When it come to track plans, everyone has a favorite. After all, each modeler values and prioritizes different aspects of model railroading. Some prefer intricate freight switching layouts, while others prefer long, continuous passenger routes. Some like layouts with dense foliage and rolling hills, whereas other modelers may prefer flat, desert landscapes. We here at […]
Q: I was wondering if you could provide me with information on what kind of loads an oyster cannery sends and receives? — Markus Russ A: I cast the net wide (pun fully intended) to help answer your question. I started internally. Trains magazine Associate Editor Bob Lettenberger wrote “Five mind-blowing facts — Stilwell Oyster […]
Of the many first-rate photographers who became fascinated by postwar railroading, one of the best was James La Vake. An airline pilot by profession, he also had some experience as a photographer, and it showed: his photos in Trains magazine in the late 1940s and early ’50s are among the best featuring diesel-powered streamliners. I’ve […]
In Chicago, an observation car originally built for Great Northern’s 1947 Empire Builder is ready for its first run on the Western Star in June 1951. The trains utilized Chicago, Burlington & Quincy trackage east of Minnesota’s Twin Cities. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]
News & Products for the week of January 27th 2025 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 January 27th, […]
A Southern Pacific produce train arrives at Tucumcari, N.M., in June 1951 behind AC-9 class 2-8-8-4 No. 3804. The railroad had 12 such locomotives built by Lima in 1939. W.G. Fancher photo […]
A quiet revolution changed the toy train industry in the 1930s. Firms aimed to introduce more realistic products. Advances in the die-casting of metals and the compression-molding of plastics shaped that trend. The A.C. Gilbert Co. began to develop scale and semi-scale engines and rolling stock while pushing for greater animation in its accessories. The […]
A National Steel Car Corp. Ltd. (NSC) 3,294-cubic-foot capacity mechanical refrigerator car is now available from Rapido Trains. The model, offered in Canadian Pacific’s script and Multimark paint schemes, features injection-molded plastic construction, metal wheels mounted on plastic axles, and body-mounted metal couplers. Prototype history In the late 1960s, NSC built a group of mechanical […]
Industrial park railroading has long been an area of interest to model railroaders. This type of railroading serves a concentrated group businesses, and it may or may not be affiliated with a class one railroad. Often the industrial park has its own railroad, or its tracks are served by a local company or nearby short […]
News & Products for the week of January 21st 2025 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 January 21st, […]
I dabbled a great deal in narrow gauge modeling over the years, but found U.S. main line Class I railroads more to my taste. I like the operation potential of main lines, with many categories of trains from the peddler to the fast freight, the suburban local to the limiteds. A friend (Chris Ludlow, an […]
As the postwar era began for Lionel, concern for a more colorful, more highly decorative product was paramount, so Lionel examined different processes for decorating their trains. The tried and true methods (heat stamping and rubber stamping) were used to great success, but both had limitations. With heat stamping, a fairly flat surface was needed, […]
