DCC Currents: Controlling your Walthers turntable with DCC

Canadian Pacific maroon and gray Royal Hudson sits on Walthers turntable in field of track

By Allan Gartner The Advanced Control Module from Walthers will work with DCC systems capable of controlling accessories, such as turnouts. Your system will need at least one throttle that you can set thrown/closed, on/off, 1/2, or whatever your system calls it, as needed. Systems where the throttle only allows you to toggle from the […]

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Athearn Genesis 2.0 EMD SD80MAC

Athearn Genesis Electro-division locomotive

Athearn is rolling out its Genesis 2.0 models and we recently received a sample of the Electro-Motive Division SD80MAC. Sounds features include EMD’s 20-710G3B 20-cylinder diesel engine, and lighting features such as operating ditch lights that flash when the horn in sounded. […]

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A freight train at night, a diesel at the turntable, a steamer in the shop, and other model railroad photos

A steam locomotive is dramatically lit from the side as it crosses a wood trestle at night

Trackside Photos is a showcase for the work of Model Railroader readers. Send your photos (digital images 5 megapixels or larger) to: Model Railroader, Trackside Photos, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612; or upload them to http://fileupload.kalmbach.com/contribute. For our photo submission guidelines, contact associate editor Steven Otte at sotte@mrmag.com. […]

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Expanding a 4×8

Sketching with Steve The good old 4 x 8 train table is a tradition – if not a cliché – for a reason: plywood comes in 4 x 8-foot sheets. When our dads or grandpas bought us our first train sets for Christmas, they often nailed that simple oval or figure-8 onto a table made […]

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