Model Railroader July 2020

New layout videos This month’s issue features both a large HO scale club railroad with a prototype interlocking machine (the Coschocton Model Railroad Club on page 38) and a superdetailed 8 x 16-foot On30 railroad (the Marshfield & Old Colony on page 28). Contributing editor Lou Sassi also shot short videos of each railroad that subscribers can watch at ModelRailroader.com. Follow the Jones Island project In the new season of Rehab My Railroad, featuring the Model Railroader staff’s HO scale Milwaukee, Racine & Troy, MRVP Producer David Popp and Group Technical Editor Cody Grivno continue work on the waterfront. Don’t miss another exclusive video. Subscribe to Model Railroader Video Plus today at MRVideoPlus.com/27deal. STEP BY STEP BONUS Project plans Group Technical Editor Cody Grivno shows how to scratchbuild a Chicago & North Western Ry. yard office in…

The wonderful HO scale Coshocton (Ohio) Model Railroad Club, featured on our cover this month, shows the power of creative modelers working toward a common goal. The club’s Toledo, Walhonding Valley & Ohio RR (TWV&O) fills a 50 x 150-foot space inside a dedicated building at the Coshocton County Fairgrounds. The layout features handlaid track, intense train action, soaring bridges, and even a vintage 32-lever interlocking machine controlling a scale model crossing of two railroads! Then in a Facebook post in late March, the 52 members were told meetings and operating sessions were canceled and the club building closed for the duration of the Coronavirus pandemic. The message concluded, “We’re all model railroaders, we should have tons of stuff to work on at home already.” The same story was repeated across the country in…

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many events to be canceled worldwide, and the 2020 National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) National Convention and National Train Show are no exceptions. The events were scheduled to be held in mid-July in St. Louis. A letter posted on the NMRA website, nmra.org, said, “The local host group has determined that they can no longer continue with the preparations and operation of the convention. Among the reasons for this decision is the fact that one key member is ill with COVID-19. The host group requests your prayers for him. “Additionally, some members of the local model railroad community have withdrawn their model railroads from the tours based on their understandable and valid concerns about allowing persons in their homes who may have the COVID-19 virus,” the letter…

Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 Royal Hudson steam locomotive. Rapido Trains has released the first model in its Icons of Canadian Steam Line. The 4-6-4 Royal Hudson is offered in three classes, H1d (Canadian Pacific in three road numbers and Royal Train in one number), H1c (CP in five numbers and Southern Ry. in one number), and H1e (CP in two numbers and British Columbia in one number); all classes are offered painted for CP but unnumbered. The HO scale model features road-number-specific details, three stack styles (streamlined, straight, or bathtub; one installed, others included), an interior cab light, blackened metal wheels and driving rods, and optional modeler-installed parts. Direct current models sell for $599.95; versions with a dual-mode sound decoder are $699.95. Rapido Trains Inc., 905-474-3314, rapidotrains.com HO scale locomotives • Electro-Motive Division…

• Northern Pacific 10000-series double-sheathed boxcar. Rapido Trains HO scale ready-to-run car with road numbers unique to the Northern Pacific Ry. Historical Association. Post-1948 scheme and post-1956 company service scheme. Four road numbers each; also available painted in post-1948 scheme but unnumbered. Injection-molded plastic with riveted center sill and factory-installed and painted wire grab irons. $37.50. Northern Pacific Ry. Historical Association, nprha.org • Assorted Northern Pacific HO scale decals. Waterslide decals produced for the NPRHA by Cartograf. Wood and steel cabooses, $24. Converted wood-chip cars, $19. “From scratch” gondolas, $17. 10000-series double-sheathed boxcars, $8. Thrall and Gunderson wood-chip cars, $11. Northern Pacific Ry. Historical Association, nprha.org • Warwick Ry. Evans 52-foot gondola. Atlas Trainman HO scale model custom-decorated for the Worcester Model Railroaders. Two road numbers. Metal wheels and McHenry couplers. $20…

Got any ideas for an uncoupling tool? Q I model in N scale. I’m having problems uncoupling the cars. Is there a tool out there to assist with this task, or do you have a suggestion on how to make this easier? William Semanko, Junction City, Kan. A Many N scalers like yourself uncouple their cars by inserting the point of a fine-pointed tool, like a wooden or bamboo kitchen skewer, between the knuckles and twisting. I’ve seen some people make custom tools for this purpose using a darning needle inserted in a wooden handle, sometimes with an LED light attached to illuminate between the cars. Others, like “N Scale Insight” columnist Jim Kelly, use plastic cocktail picks, like those you’d find skewering cherries or olives in a mixed drink (see above). Jim…