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We’ve all been there before. Seated at the drafting desk, or perhaps the workbench, depending on how your layout room or workshop is set up, notebook open, pen in hand, writing out a list of desired traits for your soon-to-begin model railroad, maybe sketching possible track plans in the margins. A tale as old as […]
Q: I recently ordered one of the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy N scale bay-window cabooses from Shop.Trains.com. What does the “P” on top of the bay window stand for? — R. Anderson A: The “P” indicates it’s a pool caboose, one not assigned to an individual conductor or specific crew. Former Senior Editor Jim Hediger […]
My N scale model railroad has about 50 mainline and storage track turnouts, all controlled by Tortoise by Circuitron motors and Digitrax SE8s for total control via Java Model Railroad Interface (JMRI) as well as manual local and via Digital Command Control with a DCC throttle. I’m adding another 30 to 40 or more turnouts […]
Last month we took a look at modeling urban scenery. This time around, we’ll step back from the big city and focus on rural scenery. I spent my formative years in the Red River Valley of the North, which was dotted with small towns up and down the Minnesota and North Dakota sides of the […]
“Don’t sweat the small stuff!” That’s easy to say when you are running small equipment on your rails. Your diminutive LGB Stainz and two-axle freight/passenger coaches with hook-and-loop couplers can track over pretty much whatever you throw at them. But what of us who like to run the big stuff? Heavyweights, streamliners, and extended freight […]
Q: How do mechanical passenger car washers work? — Steve Moore A: Keeping passenger cars clean is a never-ending battle as they’re subjected to the same dirt, dust, and grime as locomotives and freight cars. While spot cleaning, such as windows, is handled en route, extensive cleaning is handled at coach yards and larger terminals. […]
A finished S scale layout or individual model can be both visually and operationally impressive. However, getting the desired model may be somewhat harder than in a scale with more manufacturers and product offerings. As S scale modelers are quick to point out, modeling in 1:64 calls for inventiveness and perseverance. While there are ready-to-run […]
A common question newcomers to model railroading ask is “Why do railroads use signals?” The quick answer is to keep trains moving safely. But the topic of railroad signals deserves more of an explanation. The evolution of railroad signals When trains are running in the same direction on the same line, in opposite directions on […]
When you think about electrified rail lines today, the first thing that probably comes to mind is Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. But in the first half of the 1900s, before the start of the diesel era, railroads used electrified lines to move freight and passengers. Examples in the east included the New York, New Haven & […]
If you’ve read Model Railroader or many of our books and special issues, you’ve probably seen references to timetable-and-train-order operation, or TTTO for short. Employee timetables (ETT) that governed TTTO operation listed station names, mileposts, train numbers and classes, departure and arrival times, and operating instructions, among other items, to govern train movements. So why […]
What are railroad tower operations? Railroad tower operations can have at least two meanings. One is what happens inside a tower, or more specifically, an interlocking tower. The other is a way of running a railroad, by using the operators in interlocking towers to control traffic through specific points of the railroad. So, why do […]
Distributed Power 101 Modern railroads are one of the most efficient modes of transporting freight across long distances. Occasionally in railroad freight service, the need will arise for multiple locomotives to efficiently transport freight. But where in this hypothetical freight train should the locomotives be placed? Distributed Power (DP) is an operating practice where locomotives […]
