Model railroad locomotive, freight car, passenger car, detail, tool, and book announcements for May 20, 2021

WalthersProto HO scale Electro-Motive Division

Product news  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. Here are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of May 20, 2021. HO scale locomotives  Genesis 4-8-4 FEF-2 and FEF-3 steam […]

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Northern Pacific Railway freight trains

  The Northern Pacific Railway is Classic Trains‘ Railroad of the Month for May 2021. Please enjoy this freight train photo gallery sourced from the archives of the David P. Morgan Library at Kalmbach Media. Only from Classic Trains! […]

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Create a soybean field for your garden railroad

A garden railroad scene with a model soybean field.

Always looking for new ways to make the farm scene on my garden railroad layout look more realistic, I decided to add a field of crops. With my limited knowledge of gardening, creating long rows of perfectly aligned tiny plants just wasn’t possible. I pondered several ideas but discovered the best one as I strolled […]

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Ask MR: Where should superelevation ramps go?

Superelevation ramps made with tape and thin cardboard are seen on the outside of a curve of cork roadbed

Q: When superelevating track curves with shims, is the shim placed with one of its sides along the track centerline or in the middle of the line? – Robert, last name not given  A: Superelevation is where the rail on the outside of a curve is elevated slightly above the inner rail so trains transiting […]

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Digest: Evacuation continues near Sibley, Iowa, derailment

Union Pacific logo with Building America slogan

Evacuation continues after UP derailment in Iowa Iowa State Troopers said they planned to allow the fire to burn overnight after a Union Pacific train derailed and caught fire in Sibley, Iowa, on Sunday afternoon. KELO-TV reports an evacuation remains in effect in a 2½-mile radius of the derailment site, with those evacuated sheltering in […]

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Route of the Rockets

Shiny new diesel locomotive

Route of the Rockets The 1,600-hp Alco RS3 was an all-time best-selling road switcher with more than 1,200 built from 1949 to 1956. Rock Island No. 492, built in 1951, operated in Chicago area commuter service. Rock Island photo […]

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