Facts & features Name: Cascade & Twin Mountain RR Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 16′-6″ x 21′-0″ Prototype: freelanced Locale: Colorado Era: early 1960s Style: walkaround Mainline run: 247 feet Minimum radius: 24″ Minimum turnout: No. 6 Maximum grade: 2.75% Benchwork: open grid Height: 54″ Roadbed: cork, Homasote in yard Track: code 100 flextrack Scenery: […]
A Trinity 3,230-cubic-foot capacity Pressure Differential (PD) covered hopper has joined the Atlas N scale freight car fleet. The newly tooled Master Line model features a plastic body; etched-metal running boards; and many separate, factory-applied parts. Prototype history The 3230 PD covered hopper is based on a design developed by Thrall, which was acquired by […]
Also in this issue: ON TRAINS.COM, pg. 6 The latest features on our website FROM THE EDITOR, pg. 8 Tinkerers and mad scientists wanted RAILWAY POST OFFICE, pg. 10 Letters from our readers NEWS AND PRODUCTS, pg. 12 Atlas HO scale General Electric U28CG reviewed, plus the latest new products ASK MR, pg. 18 The secret […]
I hope you’ve enjoyed the tour we’ve taken of Amtrak’s short consists throughout the railroad’s history. Starting with the modern era, we then went back in time to the 1970s, then the 80s and 90s. This month, we’re looking at my favorite era of short Amtrak consists. Is it because that’s when I grew up? […]
News & Products for the week of August 7th 2023 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 August 7th 2023. […]
Keep scenery looking its best: There are two main issues with aging scenery – dust build-up and fading. Battling dust is an inevitability and an uphill battle if scenery work is continuing elsewhere in the room. Both dust and fading occur gradually over the years and can be hard to spot. Water and rolling stock […]
By Will Everitt An N scale locomotive resource celebrates an anniversary N scalers have questions. How does Athearn’s Big Boy compare to Broadway Limited’s? How can you tell the second run of Kato’s GP38-2 from its first? How do you remove the shell of a Fox Valley GP60M? What’s the (crazy!) production history of Con-Cor’s […]
Q: I’m planning to model the Hoboken, N.J., and Brick Church, N.J., stations on the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western, the railroad I rode as a child and as an adult. I rode in the Lackawanna M.U. cars, but I can’t find them anywhere. I’m thinking I’ll buy the MuMP54 cars from Con-Cor and airbrush them […]
Easier access to sneak track: Like model railroaders in other scales, most of us N-scalers are natural-born cheaters when it comes to layout planning. We set our design parameters, but then we start compromising them. Hey, it won’t hurt if we make this one curve a little tighter, or this aisle just a few inches […]
Classic Trains’ series “Diesels that didn’t” explores diesel locomotives that didn’t make it to large-scale production due to a variety of factors. However, some of those diesels made it to mass-production in the scale model world. Let’s take a look at the products offered to those modeling the diesels that didn’t. Electro-Motive Division BL2 HO […]
A newly tooled Gunderson 6,276-cubic-foot capacity 50-foot hi-cube boxcar is the latest release from Aurora Miniatures North America. The HO scale model, offered in six road names, features injection-molded plastic construction, prototype-specific trucks, and many freestanding details. The prototype The 6276 50-foot hi-cube boxcar has been a part of the Gunderson (Greenbrier) product lineup since […]
Designing structure interiors with artificial intelligence: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a burgeoning tool with many possible uses. My last article on the topic, ChatGPT and the model railroad, explored the use of text-based chat tools like ChatGPT for model railroading purposes, including generating layout concepts. At the end of that article, I used an AI […]
