Model Railroader April 2020

Chase steam on the N&W The latest update on Gary Hoover’s HO scale tribute to the Norfolk & Western Ry. of the 1950s begins on page 38. The layout features many scenes inspired by famed N&W photographer O. Winston Link. Find even more photos of this exceptional layout at ModelRailroader.com/HooverN&W Wire-free layout lighting Want to learn more about the Dwarvin Lamplighter optical fiber system? In this exclusive step-by-step video, Group Technical Editor Cody Grivno shows you how he lit up the scene on page 26. Visit MRVideoPlus.com/Lamplighter. Model Railroader Video Plus subscribers have access to exclusive HD videos covering all aspects of the hobby. Sign up today at MRVideoPlus.com/27deal PRODUCT REVIEW Athearn HO scale SD45T-2 On page 58, we review this new sound-equipped HO scale diesel. In this online video you can watch it work a…

Legendary photographer O. Winston Link’s evocative photographs of the last days of steam on the Norfolk & Western Ry. inspired Gary Hoover’s 24 x 49-foot HO scale layout, which is featured on our cover this month. Gary’s basement-size layout includes highly detailed mainline, branchline, rural, and city scenes – and more! “I wanted to re-create some of Link’s famous photos in HO scale,” Gary notes in his article, starting on page 38. An example is shown here. It’s Gary’s recreation of a Link image entitled “Old Maude bows to the Virginia Creeper.” Link is primarily remembered for photographing N&W’s steam engines at night, dramatically lit by dozens of flashbulbs. Link also carefully posed people and automobiles in many of his compositions. But Link could also be spontaneous. His 1958 photograph of a horse bowing to…

Alco C-420 diesel locomotives. Atlas Model Railroad Co. offers new road numbers on Phase I low nose diesels decorated for Delaware & Hudson (two numbers), Lehigh & Hudson River (two numbers), and Lehigh Valley (three numbers) and Phase IIb low nose units lettered for Lehigh & Hudson River (one number) and Monon (three numbers). The HO scale Master Line model has prototype-specific details, separately applied detail parts, and golden white light-emitting-diode headlights. Direct-current models sell for $169.95. Versions with a dual-mode ESU LokSound Select sound decoder are priced at $279.95. Atlas Model Railroad Co., 908-687-0880, atlasrr.com Rapido Trains Inc., manufacturer of North American prototype HO and N scale locomotives, freight and passenger cars, and accessories, as well as British-outline models, celebrated its 15th anniversary in November 2019. Jason Shron, president of Rapido,…

I’m at a loss for words after reading Charlie Getz’s article on Kenichi Matsumoto’s restoration [“Miracle in Monterey: The restoration of G-D Line no. 10,” February]. I was and still am a huge fan of John Allen’s work. While I never had the pleasure of seeing his layout or meeting him, I do know two people who operated the layout on several occasions. (I have to admit I’m a little jealous of them.) A huge thank-you to both Mr. Getz and Mr. Matsumoto for such a great story and restoration. Peter Sanchez Federal Way, Wash. I had to comment on the restoration by Kenichi Matsumoto. A great article and a wonderful restoration. My parents got me a Lionel train set when I was young, which got me into model railroading. Then I discovered HO…

How to line turnouts on thick benchwork Q I‘m building an N scale layout on a hollow core door covered with 2" thick extruded-foam insulation board on top. I’d like to remotely control a few of the turnouts that aren’t easily reachable from the front of the layout. Any suggestions on how to operate these turnouts? The thickness of the foam plus the door seems to me to be a problem. Thanks for any ideas. Rob Wesley A An under-table switch machine will operate a turnout through that much thickness of benchwork if the actuating wire is replaced with a stiffer one that will resist flexing. Look in your hobby shop or online for tempered music wire, which is usually sold in 1-foot or 3-foot lengths. The thicker the wire, the stiffer it…

Model trains have always ranged in price from inexpensive to costly. A hundred years ago, Ives was the prestigious tinplate line, and Hafner was the entry level option. O scale was always expensive, the “rich man’s” hobby for its cost and space required to operate. More affordable HO had Varney at one end, and Gilbert’s 1938, thrifty die-cast TruModel line at the other. It was true entry-level HO scale. Post World War II saw new companies running the gamut from Varney to mid-priced Mantua/Tyco to affordable Revell and HObbyline. But the 1960s were troubled for scale and tinplate alike. Mail order houses/department stores Sears, Roebuck & Co. and Montgomery Ward were losing entry-level tinplate sales due to rising manufacturing costs, and foreign-made HO seemed a good alternative. Wards was first in…