Ask MR: How best to shrink a structure’s footprint?

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Question: I’m in a conundrum and would love to hear an expert’s opinion. I’m planning to build a replica of an Alexandria, Minn., cold storage building for our club’s HO scale layout. If the structure is to fit the space, it will have to be selectively compressed, compromising its accuracy. To remain proportionally accurate, it […]

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Bachmann HO scale Russian Decapod 2-10-0

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With its small drivers, open space under the boiler, and European look, a “Russian” Decapod 2-10-0 is very recognizable to most steam aficionados. We first reviewed Bachmann’s Spectrum series model of this distinctive prototype back in the April 2002 issue. Featuring the same high level of detail, this latest release of the Russian Decapod features […]

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WalthersMainline HO scale EMD SD50 diesel

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WalthersMainline HO scale EMD SD50 diesel Electro-Motive Division’s SD50 diesel locomotive was the successor to its wildly popular SD40-2. Now a model of this big 3,500-hp brute equipped with an optional Electronic Solutions Ulm (ESU) dual-mode decoder is available from Walthers Mainline for your HO scale layout. The prototype. General Motors sold the first SD50s […]

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Rapido Trains HO scale P-S New Haven diner

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Rapido Trains HO scale P-S New Haven diner Rapido Trains has added a 1949 Pullman-Standard streamlined dining car to its ever-growing line of New York, New Haven & Hartford HO scale passenger equipment. The injection-molded plastic and metal car features more than 200 parts and is detailed inside and out. The prototype. In December 1945, […]

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Atlas N scale 4,180-cubic-foot-capacity Airslide covered hopper

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Atlas N scale 4,180-cubic-foot-capacity Airslide covered hopper Underbody details include separate, factory-applied outlet gate piping, hopper outlets, underframe slope braces, and the cylinder/brake assembly.   Atlas Model Railroad Co. has added a new model to its expanding N scale lineup, the General American 4,180- cubic-foot capacity Airslide covered hopper. The model, based on a mid-1960s […]

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Modeling the mighty Pennsy in a small space

Pennsylvania RR Juniata Division

A version of this article appeared in Model Railroader’s special issue from 2018: Build a Small Railroad.  Pursuing my hobby concurrently with my military career meant I needed a portable model railroad that could still suggest the scale and intensity of a gigantic prototype in an impossibly small space. I found what I needed in […]

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Modeling a narrow gauge railroad in a small space

Michigan-California Logging Co.

Modeling a narrow gauge railroad in a small space: Modeling a logging camp requires a variety of structures, trackwork, scenery, figures, and activities. The camp includes not only loggers involved in different pursuits, but also woodchoppers, a laundress, checkers players, engineers and mechanics, stable hands and horses, bears, garbage cans, railroad materials, and more, surrounded […]

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CSX switching layout in HO scale in 12 square feet

CSX Ridgecrest

A version of this article appeared in Model Railroader’s special issue from 2018: Build a Small Railroad. In today’s world of trains, big 6-axle locomotives, and flashing red lights replacing cabooses, it’s comforting to know that spotting a single boxcar at a warehouse is still an integral part of railroading. Designing the module As I […]

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Remembering Santa Fe Railway freight trains

A black and white photo of locomotive 2-10-2 on the tracks with black smoke coming out of its chimney as it turns

All this month — May 2020 — Classic Trains editors are celebrating the heritage, history, and images of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway. Please enjoy this photo gallery of images from the David P. Morgan Library archives at Kalmbach Media that include Santa Fe diesel- and steam-powered freight trains through time. You might […]

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