Cody’s Office | August 2025

Image of man with brown hair, glasses, and gray shirt holding a book with two model trains in foreground and HO scale layout in background.

Welcome to the August 2025 Cody’s Office! Perhaps we should have called this the Consolidation episode as we’re on program number 2-8-0. This month the show starts with an exciting lineup of products. First up is the HO scale Fairbanks-Morse H16-44 from Rapido Trains. Features on the four-axle road unit include an injection-molded plastic body, […]

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News & Products for the week of August 4th 2025

A white and red model caboose

News & Products for the week of August 4th 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 August 4th, […]

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Building an underground copper mine

train with ore cars leaving mine

For well over a century, copper mines and their structures dotted the landscape in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. I was born there and several generations of my family worked in the mines. The last one closed in the late 1960s, marking the end of an era for thousands of people.  Most of the facilities were removed […]

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Classic Toy Trains new products for August 2025

blue and white model diesel locomotive

Locomotives & rolling stock Legacy Station, 4153 Lawrenceville Highway, Ste. 12, Lilburn, GA 30047, has a custom-run MTH Extended Vision Caboose as part of the RailKing line (30-77414). It features holiday graphics and O-27 operation. Expected delivery in October 2025. Price: $89.95. Website: legacystation.com   MTH Electric Trains, 7393 Washington Blvd. Ste. 101, Elkridge, MD […]

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News & Products for the week of July 28th 2025

A white red and black model streetcar

News & Products for the week of July 28th 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 July 28th, […]

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Trains.com Insider | 2025 NMRA National Convention, Train Show Highlights

2025 NMRA National Convention, Train Show Highlights | Tour with Model Railroader Editor Eric White, as he makes the rounds to visit with small vendors and major manufacturers at the 2025 National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) Convention and Train Show recently held in Novi, Michigan. From new model announcements and releases to helpful modeling products […]

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Trains.com Insider Exclusive | Model Railroad Club of Milwaukee

Join the Trains.com staff visiting the Model Railroad Club of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The club, established in 1934, boasts the country’s longest-running model railroad in the same location. Housed in a former train station built around 1917, the club’s O scale (1:48) layout, largely unchanged since 1950, operates as a “living museum”. Members once included a […]

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Lionel’s prewar No. 703/156 4-4-4 electric locomotives

old catalog page with green model locomotive

I found this manuscript from the late John Grams in our manuscript files. There was no date on the envelope but it’s likely from the early 1990s. The article discusses 12 Lionel products that, while great inventions, were fraught with problems or didn’t work exactly as advertised. He included the following disclaimer: “Lionel trains were […]

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Upgrade a modern Lionel Milk Car with Platform accessory

milk car scene on layout

In 2020, I purchased Lionel’s No. 2028310 Milk Car With Platform. Unfortunately, I was never happy with this car’s operation. It kept shorting circuiting on my layout, especially when going through switches.  I sent it to several repair centers, but the problem was never found. After running the car at a low speed around the […]

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News & Products for the week of July 21st 2025

A model pneumatic freight car

News & Products for the week of July 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 July 21st, […]

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