How do I remove black marks from tubular track?

Sections of track on the table

I recently took out my old toy trains that have been packed away for about 25 years. The tubular track sections that were brand new back then now have black marks on them. How do I clean them and get them usable again? — Joe Rampe If it’s just dry corrosion, a Scotch-Brite pad will […]

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Totally Tubular

20190514

A man reads a book on the main level of a Budd-built Tubular coach while people relax in the smoking lounge above and behind him. Note the dark-colored ramp up to the end door. The train entered regular service on the Pennsylvania Railroad in June 1956 on the New York–Washington Keystone. Pennsylvania Railroad photo […]

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Broadway Limited Imports N scale EMD F3

Screen capture from product review video with N scale cab unit and text in lower left corner.

The Broadway Limited Imports N scale EMD F3 decorated in Chesapeake & Ohio colors recently powered an excursion train over our Milwaukee, Racine & Troy State Line Route. Join Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno as he shares a brief history of the Electro-Motive Division cab unit and C&O No. 8016; points out the molded […]

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Broadway Limited Imports N scale EMD F3

Screen capture from product review video with N scale cab unit and text in lower left corner.

The Broadway Limited Imports N scale EMD F3 decorated in Chesapeake & Ohio colors recently powered an excursion train over our Milwaukee, Racine & Troy State Line Route. Join Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno as he shares a brief history of the Electro-Motive Division cab unit and C&O No. 8016; points out the molded […]

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Legs and bracing for the East Troy Industrial Park

Two white males, one with a full beard and one with a balding head, hold wood furniture legs to a bare wood rectangular frame and attach support boards to keep the legs vertical using black, blue, and yellow bar clamps.

Once we had the L-girders built, it was time to turn our attention to adding the legs and support bracing for the layout. We constructed the legs as simple subassemblies with their own cross bracing. It all bolts to the L-girder frames using ¼” carriage bolts, wing nuts, and washers.  We used more dimensional lumber […]

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What happened to the great passenger trains?

Conductor uses a lantern to signal the engineer

By 1840, the nation had 2,800 miles of railroad track. In his book American Notes, novelist Charles Dickens captured the flavor of an 1842 trip on the Boston & Lowell Railroad. “On it whirls headlong, dives through the woods again, emerges in the light, clatters over frail arches, rumbles upon the heavy ground, shoots beneath […]

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A closer look at feed mills

Color photo showing portion of a feed mill with red siding, conveyors, and cyclone vents.

Q: In your special issue Best of Industries, Harold W. Russell wrote about the R.B. Crowell & Son Grain Co. He stated that the rail-served industry received grain in bulk loads, but in the photos and drawings it seems to me that they would ship grain instead of receiving it. What are your thoughts? — […]

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MTH RailKing Alco RSD5

nose of blue and gray model locomotive on a layout

The RSD5 diesel locomotive was produced by Alco from 1952 through 1956. Just over 200 of these units were produced, a small quantity compared to the more than 1,200 RS-3s Alco produced earlier in the same decade. The RSD5s produced 1600 hp with just over 71,000 pounds of tractive effort. The three-axle trucks, each axle […]

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News & Products for the week of May 12th 2025

A black model freight car

News & Products for the week of May 12th 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 12th, […]

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MTH RailKing Alco RSD5

nose of blue and gray model locomotive on a layout

The RSD5 diesel locomotive was produced by Alco from 1952 through 1956. Just over 200 of these units were produced, a small quantity compared to the more than 1,200 RS-3s Alco produced earlier in the same decade. The RSD5s produced 1600 hp with just over 71,000 pounds of tractive effort. The three-axle trucks, each axle […]

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