How to maintain Lionel toy train operating cars

The operating mechanism of a Lionel milk car without the shell and several callouts together with an inset photo showing the assembled milk car, stand, and milk cans. Inset text: Lionel’s postwar operating milk car added fun and excitement to the simplest loop of track. CTT expert Ray L. Plummer offers some tips to keep this and other operarting cars rolling into the future.; Can inserted with bottom toward camera; Cans roll down chute; Line from power pickup roller; Worker “ejects” cans; Cans ejected on this side

The Lionel operating milk car’s chute is made so that the milk barrels can only be put in the correct way. However, once inside the chute, the barrels can become jammed if the car tips over. Here are some tips for keeping this car in service. Classic Toy Trains file A version of this article […]

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New model trains for the week of April 2, 2020

Atlas Model Railroad Co. HO scale Electro-Motive Division SD24 and SD26 diesel locomotives

Atlas Model Railroad Co. HO scale Electro-Motive Division SD24 diesel locomotive HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division SD24 and SD26 diesel locomotives. New paint schemes. SD24 (low short hood unless otherwise noted): Burlington Northern (Chicago, Burlington & Quincy patchout with high short hood), Southern Pacific (scarlet and gray, three road numbers), and Union Pacific (Armour Yellow […]

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News Wire Digest Third Section for Friday, March 27 NEWSWIRE

NTSB

Friday afternoon rail news: — The National Transportation Safety Board will make the performance of DOT-111A, DOT-117, and DOT-117R tank cars one of the focal points in its investigation of a Feb. 13 derailment of a CSX train in Draffin, Ky. The preliminary report on the accident, released Thursday, also indicates the agency will look […]

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How to use Z scale couplers to make N scale equipment more realistic

A comparison of two N scale boxcars, one with a Z scale coupler, another with an N scale coupler

In N scale, oversized, truck-mounted couplers are still a de facto standard, but body-mounted scale-sized couplers aren’t exclusive to larger scales. Micro-Trains Line sells N scale freight cars with pads and mounting holes for easy installation of body-mounted couplers. For an even more in-scale appearance, I install Z scale couplers instead of N scale couplers. […]

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New model trains for the week of March 26, 2020

Tangent Scale Models HO scale General American 4,180-cubic-foot-capacity Airslide covered hopper

HO scale freight cars American Car & Foundry two-bay Center Flow covered hopper. New paint schemes: BNSF Ry. (gray with black circle-cross herald, five road numbers) and Cemex Mexico (gray with reporting marks only). New road numbers: Burlington Northern (Cascade Green with large herald), Chicago & North Western (yellow), CSX (tan), Norfolk & Western (gray), […]

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Perishable pioneer

20200319

Fruit Growers Express helped pioneer mechanical refrigerator cars. This 55-foot, 60-ton car was built in 1957 and just had a new refrigeration unit installed before this 1975 photo. Jeff Wilson collection […]

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Walthers 40-foot HO single-sheathed boxcar

MRRPR0520_08

Walthers 40-foot HO single-sheathed boxcar Modelers of mid-20th century railroading have a new piece of rolling stock to add to their fleets in the Walthers Mainline 40-foot American Railroad Association (ARA) standard single-sheathed boxcar. This ready-to-run car is modernized with AB brakes and has metal ends and doors. An adaptable standard. The 1923 ARA XM-1 […]

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New model trains for the week of March 19, 2020

Rapido Trains HO scale Fairbanks-Morse H-16-44 diesel locomotive

HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division SD60M diesel locomotive. Burlington Northern (four road numbers), BNSF Ry. (Cascade Green patchouts in two numbers, Heritage II and Heritage III schemes in one number each), Canadian Pacific (without gold beaver herald in two numbers, with herald in one number), Norfolk Southern (Thoroughbred scheme, three numbers), and Union Pacific (as-delivered […]

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