Looking for something cool to add to your N scale freight car fleet? Then you’ll want to check out the Santa Fe Refrigerator Department (SFRD) class RR-56, RR-60, and RR-61 mechanical reefers from Rapido Trains. The models feature plastic construction, factory-applied details, and body-mounted couplers. Prototype history The 2,995-cubic-foot capacity class RR-56 cars (SFRD 2000-2019, […]
Section: News & Reviews
Atlas HO ACF 5800 covered hopper
Atlas HO ACF 5800 covered hopper Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: $46.95 Manufacturer: Atlas Model Railroad Co., 378 Florence Ave., Hillside, NJ 07205; 908-687-0880; shop.atlasrr.com Atlas HO ACF 5800 covered hopper features: 10 separate, factory-applied hatch covers 36” blackened metal wheelsets Body-mounted Accumate couplers Factory-applied air reservoir, brake cylinder, and control valve with auxiliary and emergency […]
News & Products for the week of December 1st 2025
News & Products for the week of December 1st 2025 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. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of December 1st, 2025. […]
Classic Toy Trains new products for December 2025
Locomotives & rolling stock Atlas Model Railroad Co., Inc., 378 Florence Ave., Hillside, NJ 07205, has an Operating Log Dump Car as part of the Premier line. The car includes an operating dump mechanism, a load of logs, and O-31 operation (3001968 shown). Requires one piece of No. 6097 Accessory Rails track for operation (not […]
Rio Grande Southern No. 20 visits Durango
DURANGO, Colo. — Rio Grande Southern 4-6-0 No. 20 recently traveled from its home at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. The trip, aboard a semitruck, took the locomotive over Colorado’s 10,222-foot-high Lizard Head Pass, where it once operated. No. 20 last crossed this pass in the […]
Rapido HO Trenton Works 6637 boxcar
Rapido HO Trenton Works 6637 boxcar Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Single car, $39.95 to $49.95; six-pack, $299.70 Manufacturer: Rapido Trains, 382 High St., Buffalo, NY 14204; 905-474-3314; rapidotrains.com Rapido HO Trenton Works 6637 boxcar features: Barber S-2 cast-steel trucks with separate brake beam detail Body-mounted semi-scale metal couplers Designed from original blueprints and field measurements […]
CB&Q turntable to be installed at Silvis shop
SILVIS, Ill. — More than 70 years ago, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific worked from a 45-stall roundhouse located on its 90-acre facility in western Illinois. That building has long since been demolished. Now, Railroading Heritage of Midwest America has broken ground to install a 135-foot turntable and build a six-stall roundhouse on the […]
Rapido N Budd Rail Diesel Car
Rapido N Budd Rail Diesel Car Scale: N (1:160) Price: Single car — Direct current, $149.95; with DCC and sound, $259.95. Santa Fe two-pack — direct current, $299.90; with DCC and sound, $519.90. Manufacturer: Rapido Trains, 382 High St, Buffalo, NY 14204; 905-474-3314; rapidotrains.com Rapido N Budd Rail Diesel Car features: All-wheel electrical pickup Body-mounted […]
ScaleTrains S wood refrigerator car review
An American Car & Foundry 40-foot wood refrigerator car is the fourth model to join the ScaleTrains S-Helper Service lineup. The reefer, based on a prototype from the 1920s, features plastic construction; factory-installed and painted wire grab irons; and sprung, die-cast metal trucks. Prototype history The review sample we received is decorated as Santa Fe […]
Rapido Trains HO GE C36-7 diesel locomotive
Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno reviews the Rapido Trains HO scale (1:87.1) General Electric C36-7 diesel locomotive. Built between 1978 and 1985, this powerful six-axle unit is rated up to 3,750 horsepower. Our Missouri Pacific No. 9034 sample features a detailed cab interior, metal knuckle couplers, and a positionable drop steps. Equipped with an […]
Menards concrete blocks
Menards has released an accessory that just about any layout, big or small, could use: concrete blocks. Each package contains 100 pieces of scaled blocks measuring 1¾” x ¾” x ¾”. A standard size block measures a nominal 8” x 8” x 16”, with an actual size of 15⅝” x 7⅝” x 7⅝”. At 1:48 […]
Milwaukee Road caboose donated
NORTH FREEDOM, Wis. — The Mid-Continent Railway Museum received Milwaukee Road steel bay-window caboose No. 02091 (later No. 992091) as a donation to its collection today. The donation came from Ken and Ruth Rupp. The caboose was built by the railroad in its Milwaukee Menomonee Valley shops. It is known to have run in Western […]
