I recently bought a Lionel No. 2121060 American Flyer Baltimore & Ohio 4-6-2 Pacific locomotive and tender and would like to install Kadee couplers. I see holes on the bottom of the S gauge tender for mounting a scale coupler adapter, but I don’t know which adapter will fit there and how to mount it. […]
The Winter 1989 issue featured an 8 page (!) article on prewar American Flyer stations (96, 104, and 237). This comprehensive article included variation charts for each of the versions, photos of the different bases, catalog art, and more. It’s a great reminder that CTT has been the authority for toy train history for more […]
Do you have any suggestions for easily and safely removing the pins that hold the plastic body shell on various American Flyer freight and passenger cars from the postwar era? Using a pair of pliers has not worked. — Robert Lawrence You have to wedge a screwdriver or another tool between the body shell and […]
Back in 2010, I was part of a group of contributors to Scenery by the Seasons by Kalmbach Publishing Co. The 98-page book featured stories on modeling seasons on your layout. Among the topics covered were spring backdrops; lily pads, cattails, and pond scum; easy autumn trees; and ice and snow. Though the title is […]
The Titletown Train Show will be held May 3-4, 2025. The event will be at the KI Convention Center, 333 Main St., Green Bay, Wis. Show hours are Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event features 35,000 square feet of operating display layouts, vendors, hourly door prizes, […]
The following is a series of edited excerpts from an interview conducted by David Popp with Stacey Walthers Naffah, president and CEO of Wm. K. Walthers, Inc. on April 21, 2025. It is part of Trains.com and Model Railroader‘s ongoing coverage of U.S. tariffs. Click here to watch the complete video interview on Trains.com Video. […]
Trains.com Insider Interview | Wm. K. Walthers, Inc., CEO and President Stacey Walthers Naffah stops by the Firecrown Media Wisconsin office to visit with Trains.com Director David Popp. The shift in U.S. trade policies and practices remains the topic of greatest interest to hobbyists. You’ll want to hear, directly from Stacey, how tariffs impact the […]
Excessive track noise was one of the main reasons I decided to rebuild my HO scale Daneville & Donner River layout. I hadn’t paid much attention to the noise level until I started using locomotives with sound decoders. That’s when I recognized how the wheel noise from rolling freight cars nearly overpowered the sound of […]
Micro Engineering, the Macon, Missouri-based model railroad track manufacturer, announced in a recent press release that it has acquired Tomalco Track. “Micro Engineering Company is pleased to announce the addition of Tomalco Track and its S scale tooling to the Micro Engineering family. Micro Engineering will be adding six different S scale items to its […]
Tennessee Valley Custom Models has been acquired by new ownership. In addition, the manufacturer has a new name, Lineside Details. In a press release shared with the editors of Model Railroader, Michael and Elizabeth Thidemann announced their acquisition of the Atlanta-based scale signage producer and distributor. “We’re excited to continue providing high-quality signs to help […]
Q: I’m currently planning a layout that features several railroads, including a mythical short line that has to use running rights with the larger railroads. How would these running rights work in regards to timetables and train orders? And how would clearance cards be issued? Would there be a clearance card issued by each road, […]
The following is a series of edited excerpts from an interview conducted by David Popp with Jason Shron, owner of Rapido Trains on March 25, 2025. You can find the complete interview on Trains.com Video by clicking here. – Ed. David: The word on everybody’s minds in the hobby as of late is tariffs. Jason […]
