Atlas Trainman HO two-bay hopper

Color photo of HO scale two-bay offset-side hopper painted green with white graphics

Atlas Trainman HO two-bay hopper Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Single car, $26.95; three-pack, $80.85 Era: 1930s to 1970s Manufacturer: Atlas Model Railroad Co., 378 Florence Ave., Hillside, NJ 07205; 908-687-0880; shop.atlasrr.com Atlas Trainman HO two-bay hopper features: Blackened metal wheels on plastic axles Body-mounted Accumate couplers Factory-applied brake wheel, chassis, and slope sheet covers Freestanding […]

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News & Products for the week of May 5th 2025

A red and yellow model caboose

News & Products for the week of May 5th 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 May 5th, […]

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Modeling seasons on your layout

Color photo of steam engine pulling freight train through snow-covered scenery.

Back in 2010, I was part of a group of contributors to Scenery by the Seasons by Kalmbach Publishing Co. The 98-page book featured stories on modeling seasons on your layout. Among the topics covered were spring backdrops; lily pads, cattails, and pond scum; easy autumn trees; and ice and snow. Though the title is […]

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Famous tycoons who shaped America’s railroad industry

Portrait shot of Cornelius Vanderbilt

The rapid expansion of America’s railroad system in the 1800s and early 1900s was driven largely by a small group of powerful businessmen. Here we profile 12 of the most influential railroad magnates who helped shape modern America.  Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the men on this list built railroad empires connecting cities, opening the […]

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Benchwork for the East Troy Industrial Park

Balding older man with gray hair and beard wearing dark-framed glasses holds a bright green power nailer to the top of two wood boards resting on yellow sawhorses in a work room with light blue walls. 

From tabletop, to shelf, to open grid, there are a lot of different methods you can use to build model railroad benchwork. For our HO scale East Troy Industrial Park project layout, we used a combination of two methods, cookie cutter and L-girder, to make solid, stable benchwork. While not exactly framing for a layout, […]

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Identifying a Pennsylvania RR steam engine

Black-and-white image of a young boy in the cab of a steam locomotive.

Q: I need help identifying a specific Pennsylvania RR steam engine. The number on the cab was 1299. What class was this locomotive? I have a picture of me as a boy looking out the fireman’s window and want to model the engine in HO scale. — John Nagle A: Thanks for writing in and […]

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WalthersMainline HO EMD NW2

Screen capture from product review video with HO scale end-cab switcher painted orange, green, and black on scenicked layout with title bar in lower left corner.

The WalthersMainline HO EMD NW2, an end-cab diesel locomotive based on a Phase V prototype, switches cars on our Winston-Salem Southbound Tar Branch project layout in our latest product review video. Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno provides a brief history of the switcher and Great Northern No. 158; points out the various detail parts […]

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WalthersMainline HO EMD NW2

Screen capture from product review video with HO scale end-cab switcher painted orange, green, and black on scenicked layout with title bar in lower left corner.

The WalthersMainline HO EMD NW2, an end-cab diesel locomotive based on a Phase V prototype, switches cars on our Winston-Salem Southbound Tar Branch project layout in our latest product review video. Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno provides a brief history of the switcher and Great Northern No. 158; points out the various detail parts […]

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News & Products for the week of April 28th 2025

A yellow and gray model coach car

News & Products for the week of April 28th 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 April 28th, […]

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Hornby: Book of Collectable Toys

cover of book with toys on it

Frank Hornby, British businessman and inventor born in 1863, is a name known across the globe for model trains and toys alike. This book, Hornby: Book of Collectable Toys, takes a deep dive into the history of the Hornby manufacturing company and its many subsidiaries. This book isn’t just about model trains–it includes all of […]

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Kansas City Union Station

A black and white vintage aerial photograph of Kansas City Union Station

  At the turn of the 20th century, the citizens and serving railroads of Kansas City, Mo., yearned to revamp how passengers arrived and disembarked from the growing gateway city along the Missouri River. The 1878-built Union Depot in the West Bottoms district couldn’t keep up with the thriving rail traffic and local desire to […]

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News & Products for the week of April 21st 2025

An orange and green model locomotive

News & Products for the week of April 21st 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 April 21st, […]

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