Train shows face pandemic pressures

Visitors enter and exit the convention building for the 2019 National Train Show

WAUKESHA, Wis. — Train shows remain challenged nearly two years after the novel coronavirus first appeared in late 2019. Several of the nation’s most popular train shows slated for 2021 were made virtual, such as the National Model Railroad Association’s national convention, this year called “Rails By the Bay” and scheduled for the San Francisco […]

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Ask MR: What do you know about Santa Fe’s train NCX?

A black-and-white photo of a manifest freight train headed by a pair of EMD FT diesels running through the San Fernando Valley in California.

Q: I’ve heard about a freight train the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe operated in the early 1970s and earlier in California called the NCX. The few references I’ve seen indicate it was a hotshot intermodal train. This train sounds interesting, especially since it ran at the same time as the famous Santa Fe Super […]

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Model railroad locomotive, freight car, and club offering announcements for September 16, 2021

Penn Central Despatch Shops Inc./St. Louis Car Co. bay-window caboose.

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 September 16, 2021. HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division GP15-1 diesel locomotive. Chicago […]

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Back on Track: How to hide backdrop seams, Episode 12

In this episode, host Gerry Leone gets back to the backdrop. Namely, he’s working to disguise those unpreventable seams that appear between sections of hardboard panels. Gerry shares his techniques for getting the job done in a satisfactory way, but without the painstaking efforts of a professional drywall installer! […]

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Walthers HO Scale turnouts debut with DCC friendly features

A Walthers HO scale turnout with parts labeled

HO Scale Walthers turnouts introduction Like their predecessors, the latest generation of turnouts is DCC friendly. Turnouts that are DCC friendly minimize the possibility of a short shutting down part of a model railroad due to metal wheels contacting adjacent rails that are at a different polarity. The new Walthers Track line turnouts are available […]

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