If you’ve read Model Railroader magazine for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed the hobby journey for many of our authors started with a train set. For baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, the set was often produced by Lionel or American Flyer. Fast forward a generation or two, and those sets were […]
When you’re building a layout, there are four kinds of track for model railroads you can choose from. Those four are sectional track, sectional track with attached roadbed, flextrack, and hand-laid track. Each has its advantages and drawbacks. Luckily, you can mix and match the different types on the same layout to take advantage of […]
The Atlas N scale EMD SD9 is back, this time with a factory-installed speaker in Silver Series models and a LokSound V5 sound decoder in Gold Series models. Join Model Railroader senior editor Cody Grivno as he takes a closer look at the sound-equipped Burlington Northern sample we received. Check out the sound and light […]
In the 60-plus years that N scale has been around, there has been a great deal of change in couplers. Rapido, an early manufacturer of N scale models (not to be confused with today’s Rapido Trains), let other companies use its coupler design. The wedge-front coupler, which was used on most N scale models (except […]
Train sets – the gateway to model railroading: If you look at an author’s biography at the end of a layout story in Model Railroader, more often than not you’ll find that the layout owner got his or her start in the hobby with a train set. Sure, your first train set won’t look like […]
Scenery basics for model railroaders: There are a wide variety of easy to learn techniques that will make your model railroad scenery look realistic. Often folks look at photos of beautiful model railroads and assume right away that it’s just too hard, they could never do it. Well, that just isn’t so. Certainly model railroading […]
Model railroad track comes in many scales and varieties. At top is a section of Kato N scale Unitrack, an all-in-one type. Next is a piece of Atlas HO sectional track, and at the bottom is a piece of O scale track from Atlas O. The basics of model railroad track: Many hobbyists get […]
What is ground foam for model railroad layouts? When I first came across this phrase, I thought it was foam that was to be used on the ground, that is, for dirt, grass, and weeds. Then I cottoned on – it’s foam that’s been ground up! So, why would people grind up foam? Well, it […]
One of the first things that you must do when building a model train layout is decide which style of benchwork you will build for the layout. Simple tables A common starter style of model railroad benchwork is just a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood on a tabletop. My first layout was on a […]
The NCE PowerCab Digital Command Control (DCC) system is popular for its ease of use, menu-driven prompts, and reliable programming capabilities. However, it does have a few limitations: It only has about 1.8 amps output; it doesn’t have separate programming and main track power connections; and the PowerCab throttle must remain plugged in at all […]
Grand Trunk Western is among the paint schemes offered in the latest run of WalthersProto HO scale EMD GP9 diesel locomotives from Wm. K. Walthers Inc. Senior editor Cody Grivno takes a look at the sound and light features on the four-axle diesel and uses the road locomotive to work the interchange yard at Jones […]
Rapido HO scale Northeastern caboose review: After locomotives, the next most distinctive thing on a railroad was its cabooses, and the new Rapido HO scale Northeastern caboose is one of the best models of this classic and widely used rolling office. Prototype history The Reading Co. started building steel eight-wheel cabooses in 1924 following, mostly, a […]
