David Popp is now working weekends to give MRVideoPlus.com subscribers an exclusive episode from his basement bunker. See how the parts and pieces of the wood kit start to come apart…all to come together again! But even in the midst of offering great tips and tricks, our expert builder must still manage a few unexpected […]
Most N scale bovines offered by figure manufacturers are milk cows, but the Montana cattle industry requires steers and bulls, too. Dan Lewis uses wire and Microscale Kristal Kleer to turn cows into bulls, as well as to model longhorns, on his N scale Milwaukee Road North Montana Line. One problem I encountered with commercially […]
A feature one doesn’t see modeled very often is white extra flags. On a line like the North Montana that hosted mostly time freights, extra trains carrying livestock and grain were seasonal. Extra flags can be easily made from .008″ brass wire and small squares cut from white tissue paper. After gluing the flags onto […]
In August 1968, two years before author Dierks’ ride and when the Boise City mixed carried a combine instead of just a caboose, Santa Fe train 174 is at Elkhart, Kans. Joe McMillan This wasn’t my first rodeo, so to speak. I had ridden mixed trains in Utah and Idaho, and, just four days ago, one in Kansas. […]
Name: Shawn Viggiano Railroad Name: Kittatinny Mountain RR Location: Wantage, NJ Scale: 1:20.3 Theme: Logging Description: Regner Class A Climax steaming on a warm spring day. […]
Name: Shawn Viggiano Railroad Name: Kittatinny Mountain RR Location: Wantage, NJ Scale: 1:20.3 Theme: Logging Description: Steam in spring snow […]
Many readers have asked how we identify the current crop of big, modern road diesels. Unfortunately, it isn’t easy, as many locomotive designs have evolved into a family of similar looking locomotives. This means modelers have to study the details to figure out what locomotive is represented by a specific scale model. Comparing the model […]
All this month — April 2020 — Classic Trains editors are celebrating the heritage, history, and images of the Pere Marquette Railway. Please enjoy this photo gallery of images from the David P. Morgan Library archives at Kalmbach Media that include Pere Marquette diesel- and steam-powered freight trains through time. You might also enjoy this […]
Layout at a glance Name: Frisco Lines Layout owner: John Peluso Scale: HO scale (1:87.1) Size: 16 x 30 feet Prototype: St. Louis-San Francisco Ry. (Frisco) Locale: St. Louis to Springfield, Mo. Era: late 1950s to late 1960s Style: double-deck walk-in Mainline run: 400 feet Minimum radius: 30″ (main), 26″ (staging) Minimum turnout: no. 8 […]
Classic Trains editors are celebrating the heritage, history, and lore of famed (and infamous) railroads. In April 2020, we celebrate the Pere Marquette Railway. Please enjoy a collection of locomotive images located in the David P. Morgan Library archives at Kalmbach Media that include the Pere Marquette’s iconic locomotives and classic scenic photos. You might […]
A right-front angled view of Accucraft’s Sabrina locomotive. Garden Railways file photo A version of this article appears in the Summer 2020 issue. Sabrina is one of a pair of new freelance live-steam locomotives from Accucraft. Our review sample is painted an attractive dark-green. The British-style engines are built to 1:19 scale (16mm to the […]
50 Beautiful Deer-Resistant Plants Garden Railways file image Was Elmer Fudd, Looney Tunes’ little rifle-toting hunter of Bugs Bunny fame, justified in shooting at Bugs Bunny? Remember how the “waskily wabbit” tunneled under Elmer’s garden yanking down one juicy carrot after another? In cartoons, we cheer for the bunny, but what if he had […]
