The Colorado Plains layout in N scale

A track plan for the Colorado Plains layout

Facts and features Name: Colorado PlainsScale: N (1:160)Size: 2′-43∕4″ x 8′-6″Prototype: BNSFLocale: Eastern ColoradoEra: ModernStyle: T-Trak modularMainline run: 182∕3 feetMinimum radius: 11″Minimum turnout: no. 4Maximum grade: noneBenchwork: Modular laser-cut kitsHeight: 23∕4″ Roadbed: noneTrack: Kato UnitrackScenery: SculptamoldBackdrop: Painted medium-density fibreboardControl: NCE DCC Click the link to download a PDF of the track plan! Buy the January […]

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The Youngstown Model Railroad Association layout in HO scale

A model railroad track plan

Facts and features Name: Youngstown Model Railroad AssociationScale: HO (1:87.1)Size: 24 x 47 feetPrototype: freelanceLocale: northeast OhioEra: 1950 to presentMainline run: 200 feet (double-track outer main), 125 feet (single-track inner main)Minimum radius: 30″ (main), 22″ (industrial areas)Minimum turnout: No. 8 (main), No. 6 (yards), No. 4 (industrial park/steel mill)Maximum grade: 2%Benchwork: L-girderHeight: 43″ to 60″Roadbed: […]

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Helping the Chief

20191220

Santa Fe 2-10-2 No. 1680 assists the 15 passenger cars and three diesels on train No. 19, the Chief, at Wootton, Colo., on the climb up Raton Pass on June 17, 1950. R.H. Kindig photo […]

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News & Products for the week of December 9th 2024

News & Products for the week of December 9th 2024   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 9th […]

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Burlington Route passenger trains remembered

A black and white photo of a locomotive passing over a bridge

Burlington Route passenger trains are part of Classic Trains‘ editors’ celebration of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy all through December 2024.       Please enjoy this photo gallery of Burlington Route passenger trains selected from Firecrown Media’s David P. Morgan Library. Since October 2019, Classic Trains’ editors have celebrated a different Fallen Flag, that is, […]

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Enola bound

20191202

Pennsylvania Railroad M1 class 4-8-2 No. 6987 heads a freight toward Enola Yard near Harrisburg, Pa., in July 1955. The railroad had 301 such locomotives in the M1 and M1a classes built in-house and by Baldwin and Lima. Don Wood photo […]

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Burlington Route steam as only John Gruber could see it

People lined up on train tracks to photograph Burlington Route steam locomotives

We all have “near misses” in our lives, and one of the biggest for me was the steam program of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, known best by the numbers of its two star locomotives, 4-8-4 No. 5632 and 2-8-2 No. 4960. Both were among a few saved after the Q dieselized and subsequently […]

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Dual service

20191209

St. Louis-San Francisco 4-8-2 No. 1503 works train No. 3 at Southeastern Junction just west of Lindenwood Yard southwest of downtown St. Louis in December 1942. The railroad had 30 such locomotives built by Baldwin between 1923 and 1926 that served in both freight and passenger service. William Barham photo, Don Wirth collection […]

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Project Roar Book: Lights, Camera, Lionel Trains!

cover of book with black and white photo

Classic Toy Trains Senior Editor Roger Carp and Project Roar’s John Schmid open and unbox a brand-new book called Lights, Camera, Lionel Trains! This hardcover book, published by Project Roar and authored by noted toy train historian Roger Carp, showcases the importance and significance of Lionel Trains throughout the years. A Lionel train was more […]

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Beloit built

20191213

Fairbanks-Morse introduced its “Consolidation Line” of freight and passenger diesels in 1950. Available in cab and booster versions rated at 1,600, 2,000, and 2,400 hp, the line cataloged 14 models. These are CPA24-5 models with a two-axle truck up front and three-axle truck at rear. Robert M. Stacy photo […]

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News & Products for the week of December 2nd 2024

News & Products for the week of December 2nd 2024   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 2nd […]

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Lionel’s Nos. 2257 and 2357 Southern Pacific cabooses

Two red toy train cabooses

Lionel’s Nos. 2257 and 2357 cabooses changed the line of toy trains in notable ways. The all-but-identical models, first cataloged in 1947, introduced three-rail enthusiasts to a type of caboose that looked different from what Lionel had been showcasing during the final years of the prewar period and the first two years of the postwar […]

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