Welcome to the May 2025 installment of Cody’s Office. Thanks for all of the positive feedback from last month’s episode. It’s great to be back!
Four new products are featured in the May 2025 episode of Cody’s Office. First up is the Rapido Trains HO scale Electro-Motive Division F40PHM-2 diesel locomotive. The commuter engine is followed by the Bluford Shops N scale 15-panel, 52’-6” mill gondola with factory-dented sides. Then we’ll take a look at Sooty’s Mineshaft No. 12 from Menards, which features animation and working lights. The product section concludes with a look at Basic Model Railroad Benchwork, Third Edition by prolific hobby book author Jeff Wilson. You can purchase this title at shop.trains.com or from your favorite Firecrown Media retailer.
This month’s modeling tip was inspired by a viewer letter about workbenches. We’ll visit the modeling and construction workshops at Firecrown Media’s site in Wisconsin to take a look at some of the different workbenches used by members of the Model Railroader staff. For further inspiration, we’ll share some past articles from the magazine that provide tips and tricks for getting the most out of your model building space.
To finish up the May 2025 episode of Cody’s Office, we’ll answer your questions. This time around, we help a viewer learn more about a Pennsylvania RR steam locomotive that he was photographed in as a child; take a look at freight car photo websites you can use as references when weathering your model trains; explain what the small numbers were next to the herald on some Milwaukee, Racine & Troy (MR&T) diesel locomotives; and provide a source for large rolls of sheet styrene in Ohio.
Do you have questions you’d like us to consider for a future episode of Cody’s Office? You may leave them in the comments field below or contact us via e-mail at asktrains@trains.com.
