Toy train locomotive, freight car, passenger car, and vehicle announcements for February 25, 2021

Metropolitan Division of the Train Collectors Association Entenmann’s NE5 caboose no. 102268

Club offerings   Entenmann’s Electro-Motive Division GP7 diesel locomotive and NE5 caboose. Lionel O gauge models custom-decorated for the Metropolitan Division of the Train Collectors Association (METCA). Locomotive features LionChief+2.0 (dual motors, electro-couplers, smoke, and die-cast metal trucks). Caboose has light-emitting-diode interior lights, die-cast metal trucks, and operating couplers. Limited-run models offered on first come, […]

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Digest: Metra board approves purchase of new switchers

Metra Logo

Metra to replace aging switchers with Tier 4, electric locomotives Metra will issue a request for proposals to replace its aging fleet of switchers with six new locomotives meeting Tier IV emission standards — as well as zero-emission, all-electric switcher — following approval by the commuter railroad’s board on Wednesday. Funding will come from state […]

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By narrow margin, U.S. rail traffic remains ahead of 2020 levels

statistics table

U.S. rail freight traffic remained ahead of previous-year levels, although barely, in the latest weekly statistics from the Association of American Railroads. For the week ending Feb. 13, U.S. railroads moved 269,063 trailers and containers, a 6.9% increase over intermodal units for the corresponding week in 2020. The 211,420 carloads, meanwhile, represented a 7% decrease, […]

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HO scale Western Maryland Ry., East Division

overview of a track plan

The layout at a glance Name: Western Maryland Ry., East Division Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 26′-6″ x 30′-0″ Prototype: Western Maryland Locale: Baltimore, central Maryland, and south central Pennsylvania Era: late spring/summer 1965-1973 Style: around-the-walls shelf with peninsula, four helixes Mainline run: 342 feet (including mainline helixes, excluding staging and staging helixes) Minimum radius: 22″ (main), […]

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