One moment sooner!

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Rare CPA-24-5 4500 (partially hidden by a signal box) and an F3B lead NYC’s James Whitcomb Riley north at Illinois Central’s 115th Street station; second car is a C&O Newport News–Chicago sleeper. Gordon E. Lloyd What makes a perfect photo? Perhaps first and foremost, “perfect” is an abstraction, perfection being generally defined in the mind […]

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Building the 3 x 7 Red Oak N scale model railroad part 4

Steve Otte next to layout

The Model Railroader staff’s N scale Red Oak layout features many interesting structures built from wood and plastic kits. Associate editor Steve Otte shows some of the structure highlights on the layout and provides some painting tips. Editor Neil Besougloff also plugs in a power pack and runs the Zephyr passenger train to test out […]

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Building the 3 x 7 Red Oak N scale model railroad part 4

Steve Otte next to layout

The Model Railroader staff’s N scale Red Oak layout features many interesting structures built from wood and plastic kits. Associate editor Steve Otte shows some of the structure highlights on the layout and provides some painting tips. Editor Neil Besougloff also plugs in a power pack and runs the Zephyr passenger train to test out […]

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The big engine that couldn’t

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PRR J1 2-10-4 No. 6480 crests the hill in Irvington, heading east from downtown Indianapolis with a freight during the switchmen’s strike at Hawthorne Yard in the winter of 1951-52. Martin E. Biemer The winter of 1951–52 brought a new thrill for us railroad-crazy boys in the Indianapolis neighborhood of Irvington: Freight trains! Irvington, a […]

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Building the 3 x 7 Red Oak model railroad episode 2

Hand measuring off track section

The benchwork is built for the Model Railroader staff’s N scale Red Oak project. Next comes the tricky task of transferring the track plan to the foam tabletop. Get some tips from Model Railroader Video Plus producer David Popp, including a look at the layout’s styrene backdrop and the wiring channel around the tabletop. […]

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Building the 3 x 7 Red Oak model railroad episode 2

Hand measuring off track section

The benchwork is built for the Model Railroader staff’s N scale Red Oak project. Next comes the tricky task of transferring the track plan to the foam tabletop. Get some tips from Model Railroader Video Plus producer David Popp, including a look at the layout’s styrene backdrop and the wiring channel around the tabletop. […]

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Former Illinois Terminal Bloomington station razed NEWSWIRE

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A Norfolk Southern freight passes the structure just before its demolition on Thursday. Steve Smedley BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Like so many others before it, a former Interurban station has bit the dust, literally, as the former Illinois Traction System station and warehouse complex, located in the warehouse district south of downtown Bloomington, Illinois was razed […]

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On creating the world’s largest fusee

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Union Pacific’s City of Denver curves away from North Western Station in Chicago at the start of its run west. Sister streamliner City of Portland once made an unscheduled stop at Oak Park, 9 miles west. Wallace W. Abbey In spring 1955, I was working as a ticket clerk at Chicago & North Western’s Oak […]

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Layout visit: Tony Koester’s Nickel Plate Road in HO scale

Tony Koester's Nickel Plate Road in HO scale

For the first time ever, an MRVP video crew visits Model Railroader magazine contributing editor Tony Koester in his New Jersey home to capture an up-close look at his multiple-deck HO scale layout, the Nickel Plate Road St. Louis Division. You’ve seen his amazing model railroad in the pages of MR (December 2014 issue), now […]

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Layout visit: Tony Koester’s Nickel Plate Road in HO scale

Tony Koester's Nickel Plate Road in HO scale

For the first time ever, an MRVP video crew visits Model Railroader magazine contributing editor Tony Koester in his New Jersey home to capture an up-close look at his multiple-deck HO scale layout, the Nickel Plate Road St. Louis Division. You’ve seen his amazing model railroad in the pages of MR (December 2014 issue), now […]

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