The EMD NW3 locomotive was the builder’s first entry into the eventually lucrative road switcher category, although it was intended as a passenger terminal switcher. Locomotive builders can be inconsistent when it comes to aesthetics. EMD, which on one hand could create stylish, wind-splitting passenger units would, if the situation warranted, produce some […]
The best-selling Fairbanks-Morse diesel locomotives came from the builder’s “H” series of hood units. Even though Fairbanks-Morse built relatively few diesels compared to EMD or Alco, FM locomotives have a solid following among railfans. They were known for being rugged, excellent-pulling locomotives, in spite of their temperamental opposed-piston engines. Fairbanks-Morse chose to develop […]
Q: I have a 5’-6” x 6’-0” HO scale layout modeling south-central Oregon in the years 1950 to 1979. I want to model the industries that I grew up around in that area – potatoes, wheat farming, cattle ranching, and logging. The members of the train club I’m in say that the railroads quit hauling […]
Amtrak F40PH locomotives are considered the standard passenger motive power for the 1980s and early 1990s. The four-axle, 3,000-hp units are mechanically identical to the much more common GP40-2 freight locomotive, which also use the 16-645E prime mover. In fact, the F40PH was EMD’s first production passenger locomotive to use this prime mover. (Other F40PH […]
The 4-6-6-4 Challenger was the most successful articulated steam locomotive design. Rating steam locomotives is a risky business. You might easily compare engines by weight or length or lists of accessories, but actual performance — judged by the engineering standards of 2023 — is somewhat subjective. It would be an exaggeration to say […]
Meet Gerry Leone How did you get started in the hobby? Although my dad had a Lionel layout in our basement, I was not involved with it. I just played with the loop around the Christmas tree. At one point, he traded his Lionel stuff for a Tyco HO starter set and bought an older […]
Months ago, when the MR staff started talking about more toxic chemicals used on model railroads of the past, I had no idea there would be such a list of them! While hobbyists needed to be creative to get the job done, sadly, some of their choices were unsafe. In some cases, the chemicals were […]
Q: I’ve been a model railroader for many years, and my layouts have all been direct current. My daughter gave me a used Life-Like Proto2000 EMD E6 diesel that she purchased at a train show. The box says it’s equipped with a DCC plug, but an included card said “factory installed sound.” I don’t know […]
Q: In the good old days, it was fairly easy to distinguish among the major diesel locomotive players, especially the carbody units from Alco, Baldwin, and Electro-Motive Division (EMD). They all had distinctive noses and cabs. My question: Are there some features that will help with spotting EMD vs GE diesels I see on railroads […]
Q: I have an N scale Athearn EMD F45 locomotive with factory DCC and sound, released in 2016. I bought it new, and it worked until I activated different sounds, after which it shorted out. As soon as track power is turned on, my circuit breaker trips. When I tried bypassing the circuit breaker, it shorted […]
Locomotives short lines like to use: Shortline railroads have long fascinated me. Perhaps it’s because I had a front-row seat to the startup of one in my hometown in December 1996. Maybe it’s because some are real underdog stories. Seeing a railroad turn a line or lines plagued by years of deferred maintenance into a […]
Small interior details for a 1950s Streetcar diner are easy and fun to make. When building the diner scene shown in the photo above, I knew that I’d want to include enough interior detail to make the model interesting to look at. The diner has small windows, which meant that I only needed a […]
