A handy N scale uncoupler: If you’re a model railroader, everywhere you go your antennae are out, scanning your environs for anything that might be useful to build with. And that leads me to swizzle sticks. I was having lunch with a tableful of in-laws at Maggiano’s Little Italy, a popular chain with a restaurant […]
News & Products for the week of July 5th 2023 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 July 5th 2023. […]
Q: I’ve tried many methods to uncouple my rolling stock automatically rather than use a manual tool. Permanent magnets were far from satisfactory even when I devised a way to raise them at the appropriate time to a position closer to the couplers. I’ve modified an HOn3 electromagnet to fit between the rails, and this […]
With Independence Day just around the corner, we thought it would be fun to take a look back at some N and HO scale locomotive models in Bicentennial paint schemes. As the 200th birthday of the United States approached, numerous prototype railroads renumbered and repainted locomotives in patriotic schemes to pay tribute to the nation. […]
If you’ve read stories about diesel locomotives on Trains.com or in Kalmbach Media’s railroad magazines and books, you’ve most likely seen references to diesel locomotives by generation. But what does generation mean? Unlike automobiles, locomotive manufacturers don’t bring out new models each year. The same basic locomotive model can stay in production for years – […]
News & Products for the week of June 26th 2023 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 June 26th 2023. […]
News & Products for the week of June 19th 2023 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 June 19th 2023. […]
News & Products for the week of June 12th 2023 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 June 12th 2023. […]
ScaleTrains, a manufacturer of N, HO, and S scale model trains based in Cleveland, Tenn., announced has acquired ExactRail, a producer of freight cars and bridges in N and HO scales. The announcement came in a press release titled “ScaleTrains acquires ExactRail” on June 9, 2023. “We’re excited about the future of our favorite hobby,” […]
N scale decoder woes: This month I’m going to vent about a round of recent frustrations dealing with N scale Digital Command Control (DCC) decoder installations. The villain of the story will be the Internet, but in an unexpected twist of plot, that same villain shall emerge as the hero. The moral is that the […]
Meet Dick Christianson What was your first train set (or locomotive)? I didn’t fully realize until recently (I’m 78) that my dad was a model railroader. Let me explain. I got my original Lionel train set (No. 675 Pacific with smoke and a whistling tender, a flatcar, a Lehigh Valley hopper, and a Southern Pacific-style […]
Lessons learned on the helix: Whether we’re talking about a model railroad or the real thing, it’s a lot harder to run trains in the mountains than on the flatlands. Every mechanical aspect of operation becomes far more critical. It may prove embarrassing when a car derails on a flat railroad, but usually no harm […]
