MTH Trains’ Wolf sets 2021 end date for company

Model Railroader

M.T.H. Trains President Mike Wolf has announced his May 2021 retirement and the subsequent closure of the company after 40 years in business. “It is, therefore, with mixed emotions that I tell you I have decided to retire in 2021 and close the business,” he said in a June 8, 2020 letter to the industry. […]

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Hartland Locomotive Works halts train production

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Large-scale model railroad equipment manufacturer Hartland Locomotive Works has ceased production, possibly for good. The Laporte, Ind. company posted a letter May 28 on its website stating it has ceased train production due to difficulties in its overall business and the Covid-19 virus. It has been part of the hobby for more than 25 years. […]

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New model trains for the week of June 11, 2020

Red fowler boxcar

See the latest model railroad products in HO, N, and O scales! HO scale locomotives General Electric P42 diesel locomotive. Amtrak (phase 2 heritage scheme in two road numbers, phase 3 scheme in four numbers, phase 4 heritage scheme in one number, and phase 5 scheme in four numbers) and VIA Rail Canada (Renaissance paint […]

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In memoriam: John “Jack” Ozanich, 1943-2020

Man in snowy scene with ride on steam locomotive.

John “Jack” Ozanich of Paw Paw, Mich., died on May 29. He was 76 years old. Jack’s well-known HO scale Atlantic Great Eastern layout was featured in Great Model Railroads 2005. In that same issue he shared the story of his 3-3/4” scale Sandy Ridge & Clear Lake Ry. that operated through 29 acres around […]

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New model trains for the week of June 4, 2020

Electric train

HO scale locomotives Pennsylvania RR class P5a boxcab electric locomotive. New fictional paint schemes (one road number each): New York Central (lightning stripe), Great Northern (Empire Builder), and Milwaukee Road (maroon-and-orange scheme). New road numbers: Pennsylvania RR (1930s passenger type painted Dark Green Locomotive Enamel [DGLE] with brown roof and Gold Leaf Roman lettering, freight […]

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Remembering Texas & Pacific passenger trains

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In June 2020, Classic Trains is celebrating the history, heritage, and splendor of the Texas & Pacific Railway. Enjoy this photo gallery, originally published online in February 2017, as the perfect salute to the T&P. Return each week for another salute to the railroad of the month! See what we did last week for the […]

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Remembering the Texas & Pacific Railway

Steam locomotive hauling freight train emitting large plume of smoke.

History of the Texas & Pacific What grew to become the 20th century’s Texas & Pacific Railway sprouted from some of Texas’s earliest railroads. The Lone Star State’s pre-Civil War network included 11 operating companies. One of the earliest was the Texas Western Railroad, chartered in 1850 and soon renamed Vicksburg & El Paso. In […]

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Remembering the Texas & Pacific Railway

T&P’s 70 2-10-4 Texas type steam locomotives, built by Lima 1925-29, were the road’s biggest, most numerous, and best-known power. No. 636 rolls an extra east near Mineola, 79 miles east of Dallas, in 1951. R. S. Plummer History of the Texas & Pacific What grew to become the 20th century’s Texas & Pacific Railway […]

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Birmingham (U.K.) out as 2022 NMRA host

The ripple effect of the global COVID-19 pandemic has impacted another National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) National Convention. Birmingham, England, scheduled to host the 2022 NMRA National Convention, announced that it will no longer be able to host the event. Birmingham’s decision to back out as host was driven by scheduling conflicts with another event […]

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Plans for a C&NW yard office

CNWButleryardofficedrawings

In the July 2020 Model Railroader, Group Technical Editor Cody Grivno shows how he scratchbuilt an HO scale model based on the Chicago & North Western yard office in Butler, Wis. See a PDF version of this by clicking here. […]

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