Athearn Ready To Roll HO scale SD40-2 Although it’s part of Athearn’s value-priced Ready-To-Roll series, this SD40-2 bristles with enough roadname-specific detail to satisfy most prototype-savvy modelers. The SD40-2 also marks a big upgrade for Athearn RTR locomotives. Instead of the SoundTraxx RTR decoder with limited functionality found in previous Athearn RTR releases, this new […]
Truck shown with coupler removed Flashing rear-end devices, or FREDs, started taking the place of cabooses on trains starting in the 1970s. The small rectangular boxes are now a ubiquitous part of modern-era railroading. Bachmann Trains is offering a light-emitting-diode (LED) illuminated HO scale FRED that works on direct-current (DC) or Digital Command Control (DCC) […]
Atlas HO scale General Electric U33B diesel locomotive The Rock Island was a mighty fine line, but by the time General Electric’s U33B locomotives were delivered in the late 1960s, the Rock was in a hard place. The 3,300hp diesels were designed for fast freight, but the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific was a granger […]
Lowell Smith N scale sleepers Price: $54 each Manufacturer Lowell Smith Signature Series P.O. Box 219 Gresham, OR 97030 www.lowellsmith.net Car names: Death Valley and Grand Canyon Era: late 1940s to early 1950s Comments: The Lowell Smith Signature Series has launched a new line of N scale passenger cars, the Pullman Park Series. The first […]
Woodland Scenics HO scale Double Decker Trailer Price: $74.99 Manufacturer Woodland Scenics P.O. Box 98 Linn Creek, MO 65052 www.woodlandscenics.com Versions: Sunny Days, Grillin’ & Chillin’, and Double Decker trailers Era: 1950s to present Comments: Modelers looking for downscale housing for their trackside towns should check out this Landmark Structures offering from Woodland Scenics. The […]
50 Years-North American Railroads: Vol. 1-The Far West By Don Jocelyn Four Ways West, La Mirada, Calif.; 154 pages, hardcover, $69.95. fourwayswest.com Four Ways West has released the first volume in a new pictorial book series featuring a photographic retrospective of North American railroads during the past 50 years. Volume one looks at the railroads […]
Guide to North American Diesel Locomotives By Jeff Wilson Kalmbach Books; 350 pages, 400+ photos, softcover, 8.25 x 10.75 inches; $27.99. www.kalmbachhobbystore.com Back in the late 1950s/early 1960s, many “old guard” railfans held the opinion that the hobby of train watching would gradually die out concurrently with the demise of steam. In 1963, Lucius Beebe, […]
WHITEFISH, Mont. — BNSF Railway is spending $135 million on its Montana rail network in 2018, part of which will go toward upgrading the ventilation system at Flathead Tunnel, the second longest railroad portal in the United States. About 50 trains a day use the 7-mile long tunnel located 28 miles west of Whitefish, including […]
Kanawha River Railroad crews switch out the entire consist of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Blue Unit circus train near Charleston, W.Va., in May 2017. A large number of the cars are slated to arrive at a new permanent home in north Florida on Feb. 24. Chase Gunnoe WILLISTON, Fla. — A Florida […]
Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 No. 765, shown during a 2009 visit to the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum at North Judson, Ind., will be steaming again in 2018 after its 1,472-day inspection is completed. Trains: Jim Wrinn FORT WAYNE, IND. — The excursion off-season gives railway presrvationists an opportunity to address repairs that can not be […]
Freshly painted Pan Am Railway C40-8 No. 7635 rolls west in the consist of Waterville-to-Portland train WAPO on Feb. 10, 2018, near New Gloucester, Maine. Chris Guss WATERVILLE, Maine — Pan Am Railways’ second C40-8 rolled out of the paint booth last week. MEC No. 7635, formerly a CSX Transportation locomotive of the same road […]
WASHINGTON — Media outlets report that Ron Batory is now confirmed as the Federal Railroad Administration’s administrator. Washington media outlets Politico and the Hill report that the U.S. Senate confirmed Batory, the former Conrail Shared Assets head, along with two other nominees. U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., had held Batory’s nomination as […]
