10 tips for buying a power supply

A display featuring an MRC Throttlepack, MTH Trains Z-400, and a vintage Marx transformer.

Picking the right power supply for your railroad has one toe in the present and one in the future. It will need to run what you have today and will be expected to perform just as well years from now. Transformers aren’t cheap, but today’s O and S gauge hobbyists have a better selection of […]

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Make quick-and-easy junked cars for toy train layouts

Junkyard with painted aluminum foil auto shells.

Toy train layout operators foiled by the lack of inexpensive details can you aluminum foil as the raw materials for unlimited “junked cars.” Best of all, the project won’t strain your how-to skills and will add detail to your layout. You’ll need heavy-duty foil, gloss black paint, your choice of flat colors, a hobby knife, […]

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Ask MR: How long must a point-to-point layout be?

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Question: What is the smallest point-­to-­point layout that doesn’t look like just a section of test track? How long does a shelf layout have to be to look like a working operation could be taking place? – Richard Helton, Meridian, Idaho Answer: That’s a matter of taste and perception, not something that can be quantified […]

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Ask MR: What do different TTX marks signify?

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Question: I have six freshly painted brass O scale auto racks that I need decals for. I’ve found some TTX flatcar sets that might be close. Do auto racks have special letters before or after the reporting mark different from those on a regular TTX flatcar? – Tom Champley, Oregon, Ill. Answer: Yes. Each type […]

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Ask MR: When were knuckle couplers instituted?

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Question: What type of couplers should be used for various types of cars (freight, passenger, Railway Post Office, Express, etc.) for the era between 1890 and 1920? – Michael Prahl, Cedar Falls, Iowa Answer: What kind of couplers you use isn’t dependent on the type or class of car; all classes of car had to […]

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John Vavra’s HO scale Santa Fe background images

John Vavra’s photo of his HO scale Santa Fe layout

A pair of Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe General Electric C44-9Ws leads a double- stack train out of a tunnel and up the 1.9 percent grade at Cascade Canyon. The action takes place on the HO scale railroad built by John Vavra of Escon-dido, Calif. The diesels are made by ScaleTrains.com, and the trees are […]

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