Rapido HO GE 44-ton diesel locomotive

The much-anticipated Rapido HO GE 44-ton diesel locomotive recently arrived at our headquarters. Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno provides a brief history of the center-cab switcher and Milwaukee Road 992; points out the various details on the diesel; and demonstrates the sound and light function on the model, equipped with an ESU LokSound V5 […]

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Rapido HO GE 44-ton diesel locomotive

The much-anticipated Rapido HO GE 44-ton diesel locomotive recently arrived at our headquarters. Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno provides a brief history of the center-cab switcher and Milwaukee Road 992; points out the various details on the diesel; and demonstrates the sound and light function on the model, equipped with an ESU LokSound V5 […]

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Tanks a lot

A tank car begins its descent from the crest of the hump at Union Pacific’s North Plate, Neb., hump yard. The mast atop the hump control tower is for radio communication with switch engines. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]

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Five mind-blowing things no longer found on passenger trains

For many of us today, Amtrak has been the only inter-city passenger railroad. While the six Class I railroads can find passenger trains in component railroads, only the Union Pacific has a direct corporate lineage to passenger service. Long gone is the competition between railroads to provide a better passenger train experience. Also, in the […]

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News & Products for the week of December 16th 2024

News & Products for the week of December 16th 2024   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 December 16th […]

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Eye for detail

Sometimes successful photography depends on cultivating an eye for detail. There are train chasing days where the action seems almost endless. One train whips by only to be followed by another. Nirvana. Almost. There are also days when the weather is not cooperating. The sun is consistently in the wrong spot and as you look […]

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High-horsepower, standard-cab road locomotives become rare

High-horsepower, six-axle road locomotives are generally regarded to be units making between 3,800 to 4,400 hp. Over the last four decades the horsepower output has steadily grown to the high end of this range for the majority of the North American locomotives built. When this threshold was first reached with EMDs SD60 at 3,800 hp […]

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ChatGPT use cases for the model railroader

Whether we like it or not, AI isn’t going away. The adoption of this technology across all major tech companies and many industries has cemented its place in our contemporary culture, at least for the time being. We as modelers may as well make our peace with it, and learn how to make it work […]

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