Polar Express layout tips: We at CTT had a lot of fun building our recent Polar Express layout. Despite building several project layouts over the years, I learned new techiques and ideas during the five days we spent working on this project. Perhaps one of these tips will inspire you too. Happy holidays! Polar Express […]
East Broad Top Railroad locomotives make up a big piece to a bigger puzzle that is the preserved narrow-gauge railroad in Rockhill, Pennsylvania. The 33-mile line served the iron furnaces and coal mines from 1874 until freight haulage came to an end on April 6, 1956. Tourist operations on a short section of the railroad […]
ALTOONA, Pa. — The first new Belpaire steam-locomotive firebox built in Altoona in 76 years is taking shape at the Railroaders Memorial Museum. Over the last week, employees of consultant FMW Solutions LLC and volunteers have fabricated a new firebox for former Pennsylvania Railroad Class K4s 4-6-2 steam passenger engine No. 1361 (PRR Juniata Shops, […]
Missouri Pacific 4-6-2 6621 and St. Louis-Southwestern 4-6-0 663 await their next assignments at the Memphis Union Station engine house in October 1950. James G. La Vake photo […]
Model steam locomotive troubles and how to fix them: Compiled by John Page, Editor of the Model Railroader, in 1952. Many of the tips here address problems with open-frame motors and direct-current operation. However, many of the same gear and wheel-quartering issue still apply to locomotive models in any scale and manufacture. Model steam locomotive […]
Three 2-6-0s (rebuilt from U.S. Army 0-6-0s) team up on a Midland Terminal ore train in the Cripple Creek mining district near Bull Hill, Colo., in October 1948. The MT shut down in February 1949. Donald Duke photo […]
The Lionel Scout locomotive has been for many an entry point to the toy train hobby. For me, it was the little engine that got me back into it. I’ve been in the toy train hobby for many years and have amassed an impressive collection of Lionel’s postwar F3s, Berkshires, Turbines, and other locomotives. But […]
MINERSVILLE, Pa. — A largely overlooked steam locomotive in Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal region is Central Railroad of New Jersey 0-6-0 switcher No. 113 (American Locomotive Co., 1923), owned and operated by the nonprofit Railway Restoration Project 113 of Minersville, Pa. The engine runs only a few times a year, mostly for Santa Claus trains, pulling […]
The American Flyer Legacy 2-8-8-2 by Lionel was first cataloged in S gauge in 2012. The current offering appeared in the 2022 catalog. This time around the train maker is offering locomotives decorated for Norfolk & Western, Santa Fe, Clinchfield, Baltimore & Ohio, Virginian, Denver & Rio Grande Western, Union Pacific, Pennsylvania, and Northern Pacific. […]
John Allen’s Locomotive Weathering Secrets: Digging through back issues of Model Railroader the other day, I came across a short article about John Allen’s techniques for weathering locomotives. The January 1964 article features the work of several modelers, including Bill McClanahan and John Allen, and provides some tips on their practices for painting and weathering […]
Chesapeake & Ohio 3039, seen at Cotton Hill, W.Va., in 1950, was the last of 40 big class T-1 2-10-4s the road received from Lima in 1930. Their 69-inch drivers set them apart from earlier, slower Texas types. Richard J. Cook photo […]
Name: Ray Wheeler Railroad Name: Jericho & Mt Zion Railway Location: Lynnwood, WA Scale: G scale Theme: Tourist railroad with freight operations in the modern era.Description: “November Plow Patrol” – Ride along on J&MtZ plow car #628 with Engine # 20 and Caboose 02 make a snow patrol run on the main track. Music from […]
