Tabla de contenidos para November 2023 en Model Railroader

All about ballast on the prototype and how to use it on your layout What’s one thing you can find on just about every model railroad layout? Ballast! In this article Cody Grivno explores types of ballast, how different kinds of ballast are used, roadbed construction, and ballast maintenance on full-size railroads. Then, Cody translates this real-world information to your model railroad layout, with tips to improve realism with era-specific ballasting techniques! Bachmann HO scale New York Central J-3A Hudson review video A Bachmann HO scale J-3A Hudson visits the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy layout! Model Railroader Editor Eric White and Senior Editor Cody Grivno discuss the features on this New York Central model, demonstrating light and sound features before running the engine on the layout. Scan the attached QR…

An icon of steam is now available from Bachmann Trains. The new HO scale New York Central Class J-3a 4-6-4 Hudson features a die-cast metal boiler and frame and a Train Control Systems WOWSound dual-mode decoder. The 50 Class J-3a Hudsons were built in 1937 and ’38, the last of the type on the NYC. Known as Super Hudsons, they were destined for the cream of the crop in passenger trains, including the famous 20th Century Limited. The locomotives were built by Alco in Schenectady, N.Y. Major spotting differences were in driver type and cab material. Half of the Hudsons had General Steel Castings Boxpok drivers; the other half had Scullin Double Disc drivers. Alcoa supplied aluminum for the cabs of 30 locomotives, and 10 locomotives had cabs of Cor-Ten…

Rapido Trains has been a great friend to New Haven passenger train modelers. The most recent additions are the Pullman-Standard (PS) County-series baggage-lounge and baggage-parlor-lounge cars. The injection-molded plastic and metal passenger cars feature extensive detail and come configured to match specific car interiors. In 1948, the New Haven took delivery of 20 streamlined baggage-lounge cars as part of its postwar passenger modernization program. The cars were delivered in several configurations, each tailored to the needs of particular NH trains. The New Haven evenly split the 20 County-series cars into two groups, baggage-lounge cars and baggage-parlor-lounge cars. Like New Haven’s other postwar streamlined cars, these were built with Cor-Ten steel frames and stainless steel sides and ends with painted window panels. As delivered, the cars had stainless-steel skirts. However, the…

Heat-shrink tubing is something you need to have in your wiring toolkit. This material makes insulating soldered joints neat, simple, and fast. As the name implies, the material shrinks when it’s heated. It comes in multiple sizes, some of which are some-what specialized and are most likely to be found in a hobby shop. I also have a package of larger tubing I picked up at a big-box store. It came in multiple colors and is useful for layout wiring. It’s designed to be used on lower voltage projects – it’s not something you’d use on 115/120V home wiring. Preparation The first tip to using the tubing is to put it on one of the wires you’re connecting before you solder the joint. Since it’s a tube, there’s no way…

Since I turned 50, I’ve built four layouts, all in N scale and all on standard hollow-core doors. They were made to be portable so I could show them off at the National Model Railroad Association Division 7 annual train show. I consider my latest effort, an N scale steel mill, to be my most successful layout yet. A major goal in designing and building my N scale steel mill was to make something creative and unique. I wanted it to be a crowd pleaser. The model railroad at its heart is a compact, portable display that I hope catches the interest of folks at train shows and entertains them. I wanted my layout to go beyond the expected, beyond the usual conventions, beyond the predictable. That’s why I call…

Sharp knocking and rattling doors woke us long before dawn began streaking the sky. We had taken a bare bones room, desperate for showers and mattresses after roughing it through Boston & Maine territory in Vermont for days. The brusque desk clerk checked us in without looking up from the can of Moxie he nursed. Rustic would be a kind way to describe the Hotel Coolidge in the early 1980s, but its location overlooking the station at White River Junction was ideal. Knock! Knock! Loudly, “You’re called for the Montrealer.” Footsteps sounded and we heard the call repeated at another door. Knock! Knock! Could having sleep interrupted this way please anyone but railfans? Railroading involves around-the-clock work and odd hours hound railroaders today as much as ever. Federal hours of…

