Model Railroader April 2021

The Model Railroader logo at the bottom of this column includes this magazine’s longstanding slogan: “Model railroading is fun!” Which raises the obvious question: Are we having fun? Glancing through the contents of this issue proves that we are, indeed, enjoying our hobby and also, oddly, the difficult tasks are often the most rewarding. For example, Jason Shron, owner of Rapido Trains, has built a life-size model of a passenger car. The photo at left shows the view down Jason’s basement steps. Although it looks like a real car (and contains seats and other parts from an actual VIA Rail coach) it is a true model – the car’s body is built of wood. Jason explains the process in his article, which starts on page 42. It was a great deal of work, but…

Memories of the MR&T The special issue Milwaukee, Racine & Troy: The inside story of Model Railroader’s club layout immediately caught my eye in the magazine aisle this past weekend. I was thrilled to finally see a publication focusing strictly on the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy. The historical perspective of the layout and the railroad was very interesting. I was one of the original Wednesday evening MR&T operators. Many of the photos included in the publication brought back fond memories. Andy [Sperandeo, MR’s former executive editor] and Bob [Hayden, former Kalmbach Books editor] were both truly a pleasure to meet and operate with, and did a fantastic job coordinating the sessions. We all learned, became good friends, and truly enjoyed each other’s fellowship every month. I was thrilled to see my photo on a…

Two years ago I retired and started volunteering at the East Troy (Wis.) Electric Railroad Museum. On page 47 of Dec 2020 MR is a picture of Milwaukee Road transfer caboose no. 01736 [in the article “More than 50 years of fun” –Ed.]. We have a caboose just like that in our roster at the museum, no. 01738, and it was neat to see it as a model on a layout. The handrails on the roof of our caboose were removed to prevent them coming in contact with our overhead wires. The caboose was built out of an old tender in the Milwaukee Road shops, and the structure is all welded steel. We bring it out of the barn every year to take part in our Santa train that runs from…

The National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) announced in late January that the 2021 “Rails By the Bay” National Convention and National Train Show have been cancelled. The events were scheduled to be held in early July in Santa Clara, Calif. “We did not reach this decision lightly but felt it was the best for anyone who would want to attend given the current status of the pandemic, the disbursement of the vaccine, and the fact that people were waiting to see what would happen before they registered,” wrote Bob Amsler, Meetings and Trade Show Department Chair, in an e-mail. “Moreover, local prototype facilities were not open and, understandably, home owners were reluctant to allow people in their homes.” Though the in-person convention and train show won’t take place, plans are under way…

HO scale Electro-Motive Division GP40-2 diesel locomotive. New paint schemes on this Atlas Master Line model include Norfolk Southern (Operation Lifesaver, two road numbers), Canadian Pacific (red and white, two numbers), Burlington Northern (nose stripes and American flag), Conrail (“Quality” scheme [small lettering in two road numbers, large lettering in one number]), CSX (gray and blue, with and without Operation Red Block slogan in two numbers each), Florida East Coast (blue and white), and Union Pacific (Armour Yellow and Harbor Mist Gray). The HO scale model is offered in three numbers per scheme unless noted. Direct-current models with a factory-installed speaker are priced at $189.95. Versions with a dual-mode ESU LokSound sound decoder retail for $299.95. Atlas Model Railroad Co., 908-687-0880, atlasrr.com HO scale locomotives • Norfolk & Western class A 2-6-6-4 steam…

Q I need some advice on N scale couplers. Most of my fleet has the old one-piece plastic “Rapido” couplers. All my newer equipment has Micro-Trains magnetic knuckle couplers, which seem to be more reliable (not to mention closer to scale). Though I’ve stuck with Rapido for awhile, I think it’s time to start converting my equipment. There seems to be a huge range of Micro-Trains conversion kits available, and the information I’ve found on which to use has been unclear, especially since some of my locomotives aren’t listed. Do you have any suggestions for selecting couplers and for the installation process? James Cudworth, Bristol, Wis. A I believe I’ve found a website that will help you. Micro-Trains has a web page with links to coupler conversion guides for many different brands…