grew up and resided in Shoreline, Wash. When he was 4 years old, he received an American Flyer train set. His modeling focus shifted to HO scale when he was in eighth grade. In 1975 Kirk switched to […]

Read More…

Lionel Catalog Volume 1 for 2024

Lionel Catalog Volume 1 2024 Cover

Lionel Catalog Volume 1 for 2024 is filled with plenty of treasures. What’s there? How about fantastic locomotives loaded with tons of special effects and realistic details as well as lots of superb pieces of scale rolling stock and entertaining operating cars of all sorts? And plenty of spectacular and enjoyable train sets for modelers […]

Read More…

Metra sees surge in bikes on trains following change in policy

Man lifting bicycle onto train

CHICAGO — Metra has seen a 70% increase in bicycles brought onto its trains since it made its more bike-friendly policy permanent on Feb. 1, Streetsblog Chicago reports. Metra had relaxed its policy, which previously restricted bikes to non-peak trains, during the COViD-19 pandemic, when it also began introducing its fleet of bicycle cars [see […]

Read More…

U.S. weekly rail traffic remains ahead of 2023 levels

Weekly table showing U.S. carload rail traffic by commodity type, plus overall intermodal volume

WASHINGTON — The well-established pattern for U.S. rail traffic continued for the week ending April 6: carload traffic was down compared to the same week in 2023, while intermodal traffic was up. Overall, that added up to 450,142 carloads and intermodal units, a 1.6% increase compared with the corresponding week a year ago, according to […]

Read More…

Big Boy’s ‘Westward Bound Tour’ to begin June 30

Map of planned train route between Cheyenne, Wyo., and Roseville, Calif., and return

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Evolving plans for this year’s tour by Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 now call for the locomotive to make what the railroad is calling its “Westward Bound Tour” beginning Sunday, June 30, traveling to Roseville, Calif., and returning to its home base in Cheyenne by the end of July. At this […]

Read More…

Memorable train rides: Amtrak’s ‘Empire Builder’

closeup of man and woman on train

Trains.com David Popp’s pick: Amtrak No. 7 Empire Builder Name of train: Amtrak No. 7 Empire Builder The route: Chicago to St. Paul-Minneapolis, Minn. Duration: About 8 hours The adventure: We booked a roomette for our recent trip to visit friends in Minnesota, which afforded great privacy. Our roomette was situated on the right side of the train, giving us […]

Read More…