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News & Products for the week of October 13th 2025 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 October 13th, […]
Rapido HO General Electric 44-ton diesel Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Direct-current model with factory-installed speakers, $199.95; with ESU LokSound V5 sound decoder and MoPower capacitor system, $309.95 Manufacturer: Rapido Trains, 382 High St, Buffalo, NY 14204; 905-474-3314; rapidotrains.com Rapido HO General Electric 44-ton diesel features: Coreless motor with dual flywheels Direct-current models have factory-installed speakers […]
Tour the Pennsylvania & Western RR, Bob Bartizek’s impressive O scale (1:48, 3-rail) model railroad representing a fictional subdivision of the Pennsylvania RR in western Pennsylvania between 1949 and 1953. Though it uses 3-rail power and GarGraves Phantom-line O gauge track with a black center rail, the locomotives and rolling stock are all built to […]
Chicago has always had a plethora of terminal railroads. Many have come and gone, but a handful with historical roots dating to the late 19th Century are still active today, and vital to keeping the freight and passenger traffic consistently moving in and out of the city. These are Historical Chicago terminal railroads that are […]
Lionel Trains is no stranger to modeling preserved steam locomotives we know and love, including those still operating today. The latest offering is Soo Line 2-8-2 No. 1003 (No. 2531120), a local steam star here in southeastern Wisconsin. The locomotive is one of six O-scale, 3-rail United States Railroad Administration (USRA) heavy Mikados that were […]
Lionel’s No. 520 Lionel Lines Boxcab Electric stands out among other postwar O-27 locomotives because there is so much about it that’s different from what you find on other models from that celebrated era of production. The 520 is far from scarce and so is commonly overlooked by avid collectors and operators of postwar trains. […]
News & Products for the week of October 6th 2025 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 October 6th, […]
Facts and features Name: The CN Central RR Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 17′-6″ x 31′-4″ Prototype: Canadian National, CN Central Locale: Wisconsin and Canada Era: 2010 to the Present Style: island walkaround Mainline run: 125′-6″ Minimum radius: 24″ Minimum turnout: No. 6 Maximum grade: none Benchwork: Open grid box frame around door slabs, folding steel […]
Facts and features Name: Nickel Plate Road, St. Louis Division, Third Sub. Scale: HO (1:87) Size: 24′-6″ x 60′-6″ Prototype: Nickel Plate Road Locale: west-central Indiana, east-central Illinois Era: fall 1954 Style: multi-deck Mainline run: 500 feet Minimum radius: 42″ Minimum turnout: No. 6 (yard), No. 8 (main) Maximum grade: 1.5 percent Benchwork: open grid; […]
Follow Model Railroader Editor Eric White on a journey into the thick of operations on the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Panhandle Division, as replicated on Bill Neale’s HO scale (1:87.1) model railroad! As feature in Great Model Railroads 2010, Bill’s 200-foot multi-level layout captures a vital stretch of mainline serving the coal and steel country of western Pennsylvania […]
Walthers HO 40-foot double-sheathed boxcar Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: $34.98 Manufacturer: Wm. K. Walthers Inc., 5601 W. Florist Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53218; 414-527-0770; walthers.com Walthers HO 40-foot double-sheathed boxcar features: 5-5-5 Murphy steel ends 33” turned-metal wheels on plastic axles Detailed AB brake gear Andrews trucks Based on later rebuilds and upgrades of older, wood […]
In this product review video, Model Railroader Senior Editor Cody Grivno takes a deep dive into the WalthersProto HO scale (1:87.1) EMD NW2 diesel locomotive. Cody starts with the prototype history of the NW2, which was produced by the Electro-Motive Division from February 1939 through December 1949. The review sample is decorated as Union Pacific […]
