Action may be required on your Trains.com account in order to continue accessing content. Click here to learn more.
Painting the initial backdrop installation a single shade of blue was just fine to get things started on the HO scale (1:87.1) East Troy Industrial Park project layout. However, David and Bryson share an easy technique for blending the background sky color with the adjacent wall color, and set the stage for those stunning photos […]
Walthers HO Horizon Fleet passenger cars Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: $49.98 Era: 1989 to present Manufacturer: Wm. K. Walthers Inc., 5601 W. Florist Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53218; 414-527-0770; walthers.com Features on Walthers HO Horizon Fleet passenger cars: Coach and cafe club food service cars Factory-installed diaphragms GSI roller-bearing trucks with 36” turned-metal wheels with RP-25 […]
Tony Koester, author of the popular Trains of Thought column in Model Railroader magazine and editor of MR’s annual publication Model Railroad Planning, was one of four recipients of the 2025 National Model Railroad Association Pioneer in Model Railroading award. The citation on his award read, “Author of regular articles in the hobby press and […]
It’s a busy afternoon on Jay Polk’s N scale Arkansas Division layout. A pair of Missouri Pacific Alco road switchers wait at Bald Knob Junction for a St. Louis-San Francisco local, led by GP38AC no. 636, to enter MoPac trackage. Steve Crise photographed the scene. Model Railroader‘s Photo of the Day features images from our […]
Price: Flatcar only, $43.99; flatcar with 45-foot trailer, $69.99 Manufacturer Athearn Trains 2904 Research Rd. Champaign, IL 61822 athearn.com Road names: Trailer Train (mineral red and yellow schemes), Kansas City Southern, and Southern Pacific. Three road numbers per scheme (two without trailer, one with). Era: 1960s+ to 1990s+ (varies by paint scheme) Comments: Athearn recently […]
In the August 2025 issue of Model Railroader, we featured Art Kear’s HO scale Buffalo & Susquehanna to Wellsville, Addison & Galeton. The 12 x 32-foot multi-deck walk-in layout features a logging line circa 1910 and the steam-to-diesel transition era in 1950. “Once the train room was completed, it was time to get started on […]
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe train no. 4, the “Southern Fast Mail,” hustles through Parmerton, Texas, on Jay Miller’s HO scale Panhandle & Santa Fe. Jay, a professional photographer from Dallas, Texas, digitally added the sky, wheat field, diesel exhaust, and dust using Adobe Photoshop. Model Railroader‘s Photo of the Day features images from our […]
Athearn GP40-2 series diesels Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Direct-current model with 21-pin NEM connector, $229.99; with dual-mode SoundTraxx Tsunami sound decoder, $329.99. Add $10 for Primed for Grime models. Era: 1980s to present (varies based on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Athearn Trains, 2904 Research Rd., Champaign, IL 61822; 800-338-4639; athearn.com Features on Athearn HO GP40-2 series […]
In January of this year, the future looked bleak for the storied Pacific Southern Railway, a model railroad club based in Rocky Hill, New Jersey. Their decades-old, constantly evolving club layout was facing an existential threat. The HO scale Pacific Southern Railway, spanning 5,000 square feet with over 3,500 feet of handlaid track, began its […]
New York, New Haven & Hartford RS-1 no. 0667 brings a local freight past the S&J Donohue General Store in White Hills, Conn. Lou Sassi took the photo on Bob Collett’s HO scale Huntington & Hartford, featured in the December 1996 issue of Model Railroader. Bob scratchbuilt the general store based on a prototype in […]
Q: I’m trying to locate a source for large sheets of styrene. I can find the smaller sheets marketed by Evergreen, but I have been unsuccessful in my search for 4 x 8-foot sheets. Do you know of an online source? I live in the Toledo, Ohio, metro and there aren’t any plastics dealers in […]
Kids have enjoyed playing with toy soldiers for decades, but did you know these playthings date back to ancient Egypt? Author Simon Clark has written a book that chronicles these miniature figures and the folks who collect them. The book begins with a lengthy introduction, loosely covering the 1930s through present day, with a focus […]
