In the declining years of private passenger haulage, one of the illusions held out for consideration was that the public might be drawn back to the rails if passenger trains ran at or near airline speeds. In the caveman days of the 1960s, high-speed rail was pretty much just finding a way to match the […]
Although horse-drawn trolleys could be found in many American cities, rapid movement of commuters really became practical when the routes were electrified. Interestingly, many vintage photos show trolleys running along dirt streets in relatively large cities, with pedestrians, horse-drawn wagons, carts, and even a few carriages being their only competition for the roadway. As time […]
Atlas HO scale Alco C-424 diesel locomotive The Alco C-424 has been a part of the Atlas line since 1986, when the firm imported a model produced by Kato. Today, the C-424 is now part of the Atlas Classics line. The ready-to-run model uses an Atlas drive and features an eight-pin plug for a Digital […]
Digitrax SoundFX decoders A pair of HO and N scale Digital Command Control sound decoders from Digitrax offer steam and diesel sound effects in entry-level packages. The HO scale SDH164D and N scale SDN144PS come loaded with generic sound sets and wired with a speaker and capacitor. The SDN series are intended as basic sound […]
ExactRail N scale Trinity hi-cube 50-foot boxcar Price: $22.95 ManufacturerExactRail LLC1053 South 1675 WestOrem, Utah, 84058www.exactrail.com Era: 1995 to present Comments: A contemporary 52-foot Trinity hi-cube plug-door boxcar has been released in N scale by ExactRail. It represents a high capacity prototype built by TrinityRail Corp. to haul heavy rolls of printing paper. The model […]
The Athearn Genesis HO scale MT-4 features a SoundTraxx Tsunami Digital Command Control (DCC) sound decoder. See and hear this new steam locomotive run on the Model Railroader club layout, the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy. […]
Bachmann HO scale 0-6-0T steam switcher This diminutive steam switcher features a lot of separately applied detail parts for an HO scale locomotive that’s the same size as many N scale engines. Part of Bachmann Trains’ Spectrum line, this well-detailed HO scale saddle-tank steam switcher uses the same tooling as the first release several years […]
Athearn HO scale Southern Pacific MT-4 steam locomotive Fans of Southern Pacific steam locomotives have had a few GS-class 4-8-4s to choose from as ready-to run HO models in recent years, but the Athearn MT-4 marks the first time that an SP 4-8-2 has been available as a ready-to-run plastic model. This Athearn Genesis series […]
MTH HO scale Southern Pacific class 79-C-2 44-seat chair car A Southern Pacific class 79-C-2 44-seat chair car marks the first HO passenger car from MTH Electric Trains. The prototype for the model was built by Pullman-Standard in 1941 for service on the Coast Daylight. The length and width of the model match a prototype […]
Sievers Benchwork I was looking for benchwork that was easy to assemble. Siever’s Benchwork is a regular advertiser in Model Railroader, so I figured it had to be a good product. When I received the benchwork, it looked nice, it was sturdy, and it could possibly be transportable (modular capability). It’s nice that the benchwork […]
T W TRAINWORX IS NOTED FOR BOTH ITS LIONEL DISPLAYS AND, MORE RECENTLY, ITS LINE OF LIONEL-BRANDED ARCH BRIDGE KITS. These structures evoke images of catalogs of the past with trains rolling beneath and across the bridge, and the name LIONEL centered in the archway below the deck. How neat is that? Jumping right inWhen […]
IN THE WORLD OF RAILROADING, IT ISN’T ALL THAT OFTEN WHEN A PIECE OF SECONDHAND RAILWAY GEAR makes as big a splash with the follow-on owner as it did with the original titleholder. The two Red Arrow Lines Liberty Liners fall into this category. OriginsWith great fanfare two of the stylish, high-speed train sets were […]
