Atlas O 52’-6” flatcar with load

A red freight car

Atlas O 52’-6” flatcar with load Scale: O (1:48) Price: $69.95 Era: 1953 to 1990s (depending on scheme) Manufacturer: Atlas Model Railroad Co., 378 Florence Ave., Hillside, NJ 07205; 908-678-0880; shop.atlasrr.com Features: Roller-bearing trucks with rotating bearing caps Separate, factory-applied brake wheel Pipe load with modeler-installed load tie-downs Die-cast metal trucks and couplers Detailed underframes […]

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Tours of Silvis shops offered after UP engines arrive

Black steam locomotive on turntable

  SILVIS, Ill. – Railroading Heritage of Midwest America will offer one-hour tours of its Silvis shops, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022, one day after several historic Union Pacific steam and diesel locomotives arrive on the property. RRHMA is billing the event as a “Walk Among the Giants” and will feature UP 4-6-6-4 No. 3985, 2-10-2 […]

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Virginian & Ohio HO scale tank car from Home Shops LLC

A black model tank car

Virginian & Ohio tank car from Home Shops LLC Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: $49.95 Era: 1960+ Manufacturer: Produced by Tangent Scale Models, available from Home Shops LLC, homeshops.net Tank cars feature: Company service waste oil cars Return stencils for Afton, Va. (one road number); Gallipolis, Ohio (one number); and West Carrollton, Ohio (two numbers) Metal […]

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Labor unions push for ‘stress test’ to determine whether railroad employment levels are adequate

WASHINGTON — A rail labor union coalition has proposed that Congress require federal regulators to conduct an annual “stress test” that would determine whether the Class I railroads have enough people, equipment, and infrastructure capacity to meet freight demand. The recommendation, made Nov. 10 by the Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO, comes amid […]

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Hamilton, Ohio, station move appears set for December

Brick two-story station building next to railroad tracks

HAMILTON, Ohio — The two structures of Hamilton’s historic railroad station will move in December, the Hamilton Journal-News reports. City Engineer Rich Engle said Wolfe House & Building Movers had scheduled an early December move, with a more detailed schedule still to come. The two structures — a one-story and two-story building — will be […]

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Porter 0-4-0T

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A diminutive Porter 0-4-0T works in the great north woods of Minnesota. Although not powerful, small Porters like this one enabled small logging operations to get in business quickly and cheaply. Library of Congress photo […]

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Acrylic paints for airbrushing

Two skinny paint bottles, one dark gray, the other gold, next to each other in front of white background

Acrylic paints for airbrushing While there are many different areas of the model railroading hobby that we can all explore, one common theme involved in almost all of these areas is paint. Whether you are painting entire backdrops, buildings, vehicles, or even figures, paint is a product that is necessary for model railroading. If you’re […]

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Freelance Colorado narrow-gauge branch line

Freelance Colorado narrow-gauge branch line: model steam train approaches buildings

Freelance Colorado narrow-gauge branch line The railway at a glance Name: Miller Creek & Moss Rock Railway Size of railroad: 30′ x 40′, approximately Scale: 1:24 Gauge: 45mm (no. 1) Era: Pre-WWII Theme: Freelance Colorado narrow-gauge branch line Age: 6 years Motive power: NiMH-battery-operated Delton Consolidation Length of mainline: 130′, (approximately) Maximum gradient: 3.5% Type […]

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Meet Dirt the Cat: Nevada Northern Railway’s rail cat

dirt the cat laying down

Dirt the Cat One of the world’s most famous cats is a railroader. Dirt, his fur coat stained by a lifetime amid the soot and grease of Nevada Northern Railway’s 114-year-old engine-servicing facility, is nobody’s pet and everybody’s friend. The people-loving shop cat has an international following thanks to a series of widely shared social […]

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2022 holiday toy train photo gallery

close up of steam locomotive on layout

A 2022 holiday toy train photo gallery is just the thing to get you in the Christmas spirit. Please enjoy this selection of holiday-themed photos of toy trains from Lionel and American Flyer in O gauge, S gauge, and Standard gauge (with some bonus N and large scale trains). If you have a photo you’d […]

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