What can you build with $3.5 million in donations, two professional model-building companies, and thousands of hours put in by more than 40 artists and modelers, and a score of volunteers? How about The Great Train Story, a 3,500-square-foot HO scale model railroad that includes key features of Chicago, Seattle, and an impressive representation of […]
A great prototype photo can often be a wonderful source of inspiration for a model. This was the case for my Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic 50-foot double-door boxcar. When I saw the black-and-white inset photo of a well-worn DSS&A boxcar, I immediately decided to paint the car’s discolorations and markings on an HO model. […]
Atlas HO scale Alco C-424 diesel locomotive The Alco C-424 has been a part of the Atlas line since 1986, when the firm imported a model produced by Kato. Today, the C-424 is now part of the Atlas Classics line. The ready-to-run model uses an Atlas drive and features an eight-pin plug for a Digital […]
Digitrax SoundFX decoders A pair of HO and N scale Digital Command Control sound decoders from Digitrax offer steam and diesel sound effects in entry-level packages. The HO scale SDH164D and N scale SDN144PS come loaded with generic sound sets and wired with a speaker and capacitor. The SDN series are intended as basic sound […]
ExactRail N scale Trinity hi-cube 50-foot boxcar Price: $22.95 ManufacturerExactRail LLC1053 South 1675 WestOrem, Utah, 84058www.exactrail.com Era: 1995 to present Comments: A contemporary 52-foot Trinity hi-cube plug-door boxcar has been released in N scale by ExactRail. It represents a high capacity prototype built by TrinityRail Corp. to haul heavy rolls of printing paper. The model […]
Learn the basics of the hobby of model railroading Illustration by Theo Cobb If you’re new to model railroading, a hobby shop is probably where you’d get your first crash course in hobby terminology. However, spending an afternoon staring at trains in display cases trying to get answers to basic questions can be frustrating. Having […]
Model railroading scales are described by letters such as N, HO, S, and O. This alphabet soup may seem confusing at first, but the letters are simply shorthand to describe the ratio of the model’s size to its prototype, which is what model railroaders call the real thing a model is based on. The chart […]
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Associate editor Cody Grivno shows you some of the latest new products to arrive in the Model Railroader offices, including the new Digital Command Control (DCC) sound equipped Paragon2 Baldwin Centipede in HO scale from Broadway Limited Imports. Cody will also demonstrate how […]
The Athearn Genesis HO scale MT-4 features a SoundTraxx Tsunami Digital Command Control (DCC) sound decoder. See and hear this new steam locomotive run on the Model Railroader club layout, the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy. […]
The Santa Fe established a major shop complex at Albuquerque to maintain and repair steam locomotives. At their peak in 1940, the shops were one of the city’s largest employers, with 1787 workers. The shops declined as the Santa Fe dieselized, and, as the road’s last steam backshop, perfromed their final locomotive work in March […]
Illinois Central wasn’t the first railroad in Chicago, but it was one of 10 Class 1’s headquartered there and became arguably the most visible, thanks to its lakefront location. Its Romanesque Revival-style Central Station, built on fill in Lake Michigan for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, served IC plus New York Central’s Michigan Central and […]
To handle maintenance and repairs on its substantial hopper-car fleet, coal-hauler Chesapeake & Ohio in 1930 built this systemwide freight-car shop at Raceland, Ky., at the west end of its massive Russell Yard, a facility built to classify coal cars moving west to Cincinnati and Chicago, as well as north to Lake Erie docks for […]
