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The holiday season is when many people get introduced to model railroading. It usually starts with a train set that contains a locomotive, a few freight cars, a caboose, some track, and a power supply. Eventually, you’ll probably want another locomotive or some new cars. Here are some ideas on where to buy model trains. […]
For many years, HO scale modelers debated whether to use plastic or metal wheelsets on freight cars. That discussion has quieted down over the past two decades, largely because most new models come with metal wheelsets. However, as evidenced by the number of offerings available today, there’s still a strong demand for aftermarket metal wheelsets. […]
In the 60-plus years that N scale has been around, there has been a great deal of change in couplers. Rapido, an early manufacturer of N scale models (not to be confused with today’s Rapido Trains), let other companies use its coupler design. The wedge-front coupler, which was used on most N scale models (except […]
Although small, couplers play a big role in smooth, reliable operation. If couplers function properly and are installed per the manufacturer’s instructions, you should have few, if any, problems. In this guide to HO scale couplers, we’ll explore some of the different offerings on the market today. The evolution of HO scale couplers When […]
When the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy; Great Northern; Northern Pacific; and Spokane, Portland & Seattle merged to create the Burlington Northern on March 2, 1970, the new railroad had an interesting fleet of cabooses. While there were plenty of cars built by commercial builders, mainly International Car Co., BN’s fleet was also filled with cabooses […]
Build an HO scale weed sprayer Building an HO scale weed sprayer car was not just enjoyable; it was downright fun! It all started when my friend Paul Weiss declared that he was going to run a weed sprayer maintenance-of-way train at an upcoming operating session on his Central Vermont Ry. (www.cvrailroad.com). Five days before […]
Seven ways to uncouple model railroad train cars on tracks: Automatic knuckle couplers look great, and they make coupling cars extremely easy – you simply push them together. However, when it comes to uncoupling, far too many of us rely on the hand from the sky method (also known as the 0-5-0 switcher), reaching in […]
We’ll take a look at five details you can add to transition-era cabooses. Some details are railroad-specific, while others apply to many railroads. When in doubt, refer to prototype photos. The steam-to-diesel transition era, roughly 1940 to 1960, is the most popular modeling era. There are several reasons for this. Many people who model this […]
It’s important to mount couplers at the correct height and to do so consistently on all cars. Because of their length, passenger cars magnify the chance for unwanted uncouplings when track isn’t perfectly level. Of course, having made the car height accurate, I don’t want to change that, so to adjust coupler height I move […]
HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Diesel/Progress Rail SD70ACU diesel locomotive. Canadian Pacific (red with monochrome beaver herald and maroon-and-gray heritage scheme with script lettering in two road numbers each; Army Arid Regions and Navy schemes in one number each) and Norfolk Southern (Thoroughbred scheme, four numbers). Prototype-specific details, light-emitting-diode headlights, and wire grab irons. Direct-current model […]
Kadee HO scale early PS-1 boxcar Price: $39.95 Manufacturer Kadee Quality Products Co. 673 Ave. C White City, OR 97503-1078 www.kadee.com Era: 1947 to 1980s Road names: Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; New York Central; New York, New Haven & Hartford (with 7-foot door); Southern Ry.; and Union Pacific Comments: Kadee has released an early-production […]
Bachmann HO scale bay window caboose Price: $59 Manufacturer Bachmann Trains 1400 E. Erie Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19124 www.bachmanntrains.com Era: 1952 to 1964 (as decorated) Comments: For those who want to add variety to their caboose fleets, these HO scale bay-window cabooses from Bachmann Trains are worth a look. The plastic models are built with […]
