Menards Corrugated Auto Carrier – CTT review

Menards Corrugated Auto Carrier end view

Menards Corrugated Auto Carrier is an O gauge model of the modern 89-foot vehicle transporter so prevalent on today’s railroads. These are the most up-to-date versions of this type of car on the market in a traditional (non-scale) size. The car is named for its roof features. The sides of the car simulate the perforated […]

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Lionel Santa Fe F3 is the stuff of legend

Lionel Santa Fe F3 with Roger Carp

The Lionel Santa Fe F3 is a colorful O gauge icon. Roger “Professor” Carp is here to share with you what many consider the greatest post-World War II locomotive, the no. 2333 Santa Fe F3 cab unit. Interestingly, prior to its production, Lionel reached out to the manufacturer, Electric Motive Division of General Motors to […]

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Why I love the 2-8-4 Berkshire locomotive

Berkshire 2-8-4 locomotive: When I was a kid, my dad once showed me his childhood Lionel set. He had a Lionel no. 726RR Berkshire set with a few extra pieces stored in a metal crate. I never got to see it set up or operate, unfortunately. I had no idea what a Berkshire was back […]

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Lionel LionChief Amtrak Genesis rolls out for the passenger carrier’s 50th anniversary

Lionel LionChief Amtrak Genesis in 50th anniversary scheme

Lionel LionChief Amtrak Genesis locomotives represent the engines that, for years, were the backbone of Amtrak’s long-distance fleet. After some initial teething problems, the fast, powerful prototype General Electric P40 and P42 units have proven to be reliable and capable for more than two decades. Lionel has released a traditional sized LionChief Plus 2.0 version […]

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Kitbashing a large-scale Pacific for Jersey Central’s Bullet passenger train

green and black model steam engine on track

Kitbashing a large-scale Pacific from a broken Aristo-Craft model wasn’t easy, but the result has been worth the work. My family has a history of model railroading spanning three generations. My grandfather modeled O scale as a child in the 1940s and passed that love along to my father in the 1970s, and who got […]

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Overlooked Lionel postwar accessories

Overlooked Lionel postwar accessory the Lionel ZW transformer

Overlooked Lionel postwar accessories? Yes, these stalwarts are well known but aren’t always top of mind when someone is asked to list the company’s greatest gems. Click here to see the 7 Lionel accessories that usually garner the spotlight. Read on to find out what the “Rodney Dangerfields” of postwar Lionel are. ZW transformer 1948-66 The […]

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Menard’s Cripple Creek General Store on Bob’s Train Box 82

Menards Cripple Creek General Store

Menards Cripple Creek General Store is in the new product showcase for Bob’s Train Box 82. Then Bob and CTT editor Hal Miller have a show-and-tell about the types of track available for Standard, O, and S gauge hobbyists including tubular, integral roadbed, and scale-like. There are lots of choices if you’re just starting a […]

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Modeling Background Trees | Let’s Make a Scene: Spring & Fall, Part 3

Modeling Background Trees – Can’t see the leaves for the trees? As noted modeler Kathy Millatt explains, that’s perfectly fine to when you’re modeling background trees on your layout. In this episode of Kathy’s Let’s Make a Scene video series on Trains.com, you can follow along as she shares her technique for shaping a distant […]

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Let’s Make A Scene: Episode 5

Let’s Make a Scene with Kathy Millatt Part 5

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Kathy shifts her attention away from trees to focus on modeling bushes. In this episode, she shares a variety of materials and techniques used to shape the vegetation that grows along the forest floor. Naturally, Kathy also shows where and how to place […]

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Atlas O Gunderson High Cube boxcars

Atlas O Gunderson High Cube boxcars

Atlas O Gunderson High-Cube boxcars hit the spot for modern modelers. These 50-footers are a staple of modern railroading. Chris Montagna of the YouTube channel Chris’s Trains and Things has a review of this highly anticipated piece of rolling stock from Atlas O. The manufacturer announced these in its June 2021 catalog. They are Premier […]

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Lionel’s no. 700E scale Hudson locomotive

Model of black steam locomotive

The latest video by Roger Carp, senior editor at Classic Toy Trains magazine, focuses on one of the greatest and most celebrated toy trains ever produced in America. In anticipation of the release of Lionel Trains of the 1940s, the new special-interest publication from CTT, Professor Carp looks closely at the Lionel no. 700E O […]

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