Athearn HO scale Genesis Auto-Max

The Athearn Genesis Auto Max is a beautiful-looking reproduction of the real thing. Unfortunately, out of the box there were problems to be solved. The articulated truck rubbed against the screws on the connector which greatly reduced its ability to run smoothly. Applying a 5/16th in nylon mini-washer to the area solved the problem. Further, […]

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News & Products for July 3, 2008

HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division SD40-2 diesel locomotive. Mexican National Ry., Milwaukee Road, Missouri Pacific, Montana Rail Link (one road number), and Norfolk Southern. Three road numbers unless specified. Prototype-specific details, 8-pin Digital Command Control socket, and McHenry scale magnetic knuckle couplers. $99.98. November 2008. Ready-to-Roll. Athearn Trains Southern Pacific Electro-Motive Division F7 diesel locomotive. […]

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Cleaning old tubular track in bulk

O gauge track with bottles of cleaner

Q: I have a bunch of old track – maybe 500 pieces – which I’d like to use on a layout. Most of it is dirty, greasy, and rusty, and I’d like to know how to clean it without doing each piece separately. – Larry Novis, Hermitage, Tenn. A: There is no mass-cleaning technique, shortcut, […]

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PDF: Build a 1:20.3-scale ice-cream wagon

Build a 1:20.3-scale ice-cream wagon

Download the PDF of this project here. This PDF is formatted to print on your home printer. Most pieces are formatted to fit on a 8.5″ x 11″ piece of paper. For larger parts of the plan, you will see “break lines.” Line up the break lines to create the larger piece. Despite our best […]

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Aristo-Craft GP-40 diesel

Aristo-Craft GP-40

Marc Horovitz 1:29 scale, gauge-1 GP-40 dieselAristo-Craft Trains698 S. 21st St.Irvington NJ 07111Price: $352Web site: www.aristocraft.com Plastic-and-metal model of an EMD GP-40 diesel locomotive; two truck-mounted motors; working lights; smoke unit; plugs at either end to accept power from battery car; DCC and sound-system ready (speaker included); switches to control track/battery power and lights/smoke/motors on […]

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Phil’s Narrow Gauge drop-bottom gondola kit

Phil's Narrow Gauge gondola kit

Alan Olson 1:20.3 scale, gauge 1 drop-bottom gondola kitPhil’s Narrow Gauge1008 Hampshire LaneWindsor CA 95492Price: $90, less trucks, couplers, and letteringWeb site: www.philsnarrowgauge.com Model of a D&RGW 700-series drop-bottom gondola (#PNG-007); wood kit with metal fittings; trucks, couplers, and lettering not included-can be ordered separately; pictorial and written instructions included Pros: Well-designed kit of a […]

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Con-Cor HO scale M10000

Con-Cor M-10000

Con-Cor M-10000 Featuring lighted car interiors, prototypically accurate details, and realistic close coupling, this new HO scale M-10000 is a great model of one of the more historic passenger trains to run on American rails. The Con-Cor M-10000 has provisions for adding a Digital Command Control (DCC) decoder. A sound decoder and speaker kit made […]

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Walthers HO scale Geeps

Proto 2000 GP9

Proto 2000 GP9 Walthers’ latest run of HO scale Proto 2000 GP7 and GP9 diesel locomotives feature Proto Max metal magnetic knuckle couplers, limited-run paint schemes, and a dual-mode QSI Quantum sound system with dual speakers. Electro-Motive Division built more than 3,600 GP9s from January 1954 until December 1959. Surprisingly, a fair number of these […]

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