A beginner’s guide to rock-garden plants

flowers in a rock garden

Do you need a beginner’s guide to rock-garden plants? Plants that are typically suited to rocky places are tough characters. Understanding their characteristics will help you select plants for the railroad garden that will work well in the crevices of rocks, creeping along cliffs, or draped down rock faces. They often come from mountainous origins […]

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The people who work on trains

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The people who work on trains have a variety of jobs. A Norfolk Southern flagman inspects a train near Marion, Ohio.  Dale A. DeVene Jr. The people who work on trains have a variety of jobs. Each member of a train crew has a specific function. Since train crews do most of their work beyond […]

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LEGO City 60197 Passenger Train – Part 1: Building the locomotive

Model Railroader‘s Bryson Sleppy and Rene Schweitzer review the LEGO City 60197 Passenger Train set. Follow along as they build the station platform, signal, and the train’s locomotive. They go through the set book by book, bag by bag, and show tips, tricks, and building techniques along the way. This is Part 1: Building the locomotive. Look […]

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Kid-friendly garden railroading

adult watching two children on garden railway

Kid-friendly garden railroading: We all know that garden railroading is a magical hobby, one that we enjoy sharing with other adult enthusiasts. But have you considered inviting a child to share in the fascination? Kids of any age (and adults too) aren’t given to stand by and idly observe a garden railway. Rather, most would […]

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What’s the difference between a locomotive and an engine?

An image of a black-painted modern diesel locomotive leading a long string of tank cars

Railroaders, and railfans, are always talking about engines: How many engines were on that train? Don’t those new engines look good (or bad)? Did you get the number of that engine? So, what’s the difference between a locomotive and an engine? We use both terms to describe the most compelling element of railroading: the machines […]

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AEI data tags and readers

Image of a gray TransCore AEI (Automatic equipment identification) tag mounted on the side of a red railcar

AEI data tags and readers enable rail cars to be tracked as they move across the North American rail system. The AEI (Automatic Equipment Identification) system consists of passive tags mounted on each side of rolling stock and active trackside readers. The system uses radio frequency and replaces an unsuccessful older optically-based car tracking system […]

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How steam locomotives work

A large black steam locomotive, numbered 1309, emerges from a tunnel trailing a cloud of black smoke

Unlike modern machines, the steam locomotive — which underwent few fundamental changes in 125 years of development — openly displays many of its parts. This mechanical honesty has long captivated onlookers and invited study, but many still wonder just how steam locomotives work. In fact, entire books have been devoted to the subject. There are […]

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ChatGPT and the model railroad: an exploration

An image of anAI generated model railroad layout

One of the hottest topics of the moment is the conversation around artificial intelligence (AI.) If you’ve been paying attention to this conversation, you likely know that Artificial Intelligence programs have made enormous strides forward in just the past few years. These advances have caused disruption and innovation in equal measure in many fields. These […]

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End-of-train devices replaced cabooses

An orange end of train device is seen atop the rear coupler of a passing train

End-of-train devices replaced cabooses that, not so long ago, train watchers almost everywhere could count on as a final point of interest at the end of each freight train. The distinctive little cars housed crew members who would observe the cars ahead for defects, process the train’s paperwork, operate track switches, monitor the air-brake system […]

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