News & Products for the week of December 8th 2025

Color photo showing nose of HO passenger locomotive painted black, dark blue, yellow, and gray on scenicked base with a sky background with clouds.

News & Products for the week of December 8th 2025   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 8th, 2025. […]

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Model railroad clubs in Southeast Wisconsin

Inside of a model railroad club during an open house

Milwaukee and model railroading share deep, historic ties. Model Railroader Magazine, Wm. K. Walthers, Inc., and the National Model Railroad Association all had their humble beginnings in the beer city. This rich heritage has fostered a healthy and diverse group of model railroad clubs throughout Southeast Wisconsin that are still active today.  Finding these clubs […]

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Cody’s Office | December 2025

This end of year episode of Cody’s Office is packed with new products, a helpful modeling tip, and answers to viewer mail questions. Senior Editor Cody Grivno begins by showcasing the latest from Bachmann Trains–a Trinity 5161 cubic foot capacity, three bay covered hopper in HO scale, which retails for $59. Next, he spotlights the […]

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Cody’s Office | December 2025

This end of year episode of Cody’s Office is packed with new products, a helpful modeling tip, and answers to viewer mail questions. Senior Editor Cody Grivno begins by showcasing the latest from Bachmann Trains–a Trinity 5161 cubic foot capacity, three bay covered hopper in HO scale, which retails for $59. Next, he spotlights the […]

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Atlas N scale General Electric U33B

Color photo of four-axle N scale diesel locomotive painted maroon and yellow with white graphics on white background.

Atlas N scale General Electric U33B Scale: N (1:160) Price: Direct-current model with factory-installed speaker, $159.95; with ESU LokSound V5 sound decoder, $274.95 Manufacturer: Atlas Model Railroad Co., 378 Florence Ave., Hillside, NJ 07205; 908-687-0880; shop.atlasrr.com Atlas N scale General Electric U33B features: AAR-B or Blomberg trucks, as appropriate All-new tooling Body-mounted Accumate plastic couplers […]

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Rapido N Santa Fe mechanical reefer review

Color photo showing brake end of steel refrigerator car painted yellow with brown roof and black underbody on white background.

Looking for something cool to add to your N scale freight car fleet? Then you’ll want to check out the Santa Fe Refrigerator Department (SFRD) class RR-56, RR-60, and RR-61 mechanical reefers from Rapido Trains. The models feature plastic construction, factory-applied details, and body-mounted couplers. Prototype history The 2,995-cubic-foot capacity class RR-56 cars (SFRD 2000-2019, […]

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News & Products for the week of December 1st 2025

Color illustration of modern N scale diesel painted Tuscan Red and black with white and gold graphics on white background.

News & Products for the week of December 1st 2025   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 1st, 2025. […]

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The N scale Milwaukee Road North Montana Line

When I cut a hole in the living room wall in order to expand my N scale railroad into the hallway beyond, I thought that was as large a model railroad as I would ever own. I was just happy that my wife agreed to my bizarre suggestion (see “Harlowton, Montana, in N scale,” ­Model […]

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Kato N Siemens ALC-42 Charger review

Color photo showing nose of streamlined modern passenger diesel painted red, white, gray, and blue with white graphics on white background.

In the February 2024 issue of Model Railroader, we reviewed the direct-current version of the Siemens ALC-42 Charger diesel locomotive from Kato USA Inc. Recently, we received a sample of the modern passenger unit equipped with a SoundTraxx Tsunami2 TSU-KN2 sound decoder. Prototype history With an aging fleet of General Electric P40 and P42 diesel […]

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Rapido N Budd Rail Diesel Car

Color photo showing end of N scale Budd Rail Diesel Car with stainless steel finish and black, orange, and white stripes on white background

Rapido N Budd Rail Diesel Car Scale: N (1:160) Price: Single car — Direct current, $149.95; with DCC and sound, $259.95. Santa Fe two-pack — direct current, $299.90; with DCC and sound, $519.90. Manufacturer: Rapido Trains, 382 High St, Buffalo, NY 14204; 905-474-3314; rapidotrains.com Rapido N Budd Rail Diesel Car features: All-wheel electrical pickup Body-mounted […]

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News & Products for the week of November 24th 2025

A navy blue model locomotive with yellow lettering and a yellow stripe

News & Products for the week of November 24th 2025   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 November 24th, […]

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Atlas Model Railroad Company Acquires Micro-Trains Line Co.

The logo for Micro-Trains by Atlas

Atlas Model Railroad Co. has announced the acquisition of “substantially all assets” of Micro-Trains Line Co., a manufacturer of N and Z scale model trains and couplers based in Talent, Ore. This acquisition, announced on Nov. 19, 2025, marks a significant development in the U.S. hobby industry. As part of the agreement, Atlas assumes ownership […]

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