Supposedly, there are more than one of Murphy’s Laws. Among them is this gem: Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool. Which brings me to the red insulation escapade. I spent the last quarter of 2022 on railroad improvement projects I have studiously ignored for at least a decade, probably closer to two. They were projects that should have been completed when the railroad was just being built, but for whatever reason – probably because I was hurrying to get it ready for an inaugural operating session involving some good friends from out of town – I took some shortcuts. Among these hasty decisions was grouping the feeders from two busy switching areas on adjacent decks onto a common bus. I should have run two sets of bus wires,…

A Pullman-Standard 4427 high-side three-bay covered hopper is making its debut in the Atlas O Premier line. The model was acquired when Atlas O purchased select MTH tooling in 2021. The PS 4,427-cubic-foot capacity three-bay covered hopper was unveiled in 1964. The original design had low sides. In 1966 PS redesigned the car with high sides, which made it easier to reach the outlet gates and shaker brackets. When production ended in 1971, more than 12,000 covered hoppers were built to the high-side design. The Atlas O Premier line covered hopper features a multi-piece ABS body. The roof, sides, and ends are molded as a single piece. The slope sheets are separate. The roof has a freestanding hatch cover casting and see-through plastic running boards. Painted wire grab irons are attached…

Q I have a Walthers gas plant kit (item 933-3104) and gas storage tank kit (item 933-2907). I want to model a coal-gas plant. Do you have any drawings or pictures of such a plant that I can model using these kits? Thomas Lauritsen I can do you better than a few photos and drawings. Jeff Wilson’s A book Industries Along The Tracks 4 (available from the Kalmbach Hobby Store) devotes an entire chapter to modeling the industry. The coal gasification process dates from the late 1700s in France and started to spread across the United States in the early 1800s. By the 1860s, most towns of notable size had a gas plant of their own to supply gaslights on the streets and in homes and businesses. At the industry’s…

Railroads are 24-hour operations, with lots of trains running through the night. Modelers who only set and operate their layouts during daylight hours are missing the dramatic looks and interesting operational opportunities when the street and building lights come on. With the advent of recent technology and light-emitting diode (LED) lights, it’s easier than ever to add lighting effects to your layout. Follow along as I describe how I lit up my layout. Scene controller I began my project by researching products to control LEDs. Model Train Technology (modeltraintechnology.com) offers a 16-port DCC LED Scene Controller that can control up to 64 LEDs (16 ports with a maximum of four lights assigned to each port) with different lighting effects for each port ❶. One of its many benefits is that…

Constructing scenery has always been my favorite part of model railroading. The moderate messiness encountered in the early stages is quickly forgotten when rock painting, ground textures, and myriad details are being incorporated. I believe scenery is where one’s creative juices begin to flow. The amount of scenery on a layout is a matter of choice. To some extent, it’s dependent on the type of geography one is trying to model. My Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe layout was set in the Cajon Pass area and contained scenery with relatively few trees and basic rolling terrain. In contrast, my last two Norfolk & Western layouts had more involved scenery due the numerous rock outcroppings, cuts, trees, and vegetation. The type of scenery and associated details may also be limited by…

Great Model Railroads 2024 is packed with articles, photos, tips, tricks, and track plans from nine spectacular layouts in HO, N, and O scales. This month, Trackside Photos features images from six of those layouts. Great Model Railroads 2024 goes on sale in October at your local hobby store. You can also order directly from our Customer Service hotline at 877-246-4879 or online from KalmbachHobbyStore.com. Send us your photos Trackside Photos is a showcase for the work of Model Railroader readers. Send your photos (digital images 5 megapixels or larger) to: Model Railroader, Trackside Photos, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612; or upload them to fileupload.kalmbach.com/contribute. For our photo submission guidelines, contact senior associate editor Steven Otte at sotte@kalmbach.com.…

