One glance at the picture Joe Phillips has shared of his good friend Wayne Colabaugh’s O gauge layout, and you know they both like plenty of activity. Why, they couldn’t even wait for the MTH Premier line No. 22-20636-2 Norfolk Southern AC4400CW to slow down before snapping this terrific shot. Nearby on Wayne’s railroad in […]
Senior Editor Cody Grivno reviews the new Atlas Trainman HO Electro-Motive Division (EMD) GP38-2 diesel locomotive. First, you’ll learn new insights about full-size EMD GP38-2 units, and specifics details about Helm Leasing no. 3805, which was originally built as Texas Mexican Railway no. 866. Then, as possible only through video demonstration, Cody highlights the model’s […]
Lionel trains rumbling over circular main lines erected at different heights and surrounded by operating accessories, including this No. 397 Diesel-Type Coal Loader, combine to bring Raymond Smith back to his youth in the 1950s. Long ago, this O gauger modeler residing in Bradford, R.I. recalls, life didn’t move quite as quickly as today, and […]
Photos of outstanding compact layouts in every gauge have flooded the Classic Toy Trains office ever since we finished our special-interest publication titled Toy Train Layouts for Small Spaces. The S gauge display built by Gerold Slotkin really tickles our fancy. He has filled the 6 x 9-foot two-level railroad in North Brunswick, N.J., with […]
Football is getting underway, pumpkin spice everything is showing up on store shelves, and the thermometer has given a few hints that autumn is just around the corner. Of course, that means we’re heading into peak model railroading season. In the September 2025 episode of Cody’s Office, we feature three new products, a modeling tip, […]
The problem faced by Steven Tripp about 10 years ago was a familiar one among model railroaders: How could he bring to life memories of coal mining in Pennsylvania and the railroads serving that industry during the steam-to-diesel transition era? Compounding the challenges was the fact that his home in Shenandoah, Texas, lacked a basement. […]
You never know what will inspire someone to plan a layout with its own special personality. Dinarte Ferro saw pictures of a Lionel No. D-264 Super O display from 1959 and decided it would be perfect as a home for his collection of O gauge trains and accessories from Louis Marx & Co. Just one […]
Freight on the Iron Range The Canadian-owned Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific line (now part of Canadian National) links the Midwestern United States with the CN’s east-west line in Ontario and provides CN with a direct route to the Port of Duluth on Lake Superior. According to The Historical Guide to North American Railroads, Third Edition […]
Some O gaugers spend years designing and building their layouts, and others go at it with the speed of a runaway train. Count Steven Pasternak among the “I won’t sleep till the work is done” crowd. He told us he finished this two-level 5 x 9-foot three-rail display in less than 100 days! Lionel and […]
More and more of the O and S gauge railroads presented to Classic Toy Trains strive for realism. There’s nothing wrong with that approach, but then you have modelers who, like Jim and Debby Flynn, honor the traditions of our hobby by creating a three-rail layout with a decidedly toy-like look. They operate a prewar […]
Tom Quinlan owned a lot of Standard gauge trains, but never got around to building a layout to showcase them. A few years before Tom died in 2014, his daughter, Kathy Duane, took matters into her own talented hands by constructing for her father the layout he always dreamed of having. In addition to freight […]
We’re changing things up for our latest product review video. Trains.com Director David Popp took the Rapido HO TurboTrain 2.0 on the road to run on Gerry Leone’s Bona Vista RR. Learn more about the full-size United Aircraft TurboTrain and our review sample, decorated in early Amtrak colors. Then watch the five-car train pass through […]
