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News & Products for the week of March 6th 2023 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 March 6th 2023. […]
Progress on the new project layout continues as some new electronic components are installed. Eric shows off his assembled car for Ultimate Guide 2023. Steve begins working on structures for the project layout. Cody reveals some new MR&T cars and unboxes a new kit. David announces an exiting new video series, coming soon to Trains.com […]
Improve ready-to-run freight cars: A few weeks ago I bought an N scale freight car at my local hobby shop. The car was a bright yellow Milwaukee Road covered hopper by Trainworx, and besides the marvelous detail, it had two other features I’ve come to look for on cars: metal wheels and body-mounted Magne-Matic couplers. […]
If you’ve ever tried to run a big locomotive around a small radius curve of track, you probably realized that the minimum recommended track radius is still too small for a lot of rolling stock. Long-wheelbase steam locomotives, in particular, have trouble staying on the rails when the curve is too sharp. Model railroad manufacturers […]
Q: I want to run six-axle power and trains of 15 cars or so around a return loop without any tight curves to it. What would be the recommended curve radius I should use, and how much space for a loop of track do I need? – Mike Bailey A: The flippant answer is, how […]
Q: Interesting article on removing the flanges from steam locomotive drivers. So, what about those long diesel engines like the General Electric C44-9W or EMD’s FP45s or SD40? Could removing flanges from diesel wheels help my HO scale Athearn Blue Box diesels go around 19” radius curves? If so, the question becomes what’s the easiest way […]
A signature N scale truck for Tehachapi: This photo of a cattle truck at Caliente, Calif., existed in my mind for perhaps 10 years before it finally came to fruition, and it was spurred by buying a Road Apples N scale stock trailer kit. The kit had two things going for it. First, I thought […]
N scale by the numbers: Scale model railroading couldn’t exist without numbers, some that are very important and some that are not important at all, but fun to play around with. This article is for those who model in N scale, so let’s look at N scale numbers, starting with the two most critical, 9mm […]
Q: I watch videos of model railroads on YouTube. On a video of a Boston & Maine layout, I saw a strange steamer. A 2-10-2 had a long tender, and on the rear truck of the tender, the wheels were ganged together with a connecting rod and the wheels had counterweights. Why? – Robert Beadle A: […]
Improving N scale engine performance: One of the most puzzling N scale locomotive performance problems I’ve encountered came with the two Atlas Electro-Motive Division (EMD) SD60s I purchased in 2014. The prototype locomotives were lease units from Oakway (an EMD subsidiary), and they were painted in the gorgeous blue-and-white scheme EMD had used for years […]
Five finds at model railroad swap meets. I always look forward to the fall and winter months. No, not because I enjoy raking leaves and shoveling snow. In this part of the country, October through March is peak model railroad swap meet season. These events are held at venues large and small, including county fairground […]
Modelers often compress industries to fit more of them on our model railroads. But doing the opposite – expanding a modeled industry to prototypical proportions – can create an intensely realistic operating experience that can’t be matched. Let’s explore that idea with a 4×8 HO scale paper mill layout. Some industries are just too large and […]
