Model Railroader March 2022

Ask Trains.com Your modeling questions answered! Check out the new video series Ask Trains.com, where Group Technical Editor Cody Grivno and Trains.com Digital Editor Steve Sweeney address viewer-submitted inquiries on everything from issues with back-orders to free-floating wheelsets. Become a Trains.com member for unlimited access to all the Model Railroader video series. Sketching with Steve Senior Associate Editor Steven Otte is back with the latest edition of Sketching with Steve, and this time he’s talking about double-pole double-throw switches. MORE REVIEWS & VIDEOS • Videos• News & Reviews• Community• Shop & more.…

If something seems familiar about this month’s cover, you’re right. The image of David Popp weathering a Rapido passenger car was inspired by the August 1956 Model Railroader cover. David’s article this month, “Weather passenger cars piecemeal,” explains how he gets exceptional weathering effects by working one section at a time. You can read all about it by turning to page 36. The cover feature from the August 1956 issue, “How Thornburgh brush-paints and hand-letters models,” is also well worth reading. This issue, along with every single issue we’ve published going all the way back to 1934’s Volume 1, Number 1, is right at your fingertips, thanks to Trains.com’s issue archive. The author of that long-ago article, Mel Thornburgh, showed how to achieve smooth, opaque, and precise lettering and stripes with no brushmarks.…

Rapido Trains announced that a FreightCar America AutoFlood III five-bay hopper is the next release in the company’s growing N scale lineup. The modern-era coal hauler is scheduled for release in 2022. The ready-to-run car will feature a die-cast metal frame and floor; full interior rivet and K-member details; Barber S-2 100-ton trucks with metal wheels; detailed end cages and outlet gates; air and brake piping; separate, factory-applied crossover platforms and uncoupling levers; and a removable coal load. Paint schemes on the first release will be BNSF Ry., Carolina Power & Light, CIT Group, GATX Corp., Gulf Power Co., Indiana Rail Road, Union Pacific, and Western Resources Inc. Single cars will be priced at $38.95 and six-packs will sell for $233.70. Unnumbered six-packs will also be offered for each road name. For the latest…

KR Models recently released photos and a video showing an early production sample of its HO scale Shay geared steam locomotive. The model, scheduled for release this fall, is based on the Lima-built 50-ton two-truck Class B Shay. Features on the geared steam locomotive include a die-cast metal chassis, working external valve gear and drive shafts, and directional headlights. Road names offered include Arcata no. 7, Canadian Pacific no. 111, Merrill & Ring Lumber Co. no. 3, Southwestern Portland Cement Co. no. 12, Sugar Pine Lumber Co. no. 10, and West Side Lumber Co. no. 6. The locomotive will also be available painted black but unlettered. The model will be priced between $299 and $449, depending on features. Sound-equipped models will be fitted with an ESU LokSound V5 decoder. For more information, visit…

HO scale Electro-Motive Division F units. Athearn is offering the Burlington Northern “hockey stick” scheme for the first time on its Genesis series F units. The HO scale models are available as a single F9A, an F9A/F7B set, and an F9A/B set in one road number each. The A units feature a detailed cab interior. All of the models have a die-cast metal underframe, factory-installed and painted wire grab irons, and photo-etched metal and plastic detail parts. Direct-current models with 21-pin NEM connectors are priced at $219.98 (F9A) and $419.98 (A-B sets). Versions with a dual-mode SoundTraxx Tsunami2 sound decoder sell for $309.98 (F9A) and $599.98 (A-B sets). Athearn Trains, 800-338-4639, athearn.com HO scale locomotives • Electro-Motive Division GP40-2 diesel locomotive. Burlington Northern (Cascade Green and black with stripes), CSX (dark blue and…

What freight cars would my diesels pull? Q I have some BNSF General Electric Dash 9 and GEVO units that pull my double-stack and trailer-on-flatcar (TOFC) trains as well as a BNSF Executive train. My question is, what sort of freight cars would be used with GP18s and SD45s in the mid- to late 1960s? Jim Rohrbach A If you’re running Dash 9s and GEVOs, then your railroad is set in the modern era, not the 1960s. The Dash 9 series was introduced in 1995, and the Evolution series in 2003. Double-stack container trains started in the U.S. in 1984. So the way I see it, you have three options: 1) Acknowledge your railroad is really set post-2003, in which case your aged GP18s and SD45s would be relegated to switching, local freight, transfer,…