November/December 2023

Also in this issue: EDITOR’S DESK, pg. 4 LETTERS, pg. 6 MODERN ERA NOTES, pg. 8 PHOTO ALBUM, pg. 10 NEWS & PRODUCTS, pg. 14 Atlas O offerings, club cars, railroad books, calendar, and more QUESTIONS & ANSWERS, pg. 20 S GAUGE NOW AND THEN, pg. 22 VIEWS FROM THE UNDERGROUND, pg. 24 REVIEWS, pg. […]

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Four types of track for model railroads

A light gray locomotive approaches a turnout on a scenicked HO scale layout

When you’re building a layout, there are four kinds of track for model railroads you can choose from. Those four are sectional track, sectional track with attached roadbed, flextrack, and hand-laid track. Each has its advantages and drawbacks. Luckily, you can mix and match the different types on the same layout to take advantage of […]

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Guide to N scale couplers

Color photo of freight car truck with a Mange-Matic coupler.

In the 60-plus years that N scale has been around, there has been a great deal of change in couplers. Rapido, an early manufacturer of N scale models (not to be confused with today’s Rapido Trains), let other companies use its coupler design. The wedge-front coupler, which was used on most N scale models (except […]

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Train sets: the gateway to model railroading

MTH HO scale train set

Train sets – the gateway to model railroading: If you look at an author’s biography at the end of a layout story in Model Railroader, more often than not you’ll find that the layout owner got his or her start in the hobby with a train set. Sure, your first train set won’t look like […]

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Scenery basics for model railroaders

Scenery lead image

Scenery basics for model railroaders: There are a wide variety of easy to learn techniques that will make your model railroad scenery look realistic. Often folks look at photos of beautiful model railroads and assume right away that it’s just too hard, they could never do it. Well, that just isn’t so. Certainly model railroading […]

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The basics of model railroad track

track photo

  Model railroad track comes in many scales and varieties. At top is a section of Kato N scale Unitrack, an all-in-one type. Next is a piece of Atlas HO sectional track, and at the bottom is a piece of O scale track from Atlas O. The basics of model railroad track: Many hobbyists get […]

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November 2023

Also in this issue: ON TRAINS.COM, pg. 6 The latest features on our website FROM THE EDITOR, pg. 8 Creating a model railroad that lives on NEWS AND PRODUCTS, pg. 10 HO scale NYC class J3A 4-6-4 Hudson by Bachmann Trains reviewed, plus the latest new products ASK MR, pg. 18 How do I model a […]

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Preview November and December 2023 Garden Railways content

While we may no longer be printing Garden Railways magazine, we’re adding new content to Trains.com every week! Here’s a few recent items, and a preview of what’s coming in the next month. Become a Trains.com member so you don’t miss any of this great content! If you have a story suggestion, email editor@gardenrailways.com Playmobil […]

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Preview November and December 2023 CTT content

scene on layout with flatcar hauling gold

We’re always adding new content to our website. Here are some recent items you may have missed. November new products Lots of new items this month from Lionel, Menards, ScaleTrains, and more! History behind the word kitbashing Roger Carp digs in to learn the meaning of this popular hobby term. GG-1 reversing unit? Joe Mania […]

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Types of model railroad benchwork

One of the first things that you must do when building a model train layout is decide which style of benchwork you will build for the layout. Simple tables A common starter style of model railroad benchwork is just a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood on a tabletop. My first layout was on a […]

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Preview November and December 2023 Trains content

A steam locomotive partially obscures a mountain canyon, yellow aspens and evergreens frame the engine

Coming in November We’re always adding new content to our website! Here’s a sneak peek at a few items coming up soon … Travel column: The allure of holiday trains The winter holiday season is a wonderful time to experience rail travel and to create memories that will last a lifetime. This is the busiest […]

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