What’s the easiest way to get going in outdoor railroading? Why, with a starter set, of course. And what’s the easiest way to get someone young interested in the hobby? Also with an entry level package, but it has to be the right one. LGB may have just cracked the code with its Construction Site […]
Watch as Kent Johnson puts a PIKO America R/C GE 25-ton diesel locomotive (1:29 scale, battery-powered) through its paces on his small, raised-garden railroad, complete with a 2% grade! Read a complete review of the model in the Spring 2020 issue of Garden Railways magazine! […]
TIDE FACTORY BY MENARDS Price: $99.99 Stock no.: 279-5518 Features: Fully assembled and decorated. Worker figures, grass-covered base, and illuminated signage. Website: menards/trains I continue to be amazed at the variety (and quantity) of new building designs coming from Menards headquarters in Eau Claire, Wis. They’ve made residential structures (farm houses, ranch houses, […]
Open the box and you might be tempted to dismiss the contents as two sections of thin (⅛”) plastic, each measuring 16″ long. Closer inspection reveals the top side of one section includes two 12″ metal plates (slot-and-tab installation) extending two-thirds its length. Probe a bit further to find an end cap, Phillips-head screw, and […]
Watch a video of Editor Hal Miller setting up and running this new large scale set from LGB. […]
O gauge Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy by Lionel Price: $1199.99 no. 1932163 Features: O-31 operation, two can-style motors, LionChief Plus 2.0 command and sound system, smoke unit, remote coupler Low speed (cmd): 1.7 scale mph Low speed (conv) 3 smph High speed: 76.2 smph Drawbar pull: 2 lb., 2 oz. Current production road name: […]
Price: $66.95 (undecorated, $64.95) Features: Separate, factory-applied window awnings, window glazing, smokestack, brake wheels, roof grab irons, and see-through running boards; die-cast metal couplers; solid-bearing caboose trucks; plastic underframe with molded brake detail; interior lighting with on/off control switch on underbody Minimum diameter curve: O-31 Road names:Boston & Maine (blue, white, and orange), Burlington Northern […]
Part of the WalthersMainline series, this HO scale Electro-Motive Division SD50 diesel from Wm. K. Walthers features an ESU Sound & DCC decoder. Check out this smooth performing freight locomotive as Model Railroader senior editor Dana Kawala takes it for a run on the staff’s HO scale model train layout. […]
A right-front angled view of Accucraft’s Sabrina locomotive. Garden Railways file photo A version of this article appears in the Summer 2020 issue. Sabrina is one of a pair of new freelance live-steam locomotives from Accucraft. Our review sample is painted an attractive dark-green. The British-style engines are built to 1:19 scale (16mm to the […]
50 Beautiful Deer-Resistant Plants Garden Railways file image Was Elmer Fudd, Looney Tunes’ little rifle-toting hunter of Bugs Bunny fame, justified in shooting at Bugs Bunny? Remember how the “waskily wabbit” tunneled under Elmer’s garden yanking down one juicy carrot after another? In cartoons, we cheer for the bunny, but what if he had […]
A right-front angled view of Piko’s mogul steam locomotive. Garden Railways file photo OK, I have a confession to make before I start. One of my favorite types of steam en-gines is the 2-6-0, commonly called a Mogul. To me, it was one of the pivotal pieces in the evo-lution of railroad motive power. Produced […]
The Atlas Trainkids Acela Train Set has everything needed to get a youngster started in model railroading. Senior editor Dana Kawala shows you have to set up the track and get trains rolling. You can get the Atlas Trainkids Train Set and additional cars and track at KalmbachHobbyStore.com […]
