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All about the community of model railroading and rail enthusiasm

COWCATCHER MAGAZINE

Product Reviews

Cowcatcher Magazine publishes product reviews periodically in our print and online editions. See our review of InterMountain’s GP10 Paducah in the September/October 2017 edition. – Cowcatcher Magazine

Cowcatcher Online Reviews

Product Review: Rapido Trains HO Budd Slumbercoach

Product Review: Rapido Trains HO NSC Bulkhead Flatcar

Product Review: InterMountain HO ADM Corn Syrup Car

Product Review: MAC Rail EOT Devices

Product Review: Rapido Lightweight Dining Car

Product Review: Grain Belt Models Bins and Culverts

Product Review : Rapido HO Flexi-Flo Hoppers

Product Review: Athearn HO Norfolk Southern GE Dash 9-40C

Selected Print Edition Reviews

Athearn HO-Scale ACF 2970 Texas & Pacific Center Flow Hopper – September/October 2007

Atlas GP30 – July/August 2008

Athearn HO-Scale GP38-2 – March/April 2013

ScaleTrains HO-Scale UP GTEL “Big Blow” Turbine – November/December 2016

ScaleTrains’ HO-Scale UP “Big Blow” – ScaleTrains

Kato Sound Box DC Control System – May/June 2015

InterMountain N-Scale SD40-2 – May/June 2017

InterMountain HO-Scale GP10 Paducah – September/October 2017

Walthers HO-Scale Modern Yard Office – November/December 2019

Grain Belt HO-Scale Grain Bins and Culverts – May/June 2020

RailSmith N-Scale Frisco Pullman coach “Clayton” – May/June 2021

Rapido Trains HO-Scale Southern Pacific SW 1200 Locomotive – July/August 2021

ScaleTrains HO-Scale Bethlehem Steel Co. Rivet Counter Flatcar – September/October 2021

ScaleTrains N-Scale Rivet Counter Gunderson Multi-Max Autorack – March/April 2022

Athearn HO-Scale SD70ACU – March/April 2022

Athearn N-Scale ATW Hutchinson Northern 50-foot Boxcar – September/October 2023

Minitrix Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4013 – November/December 2024

Southern Pacific SD40T-2 No. 8320 is modeled after the prototype built in February 1978. – Scale Trains

ScaleTrains N-Scale Tunnel Motors – January/February 2025

Eye-Choo Camera Car – January/February 2025

Atlas N-Scale Tru-Track – May/June 2025

Rapido HO-Scale Turbo Train – May/June 2025

Current Issue: July/August 2025

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Katy Flavor

Growing up in Central Texas in the 1980s, David Heyde loved big machinery. Only natural for a boy surrounded by a mighty river complemented by steamboats, an active Army airfield and regional airport, and equipment that tended row upon row of corn, soybeans and other grains. What loomed largest, though, was the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. Heyde’s MKT Central Texas Subdivision, a compact but bold HO-scale layout, captures on two levels around the walls the zest of the iconic railroad that ran from Kansas City and St. Louis to Galveston, TX, and the Gulf of Mexico. All while maximizing space in what once was a one-car garage.

Holding Steady

This year’s National Narrow Gauge Convention is coming home, where it all began 45 years ago. The Mudhens will once again have a large presence at the convention Sept. 3-6 in St. Louis. Over the last four decades, their rise has been rather circuitous. While developing national appeal in narrow-gauge circles, these dedicated modelers from St. Louis to Arizona to Texas have persevered.

Personal Switcher

The Kansas City West Bottoms Railroad (KCRR) debuted in early March, with no small impact on a parcel of track along the former Missouri Pacific Railroad near the Kansas-Missouri line. What’s turning heads, says KCRR president Rich Duncan, is that the tiny Class III short line is rewriting the railroad marketing narrative on first-mile, last-mile service with a new level of dedicated switching so its three customers can better connect to the Union Pacific.

Plus

Columnist Michelle Kempema writes that model railroaders and railfans can preserve their legacy for a good cause, railroads once ran special trains in enormous size and variety and autonomous battery-electric rail cars are being piloted on two Georgia short line railroads. Also, one modeler looking for something unique for his layout found just the thing in an old model railroad magazine - plans to scratch build a rock bunker. And more!