Getting started in model trains

Man and small boy with a model train layout.

We think modeling trains is the World’s Greatest Hobby. Why? Well, flexibility for one: Part art form, part construction project, a model train display can be as simple or as complicated, scenic or functional, as you wish. Plus there is the joy of watching trains run! To get started, see World’s Greatest Hobby’s free booklet, […]

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May/June 2022

Classic Toy Train's May 2022 cover

Also in this issue: EDITOR’S DESK, pg. 4 LETTERS, pg. 6 MODERN ERA NOTES, pg. 8 PHOTO ALBUM, pg. 10 NEWS & PRODUCTS, pg. 14 Items from the Amherst show QUESTIONS & ANSWERS, pg. 18 S GAUGE NOW AND THEN, pg. 20 VIEWS FROM THE UNDERGROUND, pg. 21 WEEKEND WORKSHOP, pg. 48 New life for […]

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June 2022

Model Railroader June 2022 issue

Also in this issue: ON TRAINS.COM, pg. 6 The latest features on our website FROM THE EDITOR, pg. 8 A welcome step toward clarity NEWS & PRODUCTS, pg. 12 Hobby industry news ASK MR, pg. 20 What roads had merchandise service cars? STEP BY STEP, pg. 24 Detailing a station scene DCC CURRENTS, pg. 54 […]

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Louisville & Indiana Railroad acquires Southern Indiana Railway

Maroon locomotives in switching yard

  JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. — The Louisville & Indiana Railroad (LIRC), a 106-mile-long regional carrier connecting Indianapolis with Louisville, Ky., has acquired a Louisville-area short line, the defunct 5.5-mile-long Southern Indiana Railway (SIND). One of several railroads owned by the Chicago-based Anacostia Rail Holdings Co., LIRC operates from a yard and maintenance shop here. It will […]

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MBTA passenger sues after being left behind on train

MBTA purple and silver commuter locomotive. Governor reacts following more close calls on MBTA

BEVERLY, Mass. – A passenger who fell asleep and missed his station has sued commuter-train operator Keolis, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He injured an arm while trying to leave the train in a storage yard, according to the suit. Filing the action in Salem Superior Court last week was […]

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Colorado Railroad Museum’s ‘Colorado Crossings’ event features operating steam locomotives, Galloping Geese

three galloping goose rail vehicles

GOLDEN, Colo. — The Colorado Railroad Museum is bringing back Denver’s largest and most colorful festival of operating trains on May 14-15, 2022. Called “Colorado Crossings: Intersections of History,” the event will feature two coal-fired narrow-gauge locomotives under steam plus three “Galloping Geese” in operation. These beloved self-propelled rail cars once carried mail over Lizard […]

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Eric White named Model Railroader Magazine editor

Man with glasses.

WAUKESHA, Wis — Kalmbach Media Co. has named veteran editor and journalist Eric White as the new editor of MODEL RAILROADER, the nation’s largest-circulation magazine covering the model railroading hobby. White succeeds Carl Swanson, who is moving to TRAINS Magazine, also published by Kalmbach Media. White joined the MODEL RAILROADER in 2014 as Associate Editor. […]

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Carl A. Swanson named Trains Magazine editor

Man with glasses.

WAUKESHA, Wis — Kalmbach Media Co. has named veteran railroad editor and journalist Carl A. Swanson as the new editor of Trains, the nation’s largest-circulation magazine about the railroad industry. Swanson succeeds the late Jim Wrinn, who died March 30, 2022, and served as editor for more than 17 years. Kalmbach has published Trains monthly […]

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SEPTA advances plan to extend rail service to King of Prussia, Pa.

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority logo

PHILADELPHIA – The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority has issued a request for proposals regarding the final-design stage of its Norristown High-Speed Line expansion. The project will add a 4-mile branch extending to King of Prussia, Pa. The grade-separated line extends 13.4 miles southeast from Norristown, Pa., to 69th Street Terminal, with connections there to Center […]

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Western Maryland Scenic Railroad honors Jack Showalter

Nose of black steam locomotive and train coming around a bend

CUMBERLAND, Md. – On Friday, May 6, before the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad’s first 2022 public excursion behind Baldwin 2-6-6-2 No. 1309, the railroad celebrated the life of steam railroading luminary, Jack Showalter. Inside the former Western Maryland Railway’s Cumberland station, officials and guests saluted the people behind No. 1309’s recent restoration, and shared memories […]

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Runaway barge strikes NS bridge on flooded Potomac

Train on tall bridge over river

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. — Two construction barges broke loose on the flood-swollen Potomac River, with one of them striking the 1904 Norfolk Southern deck truss bridge here before hanging up further east. Both runaway vessels were engaged in work at a section of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park to the north along the […]

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