Electro-Motive Division GP9 and SW9 diesel locomotives. Grand Trunk Western is among the paint schemes on these WalthersProto models. Additional schemes on the GP9 include Chicago, Burlington & Quincy; Nickel Plate Road; and Southern Pacific. The SW9 is also available lettered for Chesapeake & Ohio and Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo. Both locomotives are offered in four road numbers per scheme (two each in DC and DCC) and have railroad-specific details. Direct-current models are priced at $199.98 (SW9) and $219.98 (GP9). Versions with an ESU LokSound V5 sound decoder sell for $299.98 (SW9) and $319.98 (GP9). Wm. K. Walthers Inc., 414-527-0770, walthers.com HO scale locomotives • Early Challenger 4-6-6-4 steam locomotive. Union Pacific. Six road numbers available. Prototype-specific details such as feedwater heater, side rods, walkways, and handrails. Light-emitting diode firebox with…

Athearn has released a new run of its HO scale Electro-Motive Division F59PHI diesel locomotive. The model, part of the Athearn lineup since 2000, features a dual-mode SoundTraxx Econami decoder, light-emitting-diode lighting, and smooth or corrugated body panels as appropriate. Electro-Motive Division debuted the F59PHI (Passenger, Head-end power, Isolated cab) in August 1994. By the time production ended in 2001, 83 F59PHI diesels were built. Our sample is decorated as Metra No. 90 in the commuter agency’s Chicago & North Western heritage scheme. The full-size diesel was built by EMD as Amtrak 465 in September 1998. The unit was one of 21 F59PHIs acquired by Metra in 2018. The prototype was repainted in C&NW colors in 2020. The Athearn model has a one-piece injection-molded plastic shell. The front pilot, also…

Don’t throw the reefer out with the bathwater! Many HO scale modelers are still fans of the famous Athearn “blue box” car kits. Many of the kit boxes have original prices of $3.50 to $3.75, which today, is humorous in itself. Whether bought from swap meets or online purchases, these kits still provide modelers with excellent versions of HO scale rolling stock to run on model railroads. The particular car that this article focuses on is the 57-foot mechanical reefer. Regardless of what railroad is modeled, this car serves as a fine example of a functional means of refrigerated freight transportation. A design decision to mold the coupler pocket as a part of the frame is the main issue at hand with this car. The molded connection is a thin…

One building I installed lights in is an American Model Builders No. 140 Two-Story Farm House, a laser-cut wood kit. I’d previously built and finished the kit, so some disassembly was required to put lights inside. Fortunately, I had not glued the roof in place, so I only had to remove the second floor and an attached partition dividing wall. With access to the interior of the first floor, I now could drill two 7⁄32" holes in the floor, one for the wires to the TV and another for the interior lights and porch lights. I drilled the hole for the TV wires next to the wall where I was planning to mount the TV simulator LED. The second was located behind a first-floor wall partition to hide the wires…

The circus started as a snowflake and grew to a storm. In early 1970s, I had a small number of freight cars on the railroad, but they were hard to spot in the crowd. I asked if I could build a circus train and was given the OK. I joined a circus club which issued a bi-monthly magazine and ordered 10 flatcars and a number of circus wagons. I had assumed that each flatcar would hold two wagons, but was surprised to learn that each would hold three or four wagons, so I had to add more. I ordered any circus wagon I could find and even used drawings of wagons to scratchbuild and kitbash others. At one point I had every circus wagon sold on the market. Over the…

Over the course of this monthly column, I have given you some bits of basic electrical knowledge to get you through each individual project. Now, I would like to take some time to give you more information on how to handle other situations you might face as you equip your layout with Digital Command Control (DCC) ❶. A basic circuit consists of a power source, some wiring, and a load. A power source can be a battery, a power supply, or a booster. The load can be a light bulb, a light-emitting diode (LED), a motor, a speaker, or a decoder with any of the above attached ❷. A power source usually puts out voltage, or electrical pressure. Think of it like water pressure that squirts water out of a hose.…