A scant three years after Alco introduced the Mallet to America (with the delivery of B&O’s sole 0-6-6-0 in 1904), the Erie took delivery of three camelback 0-8-8-0 Mallets – the first eight-coupled Mallets, also built by Alco – and put them to work as helpers on Gulf Summit in New York state. Southern Railway […]
Marc Horovitz Gauge 1, 1:20.3 scale, live-steam ShayAccucraft Trains31112 San Clemente St.Hayward CA 94544Price: $1,799Web site: www.accucraft.com All-metal model based on a Michigan-California Lumber Company Shay; three cylinders; butane-fired boiler; hinged cab roof; displacement lubricator; boiler fittings include safety valve, pressure gauge, water glass, check valve, filler plug; blow-off pressure, 50 psi; hand pump in […]
Marc Horovitz 1:29 scale, gauge 1, ready-to-run Dash 9 dieselAristo-Craft Trains698 S. 21st St.Irvington NJ 07111Price: $380 (UP, BNSF, SF, $400)Web site: www.aristocraft.com Mostly plastic model of a Dash 9-44CW diesel locomotive; modular electrical connections and car body; two, three-axle power trucks with ball bearings; two motors per truck; bright-white LED directional front and rear […]
Kevin Strong G scale, false front, barber-shop facadeHouse of Balsa, Inc.10101 Yucca Rd.Adelanto CA 92301Price: $29.95 plus $6.00 s&h (per order)Web site: www.houseofbalsa.com Beginner’s laser-cut kit; balsa and 1/8″ plywood pieces; clear plastic for window glazing. Dimensions: 9 1/2″ tall x 7 1/2″ wide x 1 3/4″ deep Pros: Clear pictorial instructions guide you step […]
Marc Horovitz 1:29 scale, gauge-1 GP30USA TrainsPO?Box 100Malden MA 02148Web site: www.usatrains.comSee your local dealer for price and availability Plastic model of an EMD GP30; two motors; eight-wheel drive; four traction tires; directional lighting; fan-driven smoke unit; interior cab lighting; detailed cab interior; metal handrails; opening cab doors; hook-and-loop couplers installed, knuckles also supplied; engineer […]
In 1928, the Northern Pacific went shopping for a locomotive that could eliminate doubleheading on the eastern end of its Yellowstone Division between Mandan, N.Dak., and Glendive, Mont. NP’s line through the Badlands had a series of long grades in both directions that made helpers impracticable and had long been one of the railroad’s operational […]
Better than most railroads, perhaps, the Union Pacific understood fast freight service. With an expansive network of lines spread across the western states, the railroad had to maintain fast schedules in order to remain competitive. Mindful of this, UP purchased the first heavy fast freight locomotives: unique three-cylinder 4-12-2s, built by Alco from 1926 to […]
The proving ground for Union Pacific’s locomotives was a 75-mile portion of its busy main line between Ogden, Utah, and Evanston, Wyo. Eastward trains faced a climb through the Wasatch Mountains on grades of 1 percent or better. It was an expensive line to operate, particularly given UP’s practice of running big trains that typically […]
It was December 2005 when I wrote the rough draft of my story on using GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) to help when chasing trains in unfamiliar lands. Between that time and the time the article appeared in the July 2006 issue of Trains, I kept an eye on the advertisements from national electronic retailers (Best […]
Say you’re an engineer running a multi-unit diesel consist on a freight train. During the trip, it becomes necessary to remove the lead unit because of a grade-crossing entanglement, some mechanical problem, or to give to another (underpowered) train. No problem – the second unit can lead as well as the first, so you resume […]
Who controls the movement of the trains after the tower is closed? The train dispatcher is the most common heir to the towerman’s duties, but not always. The type of control used depends on the nature and density of the rail traffic handled at the location. Ways to preventing trains from colliding when railroad lines […]
An Amtrak train en route from Milwaukee to Chicago on Canadian Pacific’s double-track main line hurtles by a metal cabin and some trackside apparatus. Over the radio, a stilted voice intones “CP detector, milepost five seven point six. Main track: two. Total axles: one six. No defects. Temperature: five three degrees. Detector out.” A moment […]
