Mike McGrattan’s Memorial Train visits the C&W

Mike McGrattan Memorial Train

Mike McGrattan was a father, husband and empathetic citizen. He was also a well known N scale modeler and an employee of Rapido Trains. Mike passed away about a year ago, but he is far from forgotten. In his memory, members of The Railwire online community organized a special passenger train which has visited and […]

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Mike McGrattan’s Memorial Train visits the C&W

Mike McGrattan Memorial Train

Mike McGrattan was a father, husband and empathetic citizen. He was also a well known N scale modeler and an employee of Rapido Trains. Mike passed away about a year ago, but he is far from forgotten. In his memory, members of The Railwire online community organized a special passenger train which has visited and […]

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New model trains for the week of July 6, 2017

ScaleTrains.com Inc. HO scale Electro-Motive Division SD40-2 diesel locomotive

HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division SD50 diesel locomotive. Chessie System (Baltimore & Ohio reporting marks), Chicago & North Western, CSX (gray and blue in one number, Chessie System patchout in three numbers), Erie Lackawanna (fictional paint scheme, three numbers), Norfolk Southern, Northern Pacific (fictional paint scheme, three numbers), and Union Pacific. Four numbers per scheme […]

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Rail brands deciphered

TRNAT0915_01

This line of numbers and letters is a rail brand. Deciphered correctly, they show railroads the weight, maker, treatment, design, and manufacture date of a rail. Ed Funkhouser Q I saw these numbers and letters on the side of a rail near Mebane, N.C. Can you tell me what they mean? – Ed Funkhouser, Raleigh, […]

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Santa Fe train 76 and 17 tons of sand

atsf_pa_61

Santa Fe PA No. 61, whose long nose may have saved its crew 14 years later, in 1951 flies green flags on the point of First 24, the Grand Canyon, at Caliente, Calif. Stan Kistler On December 22, 1965, I was the engineer on Santa Fe Railway Los Angeles–San Diego train 76, one of the […]

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Track warrant form for your model railroad

TrackWarrantBlank

Click on the image or link to download a PDF copy of a blank track warrant form. On many modern-era railroads, track warrants are used to move trains over the line. Jerry Dziedzic describes dispatching a model railroad with track warrants in the August 2017 Model Railroader. […]

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Mulch in the garden railroad

figure next to trees and house on garden railway

A lecturer once told our Master Gardener group, “Mulch is like underwear: we need it, but we don’t want to see it.” Ideally, the ground is best covered with plants, but it takes time for small starts of groundcover plants to spread and fill the areas we want. If the soil is left bare between […]

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Dwarf hardy jasmine

dwarf_jasmine

Nancy Norris Common name: Dwarf hardy jasmine, Parker’s jasmine Latin name: Jasminum parkeri Plant type: Shrubs & small trees USDA Hardiness Zones: 7-11 (overwinter indoors in lower zones) Cultural needs: Regular moisture, well-drained, slightly acidic soil, sun or part shade Plant size: 8-18″ high x 18″ wide Many plants are called jasmine but stem from […]

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