Thoughts on detailing N scale diesels: I really enjoy modifying locomotives and adding or subtracting details to make them more closely represent specific prototypes. I’m most interested in my Santa Fe and Southern Pacific engines, but hope someday to also get to the engines from other lines that turn up on my N scale circa […]
The Bachmann Trains N scale Siemens SC-44 Charger diesel locomotive recently visited our Milwaukee, Racine & Troy State Line Route layout. Model Railroader editor Eric White and senior editor Cody Grivno discuss the features on the modern engine and take it for lap on our 4 x 12-foot layout. Paint schemes on the Bachmann N […]
The Bachmann Trains N scale Siemens SC-44 Charger diesel locomotive recently visited our Milwaukee, Racine & Troy State Line Route layout. Model Railroader editor Eric White and senior editor Cody Grivno discuss the features on the modern engine and take it for lap on our 4 x 12-foot layout. The Bachmann N scale Siemens SC-44 […]
The best N scale tools: I’m going to write about what might be called “second-echelon” tools, that’s to say the tools you begin accumulating after you’ve been in the hobby awhile and have the basic tools you really can’t do without. The following is a short list of the some of the best N scale […]
News & Products for the week of July 10th 2023 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 July 10th 2023. […]
What is the largest radius curve on your layout? If you said anything less than 24”, you won’t be running 85-foot passenger cars any time soon. Even then, a 24” curve is extremely tight for those cars to navigate. Fear not, I have the solution for your long passenger car dilemma: short steam era passenger […]
How to keep N scale piggybacks on track: My N scale Tehachapi Pass layout is set in 1985. Intermodal railroading was well established, but on nothing like the scale we see today. Most intermodal traffic in the pass was TOFC (trailer-on-flatcar), more commonly called “pigs,” short for piggybacks. For my money there’s nothing much less […]
A handy N scale uncoupler: If you’re a model railroader, everywhere you go your antennae are out, scanning your environs for anything that might be useful to build with. And that leads me to swizzle sticks. I was having lunch with a tableful of in-laws at Maggiano’s Little Italy, a popular chain with a restaurant […]
News & Products for the week of July 5th 2023 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 July 5th 2023. […]
Q: I’ve tried many methods to uncouple my rolling stock automatically rather than use a manual tool. Permanent magnets were far from satisfactory even when I devised a way to raise them at the appropriate time to a position closer to the couplers. I’ve modified an HOn3 electromagnet to fit between the rails, and this […]
With Independence Day just around the corner, we thought it would be fun to take a look back at some N and HO scale locomotive models in Bicentennial paint schemes. As the 200th birthday of the United States approached, numerous prototype railroads renumbered and repainted locomotives in patriotic schemes to pay tribute to the nation. […]
If you’ve read stories about diesel locomotives on Trains.com or in Kalmbach Media’s railroad magazines and books, you’ve most likely seen references to diesel locomotives by generation. But what does generation mean? Unlike automobiles, locomotive manufacturers don’t bring out new models each year. The same basic locomotive model can stay in production for years – […]
